Universal System for Higher Accreditations (USHA): Novel Blockchain-Based Educational Transcripts Issuance and Verification Architecture

Blockchain technology (BCT) offers a concrete solution to combat the transcript counterfeit by shifting trust from human oversight to immutable encrypted data on a decentralized network. Despite the prevalent usage of existing blockchain-based systems in many institutions, some unresolved concerns persist due to technical challenges and data protection laws like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This research explores the existing blockchain-based transcript (BCBT) frameworks and proposes a novel architecture named Universal System for Higher Accreditations (USHA), combined with Interplanetary File System (IPFS) and issuance of soulbound tokens (SBTs). The present study outlines the fundamental concepts of blockchain and their relevance to BCBT, inheriting IPFS for the encryption and decentralized storage of records, resulting in file size compression of over 99% in comparison to existing digital transcripts maximum size. In addition to this, the use of SBTs ensures transcripts are paired to identities that can’t be transferred or revoked by the owner, absent in NFTs. The study makes a comparative analysis to highlight the need for blockchain-based over digital and paper- based transcripts in the modern digital world. The present study proposes a novel architecture framework, USHA, and stakeholders (students, university, verifier) roles and responsibilities based on the related study of architecture in existing use of universities since 2016-2024 and two related studies—NFTCert and RejSBT. Moreover, the paper compares the USHA architecture with NBF Lite powered by Vishvasya Blockchain Stack, a blockchain framework following Indian government legal compliances to issue certificates. Further, the paper states the applications of the USHA architecture, extending further to the technical, legal, and regulatory challenges involved, and concludes the study with future research opportunities.