Nation's Largest Private Service Provider of Electronic Student Record Collection and Exchanges, National Student Clearinghouse, Signs Student Privacy Pledge
Herndon, Virginia (PRWEB) January 21, 2015 -- In response to President Obama's call to better protect student privacy, the National Student Clearinghouse announced today that it has signed the Student Privacy Pledge sponsored by the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) and The Future of Privacy Forum. It joins more than 80 K-12 technology providers that have pledged to safeguard student privacy by agreeing to a set of commitments related to the collection, maintenance, and use of student personal information. The Clearinghouse is the largest provider of electronic student record exchanges and postsecondary transcript ordering services in the U.S., performing more than one billion secure electronic student data transactions each year.
A nonprofit organization founded by the higher education community in 1993, the Clearinghouse provides educational reporting, verification, and research services to more than 3,600 colleges and universities and more than 7,000 high schools. Its services are also used by school districts and state education offices nationwide.
“Signing the Student Privacy Pledge is a continuation of our over 21-year ongoing commitment to ensuring student privacy and data security as well as a reiteration of the principles behind which we firmly stand," said Rick Torres, President and CEO of the National Student Clearinghouse. “Maintaining the integrity of the student information entrusted to us by our participating institutions is a core component of the Clearinghouse’s mission of service to the education community and its students. We welcome the technology industry and the administration's focus on the importance of safeguarding student privacy, which has been a service hallmark of the Clearinghouse since our founding.”
The Clearinghouse's support for student privacy protection is further reflected in both its own privacy policy and the principles on which it based G.R.E.E.N., the Global Registrar EduRecord Exchange Network℠. G.R.E.E.N. is a free, open, principles driven and standards-based network, created by the Clearinghouse in 2013, to enable the secure exchange of electronic student academic records worldwide. It encompasses the student data exchange standards, values, and principles outlined by the Clearinghouse in its position paper on the Establishment of a National Electronic Education Data Exchange Network.
The G.R.E.E.N. statement of principles is modeled on those written by AACRAO and the AACRAO SPEEDE Committee for the SPEEDE Server implemented by the University of Texas at Austin in 1995 as a shared U.S. exchange platform. Among the reasons UT Austin chose the Clearinghouse in 2012 to assume operation of the SPEEDEServer℠ was its commitment to both improving efficiency for higher education and information security.
Adoption of the G.R.E.E.N. Principles has been widely supported by education industry leaders, including the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO); the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC); AASA, The School Superintendents Association; Ellucian; and Hobsons.
About the National Student Clearinghouse®
The National Student Clearinghouse (a nonprofit formed in 1993) is the trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges, handling more than 700 million verification requests and over 250 million education record exchanges annually. The Clearinghouse serves as a single point of contact for the collection and timely exchange of accurate and comprehensive enrollment, degree, and certificate records on behalf of its more than 3,600 participating higher education institutions, which represent 98 percent of all students in public and private U.S. institutions. The Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni.
Through its verification, electronic exchange, and reporting services, the Clearinghouse saves the education community cumulatively over $500 million dollars annually. Most Clearinghouse services are provided to colleges and universities at little or no charge, including enhanced transcript and research services, enabling institutions to redistribute limited staff and budget resources to more important student service efforts. Clearinghouse services are designed to facilitate an institution’s compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, The Higher Education Act, and other applicable laws.
In addition, the Clearinghouse provides accurate, timely enrollment and degree verifications to student loan providers, employers, student credit issuers, the U.S. Department of Education, and others who access its registry more than half a billion times annually. For more information, visit http://www.studentclearinghouse.org.
For more information, visit http://www.studentclearinghouse.org.
Paula Newbaker, National Student Clearinghouse, http://www.nationalstudentclearinghouse.org/, +1 (703) 742-3262, [email protected]
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