How do I obtain another person's college transcript without their
knowing? I
need to know if a certain person did, if fact, receive a certain
degree from a
well-known college. Calling the registrar's office or otherwise
questioning the
university administration has already failed. Most of thisinformation
is securely held and is not released without the attendees written
permission.

Hi 51mercury, 

According to GA TOS I can't give you information on getting a college
transcript without the person's knowledge or permission, because to do
so would be helping you violate the law.

However, there are other ways to find out who graduated from a
specific university at a specific time or with a certain degree.  As
the commenters below mention, many schools publish graduations lists.
Fortunately these days, rather than having to search through newspaper
archives, you can just look online. A  quick search on Google for
"list of graduates" netted me these:

http://www.unb.ca/graduation/encaenia/173/list.html
http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/events/anniversaries/40th/webbook/gradlist/
http://www.neep.org/boc/graduates.htm
http://www.lmu.ac.uk/graduation/gradlist.htm

Since you mention that the college is "well-known" I would imagine
you'd have no trouble finding it yourself.  Just add the name of the
school (and the year if you have it) to your search and try all the
variations on search terms like:

"list of graduates"
"graduation list"
"graduates 1996" (or whatever year)

Alumni Organizations usually keep a list of all the graduates they can
keep track of.  Though their active lists might not include all
members of the class, inclusion on such a list would indicate graduate
status.  Many of these lists can be found online as well --

Just for fun I used the search term:   MSU alumni list 1997 
and got a whole string of returns including:

http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Residence/5424/msu2.html
http://www.coe.montana.edu/ee/other/alumni.htm

Some lists go back quite far!
http://www.law.unb.ca/gradlist.html

If the alumni organization doesn't maintain a list online, contact
them and ask for a copy of the list.  They will likely provide it to
you.

The other thing to consider is what the degree is in. Many
professional degrees (those that require licensing such as doctors,
lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers etc) carry with them an
affiliation to a professional organization. Before someone is allowed
to join such an organization they must show proof of their degree. If
your acquaintance is a member of a professional organization, this
*may* be indicative of a degreed status. Note that not all
organizations require such proof.

For example:

The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Member—Graduates
within the past five years from an undergraduate engineering program
accredited by ABET, or within the past 12 months from a graduate
engineering program accredited by ABET.

http://www.nspe.org/aboutnspe/ab-home.asp

Here's a list of some other professional organizations

http://d5.dir.dcx.yahoo.com/business_and_economy/organizations/professional/

The university library would have copies of all of the past graduation
announcements in their archives. If the university is anywhere near
you it might work to drop by and ask to see them. Otherwise, track
down the phone number of the library online and call to see if they'll
photocopy it for you.

I'm sure you understand why we couldn't help you with your original
request, but I do hope this information, in addition to what the
commenters mentioned,  help you obtain the graduation list that would
answer the intent of your question.

If anything I've said is not clear, please feel free to ask for a
clarification.  I've provided you with my search terms as I've gone
along.  Again, I'll reiterate, use the name of the school first (in
quotes) followed by your search terms and you should be able to find
what you're looking for.

Best of Luck 

-- K~

I do not feel like any of the comments effectively answered "how to"
get another person's college transcript withourt
their knowing it. Those posted were just "comments" and not answers to
the specific question.

The best thing to do is ask the person him/herself for the transcript.

SECRET, the client clearly asked how to obtain it "without their
knowing" which pretty much rules out any legitimate way of getting
this information.

I can think of several ways to obtain the information without their
knowing and they are pretty simple, but I don't believe it would be
permissible under our working rules and therefore it wouldn't be
permissible for me to post the method any more than the information
itself.

I agree with the above comments. However, I do have to add that it is
common practice for journalists to check with a university to make
sure someone did go to whatever school someone says he or she went to.
The information is usually recorded for posterity in college yearbooks
and local newspapers, anyway. Of course, that is not the same as
getting someone's transcript, which is protected under privacy rules.

That makes me think of something else you might try.  It's possible
that at graduation time some newspapers will carry lists of graduates
and their degrees.  Newspapers listing that info would include the
paper(s) serving the city the college is located in, plus the paper(s)
serving the hometown of the graduate.  You'd probably have to look
through microfilm or microfiche records, and this obviously falls
short of a transcript, but it might get you the basic info you need.

A related thought: You might see if the school's PR office can give
you a copy of the graduation lists they sent to newspapers.