National Student Clearinghouse and Paradigm, Inc. to Provide Students and Institutions a Secure, Portable, Certified eDiploma
Organizations Align to Fight Credential Fraud, an Estimated $2 Billion Worldwide Market
HERNDON, VA—(March 26, 2018)–The National Student Clearinghouse® and Paradigm, Inc. of Virginia Beach, Va., announced today a strategic alliance to provide students the CeDiploma® — a digitally signed electronic diploma, which is validated at the domains of universities and colleges. The CeDiploma provides students, institutions and employers credentials in a secure, portable and verifiable format.
“Paradigm partners with the issuing institutions, universities, colleges, certifying boards, etc., to produce the exact digital version of the paper original,” said Christopher Jackson, CEO of Paradigm, Inc. “Each CeCredential allows anyone to quickly obtain real-time proof of education from the issuing institution. With other eDiploma solutions, validation is almost always issued by a vendor. We feel only the issuing institution can validate its own credentials and provide the necessary confidence in a global market place. This is one of the corner stones of the CeDiploma.”
“The Paradigm CeDiploma is the ultimate solution for the portability of one of the most important academic artifacts in life,” said Rick Torres, CEO and president of the National Student Clearinghouse. “The National Student Clearinghouse is excited to welcome the CeDiploma to the family of digital certifications that students will be able to order from the Clearinghouse, during the 2018-19 academic year.”
Credentials are a currency, which explains why credential fraud is now estimated to be a $2 billion worldwide market. Furthermore, diploma mills have given way to sensational news headlines of fraud and deception. The paper credential when used for transactions to obtain a job or a visa needs a 21st Century solution. The solution is a secure, digital credential that can be validated real-time by the credentialing institution.
Employers, governments and other validating entities need to know, unequivocally, that the credential they are viewing is authentic and has not been revoked or rescinded. Only the issuer of the credential, such as a university, can offer the resultant confidence, which is the cornerstone of all CeCredentials.
Students earning a college degree domestically and abroad has exploded and will reach 8 million by 2025, according to Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development data. The importance of validated credentials cannot be overstated; they are currency and can be used to procure jobs, visas, licenses and anything that requires proof of education.
First conceived in 2006 and after years of careful development, the CeDiploma was first offered to Stanford University’s class of 2014. Years later the CeDiploma is now being offered by some of the most prestigious universities and colleges in America.
The CeDiploma benefits include:
- Real-time validation with audit trail on school’s official website
- Highly secure, portable and exact digital version of paper diploma
- Officially accepted by governments and credentialing bodies
- Recognized as official proof of education
- Can be shared unlimited times
- Digital signature notifies recipient if the credential has been altered
- Easily revoked, rescinded or reactivated by the school at any time
About the 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.
The Clearinghouse serves as a single point of contact for the collection and timely exchange of accurate and comprehensive enrollment, degree, and certificate records on behalf of its more than 3,600 participating higher education institutions, which represent 98 percent of all students in public and private U.S. institutions. The Clearinghouse also provides thousands of high schools and districts with continuing collegiate enrollment, progression, and completion statistics on their alumni.
Through its verification, electronic exchange, and reporting services, the Clearinghouse saves the education community cumulatively over $750 million annually. Most Clearinghouse services are provided to colleges and universities at little or no charge, including enhanced transcript and research services, enabling institutions to redistribute limited staff and budget resources to more important student service efforts. Clearinghouse services are designed to facilitate an institution’s compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, The Higher Education Act, and other applicable laws. The Clearinghouse has signed the Student Privacy Pledge and is the first recipient of ikeepsafe.org’s FERPA compliance badge, which was awarded to its StudentTracker for High Schools service. For more information, visit www.studentclearinghouse.org.
About Paradigm, Inc.
Paradigm, Inc., based in Virginia Beach, Va., entered the diploma industry in 1991 as it saw a demand for major improvements in the paper diploma market. First conceived in 2006, after years of careful development, the Certified Electronic diploma (CeDiploma®) was first offered to Stanford University’s class of 2014. Years later the CeDiploma is now being offered by some of the most prestigious universities and colleges in America. CeDiploma, powered by CeCredential Trust™, a division of Paradigm, is the market leader in the generation of secure, portable certified electronic credentials. For more details, go to http://www.paradigm-corp.com/
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