In a move to create efficiency, transparency, and opportunity for learners, the National Student Clearinghouse and AstrumU have launched PDF-to-Data, a machine-learning service that has demonstrated over 99% accuracy translating PDF transcripts into an industry-standard data format to enable automated ingestion. The resulting data will be used to optimize processes related to admissions, transfer credit, and financial aid.
“PDF-to-Data solves the longstanding problem of critical information trapped in a ‘digital paper’ format, like transcripts, that prevents easy access and sharing, and also paves the way for a second goal we share with the Clearinghouse: improving institutions’ and learners’ ability to stay ahead of our societal shift toward a competency-based marketplace,” said Adam Wray, CEO AstrumU. “Further, the easier we make the ‘process’ side of education and employment, the more time students and job seekers can spend on securing the right credentials and employers on more quickly identifying top candidates.”
Moving beyond decades-old OCR tools to leverage the latest machine-learning technology, PDF-to-Data seamlessly delivers PESC XML or TS130 EDI standard data files to an institution’s Clearinghouse account within minutes after a PDF transcript is received. The patented parsing engine models each sender’s transcript template and converts them while maintaining all critical relationships between data points in the output. The resulting transcript data files can be uploaded directly to existing CRM or student information systems without manual intervention, thereby reducing potential errors and allowing resources to be dedicated to more intensive needs. All of this is provided through a SaaS model thereby eliminating any hardware or software requirements for schools to manage transcript conversion.
“This PDF-to-Data transcript solution is a natural extension of the services and information we’ve long provided institutions and learners,” said Chris Goodson, Chief Growth Officer National Student Clearinghouse. “PDF-to-Data will simplify a crucial step in the existing process and help build a foundation for new ways to manage and maximize an education-to-career pathway that increasingly accounts for skills, certificates and non-degree credentials.”
National Student Clearinghouse President and CEO Rick Torres will speak on related issues at this year’s AstrumU Forum for Education & Enterprise (Washington DC, July 13) where his panel will cover “Rethinking the College to Career Pipeline.”
About National Student Clearinghouse
The National Student Clearinghouse, a nonprofit formed in 1993, is the trusted source for and leading provider of higher education verifications and electronic education record exchanges. Besides working with nearly 3,600 postsecondary institutions, the Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni.
Education partners throughout the nation trust the National Student Clearinghouse because they know we take our commitment to student privacy very seriously. We have maintained the confidentiality and privacy of the student records in our care since our beginning in 1993. The Clearinghouse is scrupulous in its concern for student privacy and compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects students’ privacy rights in their education records. For more details, visit studentclearinghouse.org.
About AstrumU
AstrumU® translates educational experiences into economic opportunity. We are on a mission to quantify the return on education investment for learners, education providers, and employers. We help institutions measure the value created for incoming and returning students, while assisting them in securing industry partnerships that lead students seamlessly into high-demand career pathways. Institutions partner with AstrumU® to drive enrollment and increase alumni and corporate engagement, while extending economic mobility opportunities inclusively to all learners.
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