NTT West Digitizes Academic Certificates — Making Study Abroad Easier
For students heading overseas, sending transcripts and graduation certificates has been a challenge. Traditionally, universities issued PDFs, and students had to email them to foreign institutions. The receiving universities often questioned whether the documents were authentic, requiring staff to manually confirm with the sending institution. This process took time and was burdensome.
To solve this, NTT West has introduced a new digital service in Japan. Partnering with U.S. edtech company Instructure, they are now offering “Parchment”, a platform already used by universities in 135 countries, including Stanford and Cambridge.
What are the benefits?
- Forgery prevention: Certificates are verified by a third-party organization, with digital signatures and timestamps added.
- No manual checks: Universities no longer need to confirm authenticity directly with each other.
- Cloud-based delivery: Certificates are securely transmitted online, eliminating email attachments.
- Integration with existing services: Japanese universities already using NTT West’s certificate issuance system can upload directly to Parchment.
This means faster, safer, and more reliable study abroad procedures. Students will pay a small fee set by each university, expected to be around ¥1,000 per transmission.
Lowering barriers to global exchange
This initiative is more than just digitization. By making certificate exchange smoother, it strengthens ties between Japanese universities and leading institutions worldwide. For students, it means less stress and more confidence when applying abroad.
In summary
NTT West’s adoption of Parchment is a major step forward for international education. With secure, digital certificates, students can focus on their future rather than paperwork, and universities can welcome them with ease.
If you’re considering studying abroad, check whether your university supports digital certificate services — it could save you time and stress.
Source: The Nikkei (November 21, 2025), NTT West launches digital academic certificates to ease overseas study procedures.