National Student Clearinghouse

“Form 990, part iii, line 4a education data exchange services: on behalf of participating post-secondary institutions, the clearinghouse provides a central authenticated data exchange platform among participating educational institutions to meet their collective need for the secure and confidential transfer and access to academic data. The clearinghouse provides a transcript ordering platform, which is available to all participating institutions, which processed orders for over 4 million transcripts from the institution's students to: 1) other post-secondary institutions for consideration of student enrollment applications. 2) employers so that participating institutions can support the transition of students to gainful employment and preserve the integrity of the education system by eliminating fraud.”

“Form 990, part iii, line 4b loan verification services: on behalf of participating post-secondary institutions enrolling 97% of the u.s. Student population, the clearinghouse completed all required student loan enrollment verification activities. All related student verification records were reported to the u.s. Department of education, all state and non-profit guarantee agencies, and the student loan servicing organizations.”

“Form 990, part iii, line 4c degree verification services: on behalf of participating post-secondary institutions and for the purpose of preserving the integrity of the education system by enhancing the accuracy of education information and eliminating fraud, the clearinghouse is authorized to maintain a comprehensive degree database and is authorized as their agent to provide limited access in the portions of these data verifying degree attainment for: 1) other post-secondary institutions and higher education organizations so that they could comply with the u.s. Department of education mandated performance reporting. 2) employers so that institutions can support the transition of student and graduates to gainful employment. 3) providers of benefits to graduates dependent on graduate status.”

“Form 990, part iii, line 4d research services: on behalf of participating post-secondary institutions, the clearinghouse is authorized to maintain a database of the college enrollment and degree data for more than 3,600 participating colleges and universities which enables administrators at high schools, colleges and universities, and other education organizations to access student data to perform educational research and analyses. Research services also performs analysis on these data based on customer- defined requirements to further the assessments made regarding the success of various academic programs at the local, state, and national levels; enable mandatory state and federal outcomes reporting; and facilitate improvement to the quality of the k-20 education system. Enrollment verification services: on behalf of participating post- secondary institutions, the clearinghouse is authorized to maintain a comprehensive enrollment database and is authorized as their agent to provide limited access in the portions of these data verifying student records to providers of benefits to students and graduates dependent on enrollment status to preserve the integrity of the education system by eliminating fraud.”

“Form 990, Part V, Line 2A NSC reported issuing 261 Forms W2 on its 2016 Form W3; however, of this amount, 8 employees were assigned to work for NSC Research Center, a related entity.”

“Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 1A When the Board of Directors is not in session, the Executive Committee shall have and may exercise all of the powers of the Board of Directors, except to the extent, if any, that such authority shall be limited by resolution of the entire Board of Directors; provided, however, that neither the Executive Committee nor any other committee shall have the power to amend the Articles of Incorporation or these Bylaws of the Corporation, or to elect or remove any Director or officer, or to amend or repeal any resolution of the Board of Directors (or committee thereof) unless by its terms such resolution may be amended or repealed.”

“Form 990, Part VI, Section A, Line 4 On May 23, 2017, the Board of Directors of the National Student Clearinghouse revised the organizations bylaws to no longer require that directors represent either the education finance industry, educational institutions, or the general public. Under the revised bylaws, the qualifications for directors are stated as follows: The Board of Directors shall consist of individuals representing Educational Institutions as well as individuals with expertise in subject matter areas identified by the Board as providing the most value to the management of the business and affairs of the Clearinghouse. THE FOLLOWING LINE WAS CHANGED IN THE ORGANIZATION'S OPERATIONS COMMITTEE CHARTER: 3. MONITOR THE CLEARINGHOUSE COMPUTER SYSTEM POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.”

“Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 11b FORM 990 IS PREPARED BY THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT AND REVIEWED BY INDEPENDENT TAX ADVISORS. IN ACCORDANCE WITH NSCS POLICY COMPLETE FORM 990 IS PRESENTED TO THE FULL BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR REVIEW. FORM 990 IS REVIEWED BY ALL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD PRIOR TO THE SUBMISSION OF THE FORM TO THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE.”

“Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Line 12C Board members are provided with the conflict of interest policy on an annual basis and required to complete a form acknowledging the policy and disclosing any conflicts. The policy includes a requirement that any new conflicts that may arise during the course of the year be reported to the chairman of the board. Beginning in August, 2009 a parallel process was instituted for corporate officers. Procedures for evaluating potential conflicts are incorporated in the policy. Any Director who may be involved in a Clearinghouse business transaction in which there is a possible conflict of interest shall promptly notify the Chairman of the Board. The Chairman, or at the direction of the Chairman, The President of the Clearinghouse shall promptly inform the entire Board of such potential conflict. The affected Director shall not vote on any such transaction, participate in deliberations concerning it, or use personal influence in any way in the matter. The Director will be excused from the portion of any meeting discussing the transaction and the Directors presence may not be counted in determining the quorum for any vote with respect to a Clearinghouse business transaction in which he or she has a possible conflict of interest. Furthermore, the Director, or the Chairman in the Directors absence, shall note a potential conflict of interest to the other Directors before any vote on a Clearinghouse business transaction and such disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting at which it was made. In the event of potential conflict involves the Chairman of the Board, the Vice Chairman shall act in the place of the Chairman for the purposes of this policy. Any Board of Directors shall not approve any transaction which involves a potential conflict of interest with a Director unless and until the Board of Directors has specifically and in good faith determined after reasonable investigation (including a review of the terms upon which other comparable organizations enter transactions or arrangements similar to the one under consideration) that: a. The Board is aware of all material facts concerning the transaction and the director or officers interest in the transaction; b. The Clearinghouse is entering into the transaction for its own benefit; c. The transaction is fair and reasonable as to the Clearinghouse; d. The Clearinghouse could not have obtained a more advantageous arrangement with reasonable effort under the circumstances. Management shall be responsible for providing the Board with sufficient information so that the Board can assess the fairness and reasonableness of the compensation involved.”

“Form 990, Part VI, Section B, Lines 15A & 15b The board of directors conducts an independent outside compensation analysis for the CEO each year that is used to monitor the appropriateness of his compensation. A similar process is completed by the Managing Director of Corporate Services for the other executives. Periodically, NSC hires an outside firm to conduct a compensation analysis for the non-executive employee positions. Another firm that completes our affirmative action plan also compares compensation among ethnicity and gender to assess fairness. At merit increase time, the Managing Director of Corporate Services does a review of compensation by workgroup to determine whether any adjustments are required to bring people with like positions and experience to a comparable compensation level. The board approves the compensation of the CEO and other officers. Deliberations and decisions are documented contemporaneously in the minutes of the board of directors.”

“Form 990, Part VI, Section C, Line 19 Governing documents, including the conflict of interest policy, are available to the public by request to the corporate secretary. Financial statements are available to participants in our services under the terms of our contracts with them and to individuals by request to the treasurer.”