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I am trying to confirm if an individual actually graduated with a PhD from a university at around 2010. At my university, the PhD theses are archived in the university library. In some cases, the Masters theses are archived in the library, too. (Yes, I found my own thesis from my university library's search.)

This individual claimed to hold a PhD from a US university. I could not find this person's thesis from the university library.

From LinkedIn, I found the names of other individuals who claimed to hold PhD from the same university. This university library's online search returned those thesis.

If the PhD theses are not always archived at the university's library, I could use my benefit of the doubt.

Anonymous CS
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    It's certainly extremely common, but US higher education is so decentralized that there's really no way to answer a question like "always". Almost every common practice has an oddball exception somewhere. – Nate Eldredge Oct 05 '23 at 04:08
  • There are of course other possibilities: the person attended under a different name, their thesis was originally in the library but was lost, the thesis is in the library but due to some error it is not properly indexed by the catalog. – Nate Eldredge Oct 05 '23 at 04:10
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    Another place to search is the ProQuest database, which indexes the vast majority of theses in the US. (Again, it's hard to authoritatively say it indexes all of them.) – Nate Eldredge Oct 05 '23 at 04:14
  • I recall that some dissertations in the US during World War II were classified "secret" by the military, and therefore could not be published. I don't know whether that could still happen today. – GEdgar Oct 05 '23 at 06:25
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    @GEdgar The top-voted answer to Can a PhD thesis be confidential? suggests it can still happen, or at least did so fairly recently. – Anyon Oct 05 '23 at 08:40
  • @GEdgar some DoD funding still restricts the publication of theses and dissertations. My MS work for funded by DoD and my thesis was published, but some other grad students in my department were not able to publish their dissertations and thesis. That as ca 2010, but would still be true today. – Richard Erickson Oct 05 '23 at 13:32
  • @GEdgar Great point! Thank you for pointing out the question. The individual claimed that he's an expert in cybersecurity. I found the entry of the thesis on ProQuest but not at the university's library. – Anonymous CS Oct 05 '23 at 13:37
  • Your question does not match your title. In fact, your "question" does not contain a question at all. Would you consider rewording so that your post matches your title? Also, it seems you want to verify a dissertation exists, not ask about all libraries (which would be off-topic b/c it is university specific). – Richard Erickson Oct 05 '23 at 15:16

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I would guess that most, not all, universities have most, not all, dissertations available at the library. But your intent seems to be to verify that a degree was earned. Having the dissertation at a library is, at best, an incomplete indication.

In the US, at least, the National Student Clearinghouse can provide that information for most, not all, colleges and universities.

But the US system isn't unified for almost all questions, and, worldwide it is a much more difficult issue.

Buffy
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  • Yes, of course I can submit a request to the university's registrar or National Student Clearinghouse. Having the dissertation in the library is an incomplete indication but is an indication without consent of the individual. – Anonymous CS Oct 05 '23 at 13:44