Frequently Asked Questions

StudentTracker is a program 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.

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: 

• Utilizes enrollment and degree information obtained directly from the more than 3,100 collegiate institutions that collectively enroll over 91% of all US 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. There are no identifiable boundaries to hinder the tracking of your students. 
• Is very cost friendly!

Yes. All Clearinghouse programs, including StudentTracker, comply with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). Our compliance enables secondary high school or district and the Clearinghouse to safely and securely exchange data on high school graduates and their post-secondary enrollment and graduation achievements.

The total cost is $425 per high school per year.

Absolutely not! The Clearinghouse only returns information to the organization that sent us the original student data request so that they can track student progress and validate educational achievements.

College Enrollment Report includes: 

• Nationwide college enrollment and graduation totals for your high school or district 
• Summaries by high school of your alumni’s initial college choices after graduation, current college enrollment, and college graduation 
• All types of post-secondary institutions: in-state, out-of-state, two-year, four-year, public, private, trade school, vocational, etc. 
• Student unit level data from us that you can combine with your own data to analyze educational trends and patterns by any variable you choose 

DiplomaVerify (projected for late 2009) provides online verification of your alumni’s high school diplomas thereby replacing the administrative workload and expenses associated with diploma confirmation, while increasing the level of service you provide to employers and your alumni. 

The DiplomaVerify service includes: 

• 24/7 secure Web-based diploma confirmations performed on your behalf by the Clearinghouse for employers, colleges and others 
• Ability to review summaries and details of all your district’s online diploma verifications via our secure Web site

Student unit level data is returned to the registering organization so that they can combine it with their own data elements to produce further analyses, evaluations and trend projections.

You can send and receive electronic files in ASCII or Excel formats, programmed according to standard layout specifications provided by the Clearinghouse. Files can be transmitted over the Internet using secure File Transfer Protocol (FTP). Clearinghouse specialists are available to assist users and provide programming and file guidance.

School districts have completed the programming effort 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 spreadsheet format, which does not require computer programming.

The Clearinghouse uses secure computer systems and transmission protocols, encrypted files and operational safeguards. In addition, we take active defensive measures that 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.

• Sign a participation agreement with the Clearinghouse 

• Pay the invoice 

• Create and transmit your graduate file

Each year, you will automatically receive our College Enrollment Report on the college enrollment and achievements of your high school graduates nationwide (see our sample report). 

In addition, after your graduation data has been added to our database, we will notify the thousands of employers and background search firms that use our verification services that they can confirm diplomas awarded by your school district via our Web site. You can also begin referring requestors to us.

The Clearinghouse is a non-profit organization comprising more than 3,000 colleges and universities that enroll over 91% of all post-secondary students (including public, private, two-year, four-year, technical, etc.). These institutions continuously update our database of more than 80 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.

If you have further questions, please contact the Clearinghouse
at 703-742-4200 or service@studentclearinghouse.org.