Xello, National Student Clearinghouse Mark Exponential Growth Since Partnering To Streamline College Application Process

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2022

Xello, National Student Clearinghouse Mark Exponential Growth Since Partnering To Streamline College Application Process

K-12 future readiness program and national leader in data exchange services bring free, timesaving efficiencies to students and admissions personnel

HERNDON, VA – (DECEMBER 6, 2022) – Xello, the award-winning K-12 college and career readiness program, and the National Student Clearinghouse, a national leader in educational data exchange and transcript services, have experienced exponential growth since expanding their partnership to include data exchange services, welcoming hundreds of postsecondary institutions into their already robust network of schools.

The Clearinghouse and Xello initially teamed up to provide high schools using Xello insight into graduates’ post-secondary outcomes through the integration of StudentTracker reports, and last year the partnership expanded to offer services that streamline the college application process. Students can now easily exchange data such as transcripts and letters of recommendation to postsecondary schools within the Xello program via National Clearinghouse’s Electronic Transcript Exchange – a secure national exchange software enabling secondary and postsecondary schools, systems, states, and educational organizations to automate the exchange of learner records.

“When evaluating our options for data exchange providers it was important to find one that matched our standards for service and responsiveness. With a long-standing commitment to data integrity and student data privacy, the Clearinghouse was well aligned with our values,” said Matt McQuillen, CEO and Co-Founder of Xello. “As a nonprofit organization, it was also a partner that could offer an affordable pricing model and enabled us to expand our data exchange services without increasing costs to our customers, as schools are continually working to maximize limited budgets.”

The Xello software allows students to easily share transcripts, letters of recommendation and more with prospective postsecondary institutions all within the application, ensuring applicants can meet important and time-sensitive demands during the admissions calendar. Through the dashboard, students can track the progress of their transcript and letters of recommendation requests and know exactly when documents are submitted. They can also see at a glance where they are in their application process and what’s required next, as well as a summary of critical dates by school and deadlines for financial aid applications. Postsecondary institutions can easily import and view student transcripts and letters of recommendation, view the latest requests and track their progress – ultimately saving time for students, educators, and admissions personnel.

The Clearinghouse and Xello will continue to work together to meet the needs of participating and prospective high school and postsecondary networks, identifying opportunities to further improve the user experience to make the college application process less tedious and time consuming for both students and administrators.

“With shared values rooted in student data privacy, integrity, and security, school districts can trust that their student records will be safe and secure, backed by a partnership of long-standing and trusted organizations,” said Rick Torres, President and CEO, National Student Clearinghouse. “By bringing together Xello’s 25 years of experience serving K-12 districts and the Clearinghouse’s nearly 30 years of experience serving the education community, we look forward to leveraging our shared expertise to fuel innovation and to provide clients and end users with a seamless experience.”

For more information on how to become a part of the National Student Clearinghouse’s network of postsecondary school partners, contact the Clearinghouse’s Client Success Team at https://theclearinghouse.help/reps.

About Xello

Xello is an online K-12 college, career and future readiness program that helps students achieve a deeper understanding of themselves, explore pathways, and plan for the future. Using Xello’s discovery-based model, students build knowledge, essential real-world skills, and individual confidence to prepare for the rapidly evolving world of post-secondary academics and career environment. More than 9 million students and educators today leverage Xello tools to transform aspirations into action. To learn more about Xello and its proprietary Work-Based Learning Module, visit: https://www.xello.world.

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. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni. For more details, visit studentclearinghouse.org.

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More Than 100,000 Students Experienced An Abrupt Campus Closure Between July 2004 and June 2020

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More Than 100,000 Students Experienced An Abrupt Campus Closure Between July 2004 and June 2020

SHEEO and National Student Clearinghouse Research Center Investigated the Impacts of 467 College Closures on Student Outcomes

BOULDER, CO and HERNDON, VA – (NOVEMBER 15, 2022) – More than 100,000 students out of more than 143,000 or 70% experienced their institution closing without adequate notice or a teach-out plan, known as abrupt closure, from July 2004 to June 2020. Poor outcomes in subsequent enrollment and completion were associated with abrupt closures, according to a new report released today by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Most higher education institutions that closed were for-profit colleges. Out of the 467 closed institutions investigated:

9% or 233 were from the private for-profit two-year sector;
1% or 131 occurred from private for-profit four-year institutions;
8% or 83 came from the private nonprofit four-year sector; and
3% or 16 were private nonprofit two-year and four were public four-year institutions.

Almost 12,000 campuses closed over the period analyzed, according to the Postsecondary Education Participants System.

The report, A Dream Derailed? Investigating the Impacts of College Closure on Student Outcomes, is the first of a series of a joint research endeavor between the two organizations to quantify the impacts of college closure on students’ subsequent postsecondary enrollment and completion.

“This study shows that any college closure is damaging to student success, leaving too many learners – more than half – without a viable path to fulfilling their educational dreams,“ said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. “But the extremely poor outcomes for students who experienced abrupt closures are particularly worrisome.”

“This research confirms that college closures have a detrimental impact on the enrollment and completion outcomes of all students and are most pronounced when colleges close abruptly without forewarning or student protections,” said SHEEO President Rob Anderson. “The particularly poor outcomes are especially harmful for minoritized students of color enrolled in the for-profit sector. These results reinforce calls for improving state authorization processes and strengthening the financial monitoring of institutions to prevent, prepare for, and respond to college closures.”

Abrupt closure in the private, for-profit four-year sector had the most adverse impact on reenrollment rates: 42.4% vs. 70.1% for orderly closures. When closure was orderly, reenrollment rates were nearly identical across the private four-year sector. Completion gaps by race/ethnicity were exacerbated among abrupt closures, with larger gaps in attainment than among orderly closures, especially for Hispanic and Black students.

Overall, less than half (47.1%) of students who experienced a closure subsequently reenrolled at a postsecondary institution. Of those who reenrolled, 36.8% earned a postsecondary credential, likely their first-ever undergraduate credential, and an additional 10.4% remained enrolled as of February 2022. The remaining 52.9% left without earning a credential after reenrollment. As a result, students who experienced a closure likely add to the population of students that have some college, but no credential.

Other report specifics include:

Students who reenrolled within one to four months were the most likely to earn a credential (47.6%). The odds of earning a credential doubled if students reenrolled within one year of closure, while those who stopped out for more than one year were the least likely (18.7%).
Hispanic and Black students with abrupt closure experiences were far less likely to earn a credential post-closure compared to their counterparts with orderly closure experiences (26.4% vs. 43.0% for Hispanic; 25.3% vs. 39.4% for Black).
Students who experienced closure were more likely to be women (54.6%), white (25.0%), and 30 years or older at the time of closure (39.0%).
Reenrollment rates were highest among women (49.0%), white students (62.5%), and traditional college age students (54.0% for 18-20; 46.6% for 21-24).
Students who experienced closure at private nonprofit and for-profit four-year institutions were most likely to reenroll in the same sector. Alternatively, students who experienced closure at a private for-profit two-year institution likely reenrolled at a community college.

This series of three publications examining the impacts of college closure on student outcomes is supported by Arnold Ventures.

About SHEEO

The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) serves the executives of statewide governing, policy, and coordinating boards of postsecondary education and their staffs. Founded in 1954, SHEEO promotes an environment that values higher education and its role in ensuring the equitable education of all Americans, regardless of race/ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic factors. Together with its members, SHEEO aims to achieve this vision by equipping state higher education executive officers and their staffs with the tools to effectively advance the value of higher education, promoting public policies and academic practices that enable all Americans to achieve success in the 21st century, and serving as an advocate for state higher education leadership. For more information, visit www.sheeo.org.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^® Research Center™

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. The Research Center analyzes the data from more than 3,600 Title IV eligible degree-granting postsecondary institutions, which represent 97% of the nation’s postsecondary enrollment as of fall 2020. Clearinghouse data track enrollments nationally and are not limited by institutional and state boundaries. To learn more, visit https://nscresearchcenter.org.

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Clearinghouse Partners with OneTen to Expand Sustainable Career Development Opportunities for Black Talent Without College Degrees

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Clearinghouse Partners with OneTen to Expand Sustainable Career Development Opportunities for Black Talent Without College Degrees

HERNDON, VA – (OCTOBER 31, 2022) – The National Student Clearinghouse, the nation’s trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges, announced today that it has teamed up with OneTen, a coalition designed to close the opportunity gap for Black talent in the United States by working with America’s leading executives, companies and talent developers to hire and advance one million Black Americans without four-year degrees into family-sustaining roles.

Through this partnership, the Clearinghouse will enable OneTen to identify strong opportunities to expand employment pathways for Black talent. The Clearinghouse will work with post-secondary institutions within identified metropolitan regions and provide data, research, and other services to OneTen during this initial endeavor. It will identify postsecondary institutions where potential candidates self-reported as Black or African American, last participated in postsecondary coursework from 2010 to 2020, and lack a four- year degree or higher credential. Exact metropolitan regions for this partnership launch will be announced in the coming weeks.

While the job market is booming, the racial wealth gap in America remains vast, largely due to the lack of access to quality, well-paying jobs that do not require college degrees: 79% of jobs paying more than $50,000 require a four-year college degree, which automatically excludes the 76% of Black talent over age 25 with relevant experience who don’t have baccalaureate degrees. In an economy where Black people only own 1.5% of America’s wealth, harnessing multi-stakeholder partnerships is vital to spearheading diversity and fostering pathways to earned success.

The Clearinghouse joins more than 70 companies and 100 talent developers that have committed to OneTen’s mission to significantly increase the hiring of Black talent without four-year degrees into family-sustaining jobs by improving their hiring, retention, upskilling and advancement practices to support a more diverse workforce and advance economic prosperity for all. Data needs and uses are evolving, and this collaboration showcases the Clearinghouse’s ability to help schools identify and re-engage their learners in support of the nation’s education-workforce ecosystem by leveraging verified data.

Nationwide, more than 39 million Americans have some college and no credential (SCNC), according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. Of the 7.2 million students (about the state of Arizona’s population) with some college, no degree that entered college in 2013 or later, 19.6% were Black. The May 2022 research revealed that the academic year 2020-21 re-enrollment share by Black students was 17.6%. In addition, 42.7% of the Black “SCNC” students who earned a credential in 2020-21 completed a certificate; 28.7% earned a bachelor’s degree; and 28.6% obtained an associate degree.

“We believe that this is a potentially landscape changing opportunity, to work in tandem with OneTen to realize their significant and imperative goal to support one million Black individuals who lack a four-year college degree pursue and advance their career opportunities,” said National Student Clearinghouse President and CEO Rick Torres. “Our work at the Clearinghouse, in partnership with our participating institutions, will provide the powerful combination of data intelligence with actionable outcomes to assist OneTen.”

“In order to hire and advance Black talent, we first must be able to reach them,” said Maurice Jones, CEO of OneTen. “We’re delighted to team up with the National Student Clearinghouse, which holds verifiable and trusted data of millions of Americans. We are in a moment of incredible opportunity and economic resurgence, and this partnership will allow us to more easily identify talent and help them realize their ambitious career goals.”

About OneTen

OneTen is a coalition of leading chief executives and their companies who are coming together to upskill, hire and promote one million Black individuals who do not yet have a four-year degree into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement over the next 10 years. OneTen connects employers with talent developers including leading nonprofits and other skill-credentialing organizations who support development of diverse talent. By creating more equitable and inclusive workforces, we believe we can reach our full potential as a nation of united citizens. OneTen recognizes the unique potential in everyone – every individual, every business, every community – to change the arc of America’s story with Black talent. Join us at OneTen.org, where one can be the difference.

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. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni. Education partners throughout the nation trust the National Student Clearinghouse because they know we take our commitment to student privacy very seriously. We focus on serving our customers with high-quality services that they expect from us. The Clearinghouse is scrupulous in its concern for student privacy and compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects students’ privacy rights in their education records. For more details, visit studentclearinghouse.org.

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Fall Undergraduate Enrollment Declines at a Slower Pace but Nearing Pre-Pandemic Rates

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Fall Undergraduate Enrollment Declines at a Slower Pace but Nearing Pre-Pandemic Rates

Community Colleges Gain Freshmen but All Other Higher Ed Sectors Lose Ground

HERNDON, VA – (OCTOBER 20, 2022) – Undergraduate enrollment continued to decline by 1.1% in fall 2022 compared to 2021, but the decline has slowed to pre-pandemic rates, according to the latest research by the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

Total undergraduate and graduate enrollment combined declined 1.1% over last fall, leading to a total two-year decline of 3.2% since 2020. The total rate of decline has slowed by almost half since last year when it dropped 2.1% and a third since fall 2020’s 3.4% loss.

This preliminary fall data is based on 10.3 million undergraduate and graduate students, as reported by 63% of Title IV degree-granting institutions that are participating in the Clearinghouse as of September 29, 2022.

Undergraduate enrollment declines this fall are evident across all sectors especially among four-year institutions, with a drop of 1.6% at public four-years; 0.9% at private nonprofits; and 2.5% at private for-profits. Declines at community colleges have slowed, with only a 0.4% enrollment loss compared to fall 2021, driven by an 11.5% jump in dual-enrolled high school students.

“After two straight years of historically large losses, it is particularly troubling that numbers are still falling, especially among freshmen,” said Doug Shapiro, Executive Director, National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. “Although the decline has slowed and there are some bright spots, a path back to pre-pandemic enrollment levels is growing further out of reach.”

Also, the 18- to 20-year-old age group grew at community colleges by 1.4%, with an increase in traditional-age freshmen making up about one-third of the climb. Total freshman enrollment at community colleges appears to have stabilized for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

However, freshmen enrollment declined by 1.5% overall. Freshmen numbers declined in all four-year sectors, led by private nonprofits dropping 3.1%, publics declining 2.4%, and private for-profits losing 0.9%. Highly selective institutions saw the largest freshmen declines this fall of 5.6% compared to a 10.7% gain in fall 2021. Meanwhile, community colleges saw a 0.9% increase this fall, driving an upward trend of 1% freshmen growth at community colleges since fall 2020.

Furthermore, graduate enrollment declined 1%, which reverses last year’s 2.7% gain. This may signal the end of the pandemic-related influxes of post-baccalaureate students. However, graduate enrollment is still above pre-pandemic levels, with a total two-year change of 1.6% from fall 2020.

Among the 42 states for which sufficient data are available, undergraduate enrollment declined at 27 states compared to last fall. The steepest declines (-4.3% to -5.2%) were in Alaska, Michigan, Kansas, Missouri, and Nevada, while New Hampshire, New Mexico, and South Carolina gained (+3.7% to +6.8%).

Graduate enrollment is down in 26 states, with Alaska, Maine, Montana, Mississippi, Nebraska, California, Louisiana, Maryland, and Arkansas all experiencing declines of more than 4% this fall compared to the previous year.

Although the data reported are small, Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ undergraduate enrollment grew 2.5% this fall, which reversed declines of 1.7% in fall 2021. This growth was driven by a 6.6% increase in freshmen enrolling at HBCUs. In contrast, downward trend continued but at a smaller rate at Hispanic-Serving Institutions, -1.2% this fall versus -4.8% last fall, for total two-year losses of 6%.

At primarily online institutions, where more than 90% of students enrolled exclusively online prior to the pandemic, undergraduate enrollment has grown by 3.2% from last fall. This was largely driven by younger students aged 18-20, for whom enrollment growth totaled 23.4% over two years since fall 2020. The numbers are small and may change as more institutions provide their data.

For other details, review the report at Stay Informed with the Latest Enrollment Information.

In addition, examine previous Current Term Enrollment Estimates. The complete Fall 2022 Current Term Estimates are scheduled to be released later this year.

About the National Student Clearinghouse^® Research Center™

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the research arm of the National Student Clearinghouse. The Research Center collaborates with higher education institutions, states, school districts, high schools, and educational organizations as part of a national effort to better inform education leaders and policymakers. Through accurate longitudinal data outcomes reporting, the Research Center enables better educational policy decisions leading to improved student outcomes. To learn more, visit nscresearchcenter.org.

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National Student Clearinghouse and myFootpath to Reengage More than 39 Million Students with Some College, No Credential

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National Student Clearinghouse and myFootpath to Reengage More than 39 Million Students with Some College, No Credential

CHICAGO, IL and HERNDON, VA – (SEPTEMBER 29, 2022) – More than 39 million Americans have some college, but no credential, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The “some college, no credential” population is up 3.1 million from nearly 36 million previously reported in 2019.

To help bring these students back to college and help them earn a credential, the National Student Clearinghouse and myFootpath are partnering to help these students earn a credential.Under this partnership, myFootpath will bring the Clearinghouse’s StudentTracker Premium Service to colleges and universities, at no charge to the institution, to provide secure, dedicated access to university datasets. These datasets unlock myFootpath’s Operation ReEngage service, which reengages students to re-enroll in college and guide adult students through graduation.

“As one of the most important areas of rising focus to many sectors of higher education, the National Student Clearinghouse actively seeks partners like myFootpath, who are working to bring students who have some college and no credential back to college, to ultimately try and help them graduate,” said National Student Clearinghouse President and CEO Rick Torres. “They align with our mission and work to improve student outcomes, and we are thrilled to partner with myFootpath in their work.”

“While many universities’ institutional research offices have overseen these datasets for years, there’s often a disconnect between institutional research and the enrollment leaders who need to turn the datasets into actionable insights to drive student recruitment goals,” said JT Allen, President & CEO of myFootpath. “In our work with universities and colleges throughout the nation, we focus on collaborative ways to empower leaders to act. We offer a powerful new method to bring speed and scale to these efforts.”

Additionally, National Student Clearinghouse partners need to go through a rigorous data security evaluation process, which requires background checks, security clearance, and additional training of staff.

“myFootpath has always taken data security very seriously and had protections in place for data access, but the Clearinghouse process added additional rigor that will make these systems even stronger while we empower our clients,” said Dr. George Rohde, who leads Student Success and Research for myFootpath. “We work with many universities’ technical departments, and they have responded favorably when we’ve described the data classification system, how we manage network/device access, and how we easily stratify access to employees that ‘need to know.’ It’s made filling out things like the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit questionnaire a breeze.”

About myFootpath

myFootpath’s mission is to help universities transform lives by engaging and graduating non-traditional students who may have stumbled along the path to degree completion. We fulfill this mission through two primary service offerings. Operation ReEngage brings back students to the university with which they have had a prior affiliation. Operation Graduate provides new, supplemental, online, adult students to university partners.

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. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni. For more details, visit StudentClearinghouse.org.

Media contacts:

myFootpath, Shayna Griffith, sgriffith@myfootpath.com

National Student Clearinghouse, media@studentclearinghouse.org

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