Press Release

National Student Clearinghouse Reports Over 1,000 Colleges Accepted More Than 18,000 Katrina-Displaced Students From Six Closed Louisiana Colleges

 Where Did They Come From? Where Did They Go?

HERNDON, VA, November 16, 2005 - Among the many people displaced when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, were thousands of college students. Many of these students attended six Louisiana institutions that participate in the National Student Clearinghouse (the Clearinghouse). As the storm struck just prior to the beginning of the fall term and these six institutions were unable to resume normal operations for the fall, many students quickly applied to new colleges in order to continue their education.

The Clearinghouse, which provides academic reporting and verification services to more than 2,800 institutions, continues to work with Katrina-impacted colleges to track the re-enrollment of their students. Using its nationwide enrollment and degree database, which includes enrollment data for more than 91% of the nation's postsecondary students, the Clearinghouse has tracked the re-enrollment of more than 18,000 of the displaced students*. Additionally, the Clearinghouse was in a position to assist the more than 1,000 Clearinghouse participating institutions that accepted displaced students by verifying the students' previous enrollment which, in many cases, helped to speed their acceptance into their new institutions.

KATRINA'S IMPACTED COLLEGE STUDENTS 

• Six Clearinghouse participating institutions in Louisiana were unable to resume normal operations for the fall term: Delgado Community College, Dillard University, Loyola University of New Orleans, Tulane University, University of New Orleans, and Xavier University of Louisiana. 
• The Clearinghouse has identified the current enrollment for 18,602 students who attended these six Katrina-impacted colleges.* 
• Half of the impacted Clearinghouse colleges were public institutions; half were private institutions. This even split is reflected in the number of impacted students: 9,017, or 48.47%, moved from a public college; 9,585, or 51.53%, moved from a private college.* 
• 16,463, or 88.50%, of the students moved from a four-year college (only one of the impacted Clearinghouse institutions, Delgado Community College, is a two-year school).* 
• More than half of the students that moved came from two institutions, Tulane University (5,900 or 31.72%) and the University of New Orleans (4,702 or 25.28%).*

WHERE DID KATRINA-IMPACTED STUDENTS GO? 

• 1,017 institutions that participate in the Clearinghouse have accepted Katrina-impacted students. These institutions are located in every state as well as the District of Columbia. 
• Colleges in 10 states accepted nearly three-quarters of all identified Katrina-impacted students. Nearly half of the students moved to institutions in Texas or enrolled in other Louisiana institutions.* (See the table below for a breakdown of the top 10 receiving states.)

• Although slightly more than half of the students had been enrolled in a private college, nearly three-quarters enrolled in public institutions (13,631 or 73.28%) compared to private institutions (4,971 or 26.72%).* 
• Almost 12% of the students had been enrolled in two-year schools. Only 1,013 or 5.45% moved to two-year or less schools.* 
• Louisiana State University accepted the largest number of Katrina-impacted students (3,271 or 17.58%).*

Because these impacted institutions participate in the Clearinghouse, the Clearinghouse was able to facilitate the admission of their students by providing online enrollment confirmations to transfer-in institutions. In addition, the Clearinghouse is providing online enrollment and degree verification to Katrina-impacted colleges that participate in its EnrollmentVerify and DegreeVerify services. These services ensure that the enrollment and degree records of displaced students and alumni can continue to be verified by potential employers and others while their colleges concentrate on recovery efforts.

*Enrollment counts are for National Student Clearinghouse participating institutions only.

Read the coverage in The Chronicle of Higher Education.

About The National Student Clearinghouse®

The National Student Clearinghouse (a non-profit formed in 1993) is the unique and trusted source for higher education enrollment and degree verifications. 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 3,300 participating higher education institutions, which represent over 92% of the national enrollment.

Through its verification and reporting services, the Clearinghouse saves higher education institutions cumulatively more than a hundred 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. All Clearinghouse services are operated in full compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

In addition, the Clearinghouse provides accurate FERPA compliant verifications to student loan providers, employers, student credit issuers, student health insurance providers, the U.S. Department of Education, and others who access its registry more than 100 million times annually.

For more information, visit www.studentclearinghouse.org.

For Questions About This Press Release Only, Contact:
Kathleen Dugan
Marketing Director
703-742-4208
dugan@studentclearinghouse.org

For Help With or Questions About Any Clearinghouse Service, Contact:
703-742-4200
service@studentclearinghouse.org