A method for electronically signing an electronic transcript. The method
includes a first hash operation performed on the electronic transcript to
generate a representation of the contents of the electronic transcript.
Data identifying the user is concatenated to the representation of the
contents of the electronic transcript, and a second hash operation is
performed on the data and the representation. The second hash operation
generates a representation of the contents of the electronic transcript
and the data. The representation of the contents of the electronic
transcript and the data is recorded/time stamped by a digital notary
service, from which a notary record of the time stamping is obtained from
the digital notary service. The notary record is digitally signed, and an
electronically signed electronic transcript is formed by bundling the
digitally signed notary record with the electronic transcript and with
the data identifying the user. In this manner, an electronic transcript
with an electronic signature is created.