The use of archive records is governed by the provisions of the North Rhine-Westphalia Archive Act (ArchivG NRW) as amended on 16 March 2010 and the North Rhine-Westphalia Archive Usage and Fee Regulations (ArchivNGO NRW) as amended on 15 June 2010, insofar as they apply accordingly and no special statutory provisions exist.

As a rule, this means that all interested parties can view archive records after the statutory retention periods have expired, subject to compliance with the statutory provisions. The retention periods are generally based on the Archive Act of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. According to this law, archive material is accessible for 30 years after a file has been closed; for the use of personal documents, it must be ensured that the person has been deceased for 10 years. If the date of death is not known, the retention period can alternatively end 100 years after the birth of the person concerned.

The Presidential Board decides on the shortening or extension of the retention periods on the basis of a report and decision proposal from the University Archives. The use of collection items may be subject to special provisions, in particular agreements with donors of estates, which must be observed.

The University Archive has a selection of student files up to 1983, examination documents generally up to 1993. However, requests for an "Application for a pension certificate" (PDF) should always be sent in writing to the Service Centre at the Paderborn University Student Secretariat 3.3:
https://www.uni-paderborn.de/zv/3-3/studienorganisation/formulare-und-antraege

Please follow the instructions of the Examinations Office for confirmation of degrees. Degrees up to 1993 are processed by the University Archives (e-mail: uniarchiv@ub.uni-paderborn.de), for more recent degrees please contact the Examination Office for the relevant degree programme.