FAQs for Core Users

This situation can occur for various reasons. Here are several questions you can answer that will allow you to identify and correct the problem.

• Was your enrollment data reported on schedule? Check our secure Web site to find out when you were scheduled to deliver your enrollment data to us, when your data was actually submitted, and when the Clearinghouse processed it. The Clearinghouse cannot notify your students' lenders until you submit data to us. If you are late in submitting your data to us, we cannot pass updated enrollment information onto your students' lenders and guarantors in a timely fashion, which may result in lenders prematurely contacting your student borrowers for repayment. You may wish to talk to your staff about the importance of adhering to your Clearinghouse schedule, as they may not be aware of the consequences when data arrives late.
  
  On our secure Web site, you can also find out when the Clearinghouse electronically notified an individual student's lenders and when we completed that student's deferment forms. If your school does not already have a password to our secure site, call us at 703-742-4200 or e-mailing service@studentclearinghouse.org.
• How far is your end-of-registration period from the beginning of the term? If your end-of-registration period occurs significantly after the beginning of the term, you may want to schedule an "early registration file". Submitting an early registration file enables the Clearinghouse to send out enrollment information almost as soon as the term begins rather than waiting several weeks.
• Is the student enrolled in a special program of study? If so, the student may be enrolled part-time at your school and part-time somewhere else, with neither school reporting the student as full-time and thus eligible for deferment.

Once your data is received, we check it thoroughly for accuracy. After it has passed our edits and we have resolved any discrepancies with you, we compare your school's enrollment list to our student loan borrowers list, provided by our participating guarantors and lenders. When we find or "match" students who appear on both your list and the lender/guarantor lists, the Clearinghouse electronically passes them onto to those students' lenders and guarantors. Non-participating lenders and servicers receive enrollment data from their guarantors.

In addition, the Department of Education, guarantors, lenders, and servicers use the Clearinghouse to check student enrollment status, either current or historical. For example, the NSLDS submits borrower files to the Clearinghouse as frequently as every 30 days. We update the borrowers' enrollment status and return the files to the NSLDS, ensuring your schools' compliance with federal regulations. Some lenders send deferment forms to students, which are then forwarded to us by our participating schools to complete using the enrollment data they have provided to us. Many Clearinghouse guarantors, lenders, and servicers query our participating institutions' data directly through our secure Web site to verify the dates when students graduated or withdrew.

The federal government requires schools to provide an anticipated graduation date (AGD) for each student. Lenders depend on AGDs to determine the start of their collection process if they have not been notified of the students' actual graduation or withdrawal from school. The AGD is also used to schedule the exit interview process for students. In addition, AGDs enable lenders to validate student deferments until the AGD (or until the student withdraws or graduates) and not just for the current term.

If a lender participates in the Clearinghouse, we provide the requested information. The Clearinghouse has a contractual relationship with its participants, ensuring that their requests are authorized and legitimate. Non-Clearinghouse lenders, however, must submit their enrollment verification to us through the school.

Students should only call the Clearinghouse if they have a problem that cannot be resolved in your office. Most student questions can be answered by accessing our secure Web site or contacting the student's servicer. (To obtain a password to our secure Web site, send an e-mail to service@studentclearinghouse.org. Please include your school address and phone and fax numbers.)

No. It is much more efficient — and the student will likely receive the deferment quicker — if deferment forms are regularly bundled together and sent to the Clearinghouse by the school rather than individually by students.

Please instruct your students to return their deferment forms to you. That way, you can be sure that only the appropriate forms are sent to the Clearinghouse.

Forward FFELP and Direct Loan program deferment forms to the Clearinghouse. Please make sure that your students fill out the deferment forms before you forward them to us, including the lender's name and address and the student's Social Security Number.

If you like, for a fee of $1.50 per certification, we can also process Perkins and private loan program deferment forms. This fee is waived if your institution participates in our free EnrollmentVerify service.

Participating lenders and servicers regularly receive an electronic exchange of enrollment data on their borrowers directly from Clearinghouse. Non-participating lenders and servicers receive enrollment data from their guarantors. All guarantors currently participate in the Clearinghouse.

Servicers that do not yet participate in the Clearinghouse still request paper deferment forms. However, most of the largest servicers offer "paperless deferments" whereby students from a Clearinghouse school can request a deferment over the phone. These servicers rely on electronic enrollment status supplied by the Clearinghouse instead of using paper forms.

The Clearinghouse will continue to remain free to schools as long as participating lenders/servicers and guarantors continue to underwrite the costs. This means it's important for you to let your servicers and guarantors know that you think the Clearinghouse provides a valuable service and that you appreciate their role in making it possible.

1. Direct the auditor to the Clearinghouse's online Audit Resource Center for a copy our annual audit summary report. 

2. Provide the auditor with a print out of your NSLDS SSCR processing history from the Core tab of our school secure site, which shows when the SSCR was received and completed. 

3. If your auditor requests additional information, email the Audit Resource Team for assistance at auditresource@studentclearinghouse.org.

You can verify that your information has been processed by checking the secure portion of this web site. If you do not yet have a password, you can obtain one by calling 703-742-4200 or e-mailing service@studentclearinghouse.org.

You should not report a student who did not attend your current term. The Clearinghouse calculates the student’s last date of attendance for you based on the student’s enrollment history.

The two most common errors are: 

1. Decreasing in status without the new start date (201 error) 

2. Not reporting students previously enrolled in the term (208 error)

Print out the errors displayed on our Online Error Resolution application and take the list to your student information system vendor or IT department. These data elements are in your system and should be extracted when you create your files. Ask your IT staff to explain why these data elements were omitted or have them correct the omission.

Sending summer data to the Clearinghouse enables us to accurately report the student’s last date of attendance and provide a complete enrollment history for the student. It also allows the student to obtain enrollment verifications from our secure Web site, if you participate in our free Student Self-Service.

No. An early registration file is not necessary for non-standard terms (although, if you participate in Student Self-Service, we recommend that you submit an advanced registration file).

You should confirm that the student’s Social Security number is correct in your student information system (typos and transposed numbers happen all the time). If it is correct, fax a copy of the Social Security card or other government-issued ID to the Clearinghouse’s secure fax number, 703-742-7792. If it is incorrect, correct the student’s Social Security number in your student information system to ensure that we receive the correction in your next data file.

You can submit updates and changes to your transmission schedule via the online form under the Core tab on our school secure site. (A faxable version of the form is available in the Core tab’s Resource Center.)

At your request, the Clearinghouse will append the graduated status from your DegreeVerify file to your enrollment record once you submit your DegreeVerify file after the term ends.

While we advise that you report all students to the Clearinghouse, whether or not you report non-degree seeking students depends on your school’s policy.

We recommend that you report your first-of-term file after the first add/drop period, which usually occurs two to three weeks into the term. To ensure your institution’s compliance, your first-of-term file must be received, processed, and reported to the lending community within 30 days of the term begin date.

Early registration file can be submitted 30 days before the term’s start date and up to five days after the term begins.

Call our Customer Support staff at 703-742-4200, or e-mail your questions to service@studentclearinghouse.org.