Press Release
DegreeVerify Grows to 500 Colleges; Includes More Than One-Third
of All US Degrees
Provides Nation's Largest Single Source of College Degree Records
HERNDON, VA, June 18, 2003 - The National Student Clearinghouse, the nation's
largest and most trusted source for post-secondary student degree and enrollment
verification, today announced that its DegreeVerify service had reached a major
milestone with the addition of its 500th participating institution, Northwestern
University. DegreeVerify enables colleges and universities to outsource degree
verifications to the Clearinghouse. Recruiters, employers and other
organizations can instantaneously verify academic credentials for graduates of
these institutions online via the DegreeVerify Web site. DegreeVerify is free to
participating colleges and universities.
Launched two years ago, DegreeVerify is the nation's largest single source of
degree data, and contains information on more than 35% of all degrees awarded in
the US. The number of schools participating in DegreeVerify is growing at a rate
of one percent per month. The service is modeled after the Clearinghouse's
original student loan-based enrollment reporting service, which represents 91%
of the students enrolled in the nation's colleges and universities.
Participating in DegreeVerify frees schools from the administrative burden of
processing degree verifications. Schools that participate in DegreeVerify
appoint the Clearinghouse as their agent to disseminate degree information,
regularly provide it with updated degree data, and refer all degree verification
requests to the Clearinghouse. Requestors can confirm degrees via www.degreeverify.org,
manual verification, XML and Web services. The Clearinghouse is also the only
provider to support EDI and real-time options to our participating
institutions.
"Northwestern University is committed to providing the highest level of
service to our community. We chose DegreeVerify because it will give us the
opportunity to focus our energies on assisting our students and alumni, while
providing improved service to all of our constituents through the
Clearinghouse's 24/7 verification service," said Suzanne Anderson,
University Registrar and Director of the Student Enterprise System at
Northwestern University, "In addition, because Northwestern has already
benefited from the Clearinghouse's student loan verification program, we know we
can rely on them to fulfill our degree verification requirements."
"The Clearinghouse's role is to help our participating institutions do
more with less. Through DegreeVerify, we offer a secure, proven way for
institutions to completely outsource their degree verification processing at no
cost to them," said Daniel Boehmer, President of the National Student
Clearinghouse, "The rate at which colleges have embraced DegreeVerify
reflects the trust that the higher education community has placed in
Clearinghouse verification services since our inception 10 years
ago."
For a complete list of participating institutions and more information on the
DegreeVerify program, please visit the Clearinghouse website at www.degreeverify.org.
About The National Student Clearinghouse
The National Student Clearinghouse is the largest enrollment and degree
verification service in the US. A non-profit organization established by the
higher education community in 1993, the Clearinghouse serves as a central
repository and single point of contact for the collection and timely
exchange of accurate, comprehensive enrollment, degree and certificate
records on behalf of participating institutions.
More than 2,700 colleges, representing 91% of the nation's enrollment,
participate in the Clearinghouse. Student loan providers, employers, student
credit issuers, student health insurance providers, the federal government
and others access the Clearinghouse's registry over 100 million times
annually to conduct electronic student record verifications.
For more information, visit www.studentclearinghouse.org
Press Inquiries:
Kathleen Dugan
Marketing Director
703-742-4208
dugan@studentclearinghouse.org
