The Impact of the National Student Clearinghouse: Making a Difference in a Year Like No Other

HERNDON, VA – (AUGUST 3, 2021) – During the 2020-21 academic year, COVID-19 had a dramatic influence on the education community, and like many others, created the need for the National Student Clearinghouse to transition its entire operations to an online environment. This was accomplished while helping other K20 institutions meet reporting and student service obligations with minimal impact to the learner, institutions, or the federal government.

The Clearinghouse’s 2020 Annual Impact Report released today shows how learners, education institutions, public policy makers and employers benefited from our services last year:

• 2.3 billion transactions processed saving schools hundreds of thousands of hours so they can focus on serving learners.
• $750+ million saved by educators from our services, enabling them to deliver increased value to learners nationwide.
• 500 million+ records queried providing clients with actionable insights about learner outcomes related to persistence, retention, and educational achievements.
• 20 million enrollment and degree verifications performed for student service providers offering discounts and more to students, and by employers and background screeners shortening the time candidates waited and worried before receiving job offers.
• 9.5 million errors resolved before enrollment data was transmitted to lenders, servicers, and the U.S. Department of Education, preventing millions of students from receiving erroneous delinquency and default notices.
• 284,000 support requests resolved— all free of charge — by our Customer Care team members, who smoothly transitioned to remote work during COVID-19 and continued to serve our customers successfully.
• Nearly 860 schools, enrolling more than 1.9 million students, can now provide their graduates with instant verification of their diplomas.
• 180 webinars held virtually and attended by more than 8,400 education leaders.
• 150 school districts, consortia, and high schools have been relieved of time-consuming diploma verification and can focus on other priorities.

“During the 2020-21 academic year, we all know that COVID-19 had a dramatic influence on the education community. The Clearinghouse employees, embracing our non-profit mission, rose to meet the moment and delivered with significant impact to the K20-W education, public policy, and workforce communities, when they needed it most,” said Rick Torres, President and CEO, National Student Clearinghouse.

Funders interested in supporting our efforts to strengthen the nation’s education system to better serve all learners, may contact us online.

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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