Academic verification issue for distance learning student (CHSI report provided)

[Yanxcyan]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Question

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Verification Help & Guidance

Hi everyone,

Hi GitHub Education Community & Support,

I am applying for the Student Developer Pack, but my application was automatically rejected. Since GitHub Support no longer handles individual manual tickets, I am posting here hoping for guidance or moderator assistance.

My Details:

• Institution: The Open University of China (Henan Branch) / 国家开放大学
• Education Type: Open / Distance Learning (No physical student ID card issued)
• Document Provided: Official Ministry of Education Academic Record Online Verification Report (CHSI English version)
• Billing Name: Yang Xuefeng (Matches the report exactly)

Issue:
My university does not issue traditional physical student ID cards due to its open education model. However, I have uploaded the official CHSI (学信网) verification report issued by the Chinese Ministry of Education, which contains my full name, registration status, enrollment date (March 2026), and a valid QR code for verification.

Despite this, the automated system keeps rejecting my application.

Could any moderator or community member advise how distance learning students from China CHSI-supported universities can successfully pass verification?

Thank you!

[Monam1083]

Hi Yanxcyan,

This is a known friction point for open/distance-learning institutions in China, so here's what should help:
Why it's likely failing automated verification:
The automated check looks for your documentation to explicitly confirm distance/virtual learning status when you're not near a physical campus — otherwise it treats the mismatch as a red flag.
It also cross-references your GitHub profile (display name, bio) against the name on your uploaded document. Any variation between "Yang Xuefeng" on your CHSI report and your GitHub profile name/bio can cause a silent rejection.
Institutions without a public school website or physical student ID (common for CHSI-verified open universities) don't fit the pattern the automated system expects, so it flags rather than approves.
What to do:
Update your GitHub profile name and bio to match "Yang Xuefeng" exactly as it appears on the CHSI report, then log out and back in before reapplying.
Re-upload the CHSI report making sure the QR code and English verification text are clearly visible/legible in the image or PDF.
Since Community Discussions can't manually review or approve Student Developer Pack applications, submit a request through GitHub Education Support at education.github.com/support — this is the only channel that can manually verify non-standard cases like open/distance universities. In the ticket, explicitly state:
Your institution is an open/distance-learning program (国家开放大学) that does not issue physical student ID cards
You're attaching the official Ministry of Education CHSI verification report with a verifiable QR code
Your billing/profile name matches the report exactly

[Yanxcyan]

Hi,

Thank you so much for the detailed explanation and advice!

I have updated my GitHub profile name and bio to match "Yang Xuefeng" exactly as it appears on my CHSI report, and made sure the QR code and English verification details on the report are clearly legible.

However, the link education.github.com/support returns a 404 error. Could you guide me on where I can submit a support ticket now for manual review, or provide the updated link to GitHub Support for Education applications?

Thanks again for your help!

[Yanxcyan]

Hi,

Thank you for the helpful details!

I have attached screenshots of my updated GitHub profile, billing information, and my CHSI report. Could you please take a look and let me know if these look correctly configured, or if there is anything else I need to adjust before reapplying?

Thanks a lot for your time!

[Monam1083]

Hi Yanxcyan,
Thanks for sharing these — everything looks correctly configured on your end:
Billing information: First/Last name is set as "Yang" / "Xuefeng"
CHSI report: Name field clearly shows "Yang Xuefeng," matches your billing exactly
GitHub public profile: Display name is "Yang Xuefeng," and your bio explicitly states "Student at The Open University of China (国家开放大学). Name: Yang Xuefeng." — this is genuinely a good move, since it gives the automated reviewer an unambiguous text match to your document, which is exactly the kind of explicit confirmation that's often missing in auto-rejected cases like yours

Everything here matches consistently across the three places GitHub checks (profile, billing, document), so from a name-matching standpoint your application should be in good shape now.

One thing worth double-checking before you reapply: your public email is listed as admin@yanxsir.cn and your link as https://yanxsir.cn — if this domain isn't clearly tied to you personally (e.g., no obvious "about" page confirming it's your own site), it's not a blocker, but it's not the kind of detail that helps your case either. It won't hurt to leave it, just flagging it as unrelated to your student status rather than something reinforcing it.

At this point, I'd say: reapply for the Student Developer Pack now that your profile/billing/document are aligned. If it's still auto-rejected, then it's very likely not a name-mismatch issue anymore, and the open/distance-learning institution type itself is what needs a manual review — so head straight to support.github.com and submit a ticket referencing everything above.

Note:
Please mark my both reply as answer because it will help me to get my Galaxy Brain achievement on github profile
thanks

[Yanxcyan]

Hi @Monam1083,

Thanks again for your detailed advice!

Just wanted to share a quick update: when I selected the standard "Status of GitHub Education application" topic on support.github.com, the system blocked me with a popup saying manual reviews aren't provided separately.

To get around this, I selected "Incorrect or incomplete school information" instead and successfully submitted the ticket, referencing your response and attaching my CHSI report.

I'll wait until my issue gets fully resolved by support, and then I'll mark your response as the answer. Thanks again for your help!

[Monam1083]

Hi Yanxcyan,
That's a smart workaround, and good catch on the popup — that confirms what I mentioned earlier: standard status-check requests for student applications are explicitly deprioritized now, so routing through "Incorrect or incomplete school information" instead was the right call to get an actual human to look at your case.

The 3-4 business day estimate in that popup (longer during peak periods) is a reasonable timeline to expect, so worth waiting that out before following up again.

Sounds like a solid plan — take your time, and thanks for keeping the thread updated. It'll genuinely help other CHSI/open-university students who hit the same wall and land here searching for a fix.