Do undergraduate students also need transcript of previous studies?
It depends on the university. I was studying for another masters degree at a university, decided to switch to a second bachelors degree, and I had to provide more transcripts for the undergraduate degree. For the masters, undergrad transcripts are only needed to show that you graduated with a bachelors degree. Some places may want all undergrad transcripts as part of the admissions process. For a bachelors degree, transcripts are needed from all schools were you want to use transfer credit. Lets say that you took Composition I at college A then transferred to College B where that transfer credit was used to graduate. College C will never give you credit for Composition I without the transcript from College A even though it will be on the transcript as transfer credit from College B. (I suppose instances of block transfer maybe an exception, but that is a narrow special case.) Some schools have a policy that requires all transcripts from previous institutions even when you are not using transfer credit from all those institutions. 20+ years in higher ed I do not know the rational for this from an academic perspective. I have heard people say that they want to make sure you do not owe money to another college. If you owe money, you wont be able to get transcripts. If it is a selective university, they will want transcripts to evaluate your application for admission. In some cases they may want only transcripts from the last few years. It really depends on the university and its policies.