Academic certificate maker for schools and online courses
Course completion certificates, graduation credentials, micro-credentials and Open Badges 3.0 for K-12 districts, universities, MOOCs, bootcamps and language schools. Built for the way registrars, instructional designers and program directors actually run a cohort.
A note on scope: IssueBadge issues digital credentials that complement official transcripts and diplomas issued by your registrar. We do not replace the system of record at AACRAO-affiliated institutions, and our credentials reference the issuing school as the authority of record.
Who this page is for
If you run cohorts, terms, semesters or self-paced courses and someone has to put a name on a certificate at the end, you are the person we built this for. The workflow is the same whether the institution issues a kindergarten reading-club certificate or a master's degree micro-credential.
K-12 schools and districts
End-of-year achievement, perfect attendance, honor roll, reading challenge, AP / IB / Cambridge subject completion, GED issuance, summer school.
Colleges and universities
Course completion supplements, certificate-program completion, micro-credentials, commencement add-ons, study-abroad credit, registrar workflow integration.
MOOC and online course creators
Course completion at the end of self-paced cohorts, graded vs ungraded tracks, paid certificate upgrades, bulk export to learner LinkedIn profiles.
Bootcamps and professional schools
Cohort graduation, capstone certification, employer-recognized credentials, stackable credentials a graduate can carry into the next program.
Language schools and tutoring
CEFR level certificates, TOEFL / IELTS prep completion, after-school program credentials, level-up awards for primary tutoring.
Alumni offices and registrars
Alumni recognition, continuing education credit, reissue of older credentials in a verifiable format, transcript supplements that link to verifiable badges.
What schools and course teams actually issue
The short list of credentials that come up in almost every education account, ranked by frequency. None of this requires a custom build. They are templates plus a CSV exported from your SIS or LMS.
| Credential | Common in | Typical batch size |
|---|---|---|
| Course completion certificate | MOOCs, online courses, university extensions | 100 to 5,000 per cohort |
| Graduation / commencement credential | Universities, bootcamps, high schools | 50 to 3,000 per ceremony |
| Micro-credential / stackable badge | Universities, professional schools | 20 to 1,000 per term |
| Honor roll / achievement | K-12 schools and districts | 200 to 4,000 per term |
| AP / IB / Cambridge subject completion | Secondary schools | 30 to 600 per subject |
| CEFR language level certificate | Language schools, tutoring | 10 to 200 per cohort |
| Continuing education credit (CEU) | Alumni and continuing-ed offices | 15 to 300 per program |
| Reading challenge / extracurricular | Elementary, after-school programs | 50 to 800 per term |
SIS, LMS and the standards your registrar already cares about
We meet schools where they are. Most institutions export a CSV from the system they already run. Larger universities use the API to push completions automatically. Either way, the underlying credential is portable and follows the published standards your team will be asked about during accreditation reviews.
Student Information Systems
CSV export works out of the box from PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Banner and Workday Student. The platform reads the columns you have; only name and email are required.
Learning Management Systems
Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle and Schoology gradebook exports map directly. For automated issuance on course completion, the API takes a learner ID and a course ID.
FERPA and student data residency
Encryption at rest and in transit, role-based access, audit logs. We sign DPAs that name the school as data controller and the platform as processor.
Open Badges 3.0 and CLR
Credentials can be issued as 1EdTech Open Badges 3.0 verifiable credentials, ready for a Comprehensive Learner Record, a digital wallet, or a learner's LinkedIn profile.
A note for registrars
Our credentials reference the issuing institution as the authority of record. They sit alongside the official transcript, do not modify it, and respect the AACRAO conventions registrars rely on. If your institution participates in the Groningen Declaration Network on digital student data portability, the verifiable-credential format we issue is compatible with that direction of travel.
How a cohort runs through the platform
The first cohort takes about fifteen minutes to set up. Subsequent terms or course runs reuse the template and complete in a few minutes. The hardest part is usually getting the gradebook export shaped correctly, and there is an import template for the common LMS and SIS formats.
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1. Pick or upload a template
Start from a course completion, graduation, micro-credential or K-12 achievement template. Or upload the certificate your school already prints, and use it as the background.
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2. Drop in the cohort export
CSV from the SIS or LMS with name, email, course or program, optional fields like grade, Carnegie credit, term and graduation date. Only name is mandatory.
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3. Approve and issue
Preview the first three credentials to catch name spelling and program titles. Click Issue. Students receive an email with the verification link and a print-ready PDF.
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4. Track and reissue
The dashboard shows who has opened, downloaded and shared their credential. If a student loses theirs or moves on to a graduate program, you reissue from the same record.
Related industry pages
Education work overlaps with a few other audiences we have written for. If your team spans more than one of these, the workflow is identical and the credentials live under the same account.
Technology and bootcamps
Coding bootcamps, data and security certifications, employer-recognized completion credentials.
Corporate training
Employer-recognized credentials, continuing education and the L&D side of stackable learning.
Events and commencement
Graduation ceremonies, conferences, summer institutes and open-house participation certificates.
Clubs and alumni associations
Alumni recognition, RYLA, college honor societies and student leadership programs.
Healthcare and medical schools
Medical school program completion, nursing CE credit, allied-health continuing education.
All industries
Browse the full list of audiences we have written guides for.
References and standards
We are an independent platform and do not represent the bodies below, but our templates, data handling and credential format respect their published guidance. If your accreditation team asks where the standards live, these are the canonical sources.
- U.S. Department of Education, federal guidance and IPEDS reporting at ed.gov
- 1EdTech (formerly IMS Global), Open Badges 3.0 specification at imsglobal.org/spec/ob/v3p0
- American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers at aacrao.org
- Groningen Declaration Network on digital student data portability at groningen-declaration-network.org
If your registrar's office or instructional design team needs specific layout, wording, or a DPA before issuing the first cohort, write to support@issuebadge.com and we will work it through.
Questions schools and course teams ask before they switch
What is an academic certificate maker?
An academic certificate maker is a tool a school, university or online course provider uses to design, issue and verify student credentials at scale. It covers course completion certificates, graduation certificates, micro-credentials and Open Badges 3.0. The credentials it produces complement the official transcript issued by your registrar; they do not replace it.
Can we issue graduation or cohort certificates in bulk?
Upload a CSV from your SIS or LMS export, choose a template, and the platform generates one certificate per row. Cohort sizes from 30 to 5,000 are routine. The graduating class of a small college or a single MOOC cohort runs through in one batch.
Does this integrate with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle or PowerSchool?
Most institutions export a CSV from the LMS or SIS (Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, Schoology, PowerSchool, Infinite Campus, Banner, Workday Student) and upload it. Larger districts and universities use the API to push completions automatically when a course or pathway is finished.
Is this FERPA compliant and where is student data stored?
We treat student records as protected. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit, access is role-based, and we offer data processing agreements for institutions that need them. Schools we have worked with have used the platform under FERPA, and we will sign DPAs that name the school as data controller.
Are credentials portable as Open Badges 3.0 or part of a Comprehensive Learner Record?
Credentials can be issued as Open Badges 3.0 verifiable credentials, which a learner can carry into a CLR, a digital wallet, or a LinkedIn profile. The standard is maintained by 1EdTech (formerly IMS Global) and the badge metadata travels with the credential.
Can a future employer or graduate program verify the certificate?
Every credential has a unique verification URL and QR code. Anyone with the link, including admissions officers and recruiters, sees the issuing institution, course or program name, the date of issue and the recipient. The verification page is tamper-evident, which is the practical difference between a PDF and a verifiable credential.
Can students print the certificate or only download a digital version?
Both. Each certificate is generated as a print-ready PDF and a shareable digital credential. Students download the PDF for framing or commencement, and they share the digital version on LinkedIn or send the verification link to an employer.
How much does it cost for a K-12 school versus a university?
Small schools and individual course creators usually fit on the free tier or an entry plan. K-12 districts and universities move to volume plans when they cross a few thousand credentials a year, want white-label verification pages on their own domain, or need an SSO and API setup for the registrar's office.
Ready to issue your next cohort's credentials?
Start free. The first batch is usually a course-completion or end-of-term run from a CSV exported from the LMS, and most teams finish it the same afternoon they sign up.