Authors: Deepak Tomar, Kismat Chhillar, Dhruv Srivastava
Abstract: This paper examines the potential of blockchain technology in strengthening of academic data integrity within institutions of higher education by addressing persistent challenges of credential fraud, limited traceability, record falsification and fragmented oversight in traditional centralized systems. Grounded in contemporary research on decentralized architectures and verifiable credentials, the study analyzes weaknesses in existing platforms of student management and proposes a conceptual model that is integrating key blockchain principles of distributed consensus, immutability and smart contracts, with requirements of integrity such as auditability, verifiability, non-repudiation and selective disclosure. The proposed model provides an outline of a consortium-based platform for management of transcripts, qualifications, assessments and co-curricular records, designed to interoperate with existing databases of institutions while complying with regulations of data protection and sovereignty regulations such as FERPA and GDPR. Scenario-based evaluations suggest improvements in verification efficiency, inter-institutional trust and provenance tracking, along with reductions in administrative overhead and faster dissemination of academic records to external stakeholders. The study also critically considers practical challenges that are related to jurisdictional interoperability, scalability, institutional resistance and governance.
