Frequently Asked Questions
What Is StudentTracker?
StudentTracker is a service developed by the National Student Clearinghouse
that provides continuing collegiate enrollment and degree information on high
school alumni. It includes enrollment status and a graduation indicator
containing, in many instances, the specific degree(s) awarded and major course(s)
of study.
We Already Use Student
Surveys & State Reports,
Why Should We Use StudentTracker?
Surveys are often very expensive, have low response rates, and can produce
misleading results because respondents can provide answers that reflect
intentions rather than actual events. State reports often do not include private
or out-of-state institutions or go beyond the first year of college attendance.
On the other hand, StudentTracker:
- Uses enrollment and degree information from more than 3,300 collegiate
institutions that enroll over 92% of all U.S. higher education students
- Tracks
students through their entire collegiate experience
- Receives data from all types of institutions (two-year/ four-year,
graduate, public/private, trade, vocational, etc.) and every state in the
nation, D.C. and U.S. territories
- Is very cost effective
What Does The Service Include?
Each year, you will receive a comprehensive
report on the
postsecondary enrollment and graduation of your high school graduates that
includes:
- Aggregate data presented as more than 30 easy-to-read color graphs and
charts summarizing your graduates' college access, retention and completion rates:
- Percentage who enrolled in college after high school graduation and
when (i.e., immediately, during the first year, during the first two
years)
- Freshman-to-sophomore retention
- Percentage who have a college degree, if
available (requires at least six years of postsecondary enrollment
data)
- Number of years since high school graduation that it took your
students to obtain their first postsecondary degree
- Progress of a single class of students through postsecondary
education, including first enrollment, retention, re-enrollment after
stop outs, graduation, and drop outs
- Comparison between collegiate enrollment and graduation for: in-state
vs. out-of-state institutions, public vs. private institutions, and
two-year vs. four-year institutions
- List of the postsecondary institutions where your students most often
enrolled immediately after they graduated high school
- Individual student data that you can combine with your own information to
analyze educational trends and patterns by any variable you choose
How Often Will We Receive Reports?
You will receive a StudentTracker
report:
- After you sign up and submit your historic graduate data (see "How
Do We Implement StudentTracker")
- Once a year in the fall (prior to the annual report release, you will
receive a reminder to submit your new diploma records)
- Whenever you request a report during the year
Is Student Unit Level Data Shared With The High School Or
District?
Student unit level data is returned to the data provider along with
postsecondary entry, persistence, and completion information added by the
Clearinghouse.
Is StudentTracker FERPA-Compliant?
Yes. All Clearinghouse programs, including StudentTracker, comply with FERPA
(Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Our compliance enables secondary
high schools or districts and the Clearinghouse to safely and securely exchange
data on high school graduates and their postsecondary enrollment and graduation
achievements.
How Does The Clearinghouse Maintain Data Security?
The Clearinghouse uses secure computer systems and transmission protocols,
encrypted files and operational safeguards. In addition, we take proactive
measures to limit the risk of lost or stolen data. We have a multi-year record
of high-volume data transfer and storage without a single instance of loss.
Does The Clearinghouse Sell Student Lists For Commercial
Purposes?
Absolutely not! The Clearinghouse only returns information to the
organization that sent us the original student data request so they can
track student progress and validate educational achievements.
How Do We Implement StudentTracker?
- Sign a participation agreement with the Clearinghouse (available from your
Clearinghouse regional
representative)
- Pay the invoice
- Create and
transmit your graduate file
Once you return your signed agreement and pay the invoice, a StudentTracker
research analyst will contact you to guide you through implementation. You will
provide the Clearinghouse with a history file of your diploma recipients in an Excel format, including their names, birth dates, Social Security numbers (if
available), and diploma award dates. After each graduation period, you will send
us records of new diploma recipients.
You will receive step-by-step instructions on how to create your history file
and new graduate updates. Your StudentTracker research analyst will also tell
you how to set up your secure FTP account, where you will upload your files and
download your StudentTracker
reports.
How Much Does It Cost To Participate?
The cost is $425 per high school per year, which includes unlimited
use of StudentTracker. Updated reports can be requested at any time
during the year. You can also send as many files and request as many years worth
of data as you like during the year.
How Do We Exchange Information With The Clearinghouse?
You can send and receive student-level files in ASCII or Excel formats,
programmed according to standard layout specifications provided by the
Clearinghouse. Your StudentTracker aggregate report is provided to you as a PDF
file. Files are transmitted over the Internet using secure File
Transfer Protocol (FTP). Our StudentTracker research analysts are available
to assist users and provide programming and file exchange guidance.
How Much Computer Programming Time Is Required?
School districts have completed programming in as little as
five hours. Depending on the size of your district, you may be able to send
and receive information in an Excel format, which does not
require computer programming.
Do I Need Special Software To Access, View Or Print My Reports?
No. The aggregate report requires Adobe Reader 5.0 or higher to accurately
open and view. Most browsers already have the reader plug-in, which is available
as a free download from www.adobe.com.
The student-level detail report is delivered as a comma separated values (CSV)
file. This is a commonly-used data file format that you can open in Excel and
import into most database software.
What Is The National Student Clearinghouse?
The Clearinghouse is a non-profit organization comprising more than 3,300
colleges and universities that enroll over 92% of all postsecondary students. These
institutions continuously update our database of more than 100 million college
student records, the only one of its kind in the nation. Colleges use the
Clearinghouse's electronic process to streamline reporting of enrollment status
and degree verifications to authorized third parties, such as the Department of
Education, state loan guaranty agencies, other colleges and universities, and
secondary school districts.
How Do I Contact The Clearinghouse?
