How do I recover my lost high school diploma?

In the early 90's I did a through the mail High School course. I graduated I got my diploma through the mail. However, the diploma got destroyed.

The diploma was important to me, and I'd like to get it back. How do I do that?

The best way is to think hard about what the school was called and get a copy from them. To brainstorm you can:

  • Look at call records from that time -- back out a school name from that time.
  • Look at bank records. You paid the high school right? If so old checks can be traced by banks to the institution.
  • Look at files you might have locked up.

Also, be mindful of what you want the diploma for. If it's just hanging on the wall, reconsider whether it's really worth it.

Also, ask a lawyer to be sure, but the United States is a common law country, and this means that if you need a high school degree for some job, or some other official reason, you may not need an original degree. An affidavit might suffice, or a testimony by a friend, old teacher, classmate, etc may suffice for many legal purposes.

For college admissions purposes, as a last resort, you can consider taking the GED to provide high-school equivalent competency. In that case, you'd also want to prep for the SAT / ACT and do especially well on these as they will have special weight since you may be lacking a physical diploma and transcript.