ASSIST and the National Student Clearinghouse:
A Comparison
National Student Clearinghouse
National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) contains enrollment and degree data submitted by over 3,600 colleges and universities — enrolling 98% of all students in public and private U.S. institutions. Submission of enrollment data is separate from submission of degree data, so a participating institution may submit one or both. The NSC StudentTracker component allows institutions to receive high-level data by identifiable student if the student has authorized release of the data. Institutions submit data several times during a semester, starting a few weeks before the semester starts and continuing until approx one month after the semester ends.
ASSIST
The Arizona Statewide System for Information on Student Transfers (ASSIST) contains enrollment and degree data on students attending Arizona’s public universities (3) and community college districts (10). ASSIST allows institutions to receive detailed student-level data that is anonymous (i.e. unidentifiable to a specific person). Universities submit partial data for a semester about 2 months into the semester, and the remaining data about 2 months after the semester ends. Community colleges submit data for an academic year, about 9 months after the academic year ends.
