Financial Value Transparency & Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) FAQs


Last Updated: November 6, 2024

Latest Additions/Updates: The most recent FAQs additions and/or major changes.

Legislation

What is the Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) Act?

It is new legislation enacted to create a transparency and accountability framework by which the Department of Education (ED) can assess “whether career programs meet the statutory requirement of preparing students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation.” Per ED’s fact sheet:

“Under the GE program accountability framework, the Department [of Education] assesses whether career programs meet the statutory requirement of preparing students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation using two separate and independent metrics…a debt-to-earnings rate and a new earnings premium test.”

The Financial Value Transparency (FVT) scope expands reporting requirements well beyond those programs identified as Gainful Employment (GE) programs. Under the July 1, 2024, regulation, institutions will be required to report all programs that share the same four-digit CIP code and have had 30 or more completers in total over the four most recent award years for both GE and non-GE programs. This includes the total number of recipients and non-recipients of Title IV and HEA funds enrolled in the program as well as student-level data for all recipients of Title IV and HEA funds. These reporting requirements are a significant expansion over the 2014 GE regulations that were rescinded July 1, 2019.

What is the difference between the FVT and GE regulations?

Per Federal Student Aid (FSA) in its FSA Dear Colleague Letter (GEN-24-04):

“The FVT regulations are designed to improve the quality and availability of information provided directly to students about the costs, sources of financial aid, and outcomes of students enrolled in all title IV, HEA (Title IV) eligible programs. These regulations establish two measures: the debt-to-earnings measure and the earnings premium measure. The regulations also establish performance benchmarks for each measure to determine whether the program may have adverse financial consequences to students. These requirements apply to both Gainful Employment Programs (GE Programs) and Eligible Non-GE Programs, but do not affect program eligibility for Non-GE programs.

The GE regulations establish an accountability framework for GE Programs that uses the same earnings premium and debt-to-earnings measures to determine whether a GE program remains eligible for Title IV funds. These requirements can affect program eligibility and apply only to GE Programs. The GE regulations do not apply to Eligible Non-GE Programs.”

Where are the federal regulations for FVT and GE?

How does FVT/GE impact my institution?

Even if your institution does not offer ANY programs classified as GE-eligible under the new regulations, you must report any non-GE programs and the students attending those programs, including all recipients of Title IV and HEA funds. Essentially, this means that nearly EVERY participating Clearinghouse institution will be impacted by the FVT/GE legislation reporting requirements and should anticipate having to meet the reporting requirements by the January 15, 2025* deadline.

The FVT/GE act requires institutions to report extensive financial aid and institutional cost data elements during a time when they have no resources to spare to build and support complex new compliance processes. As your partner, the Clearinghouse is committed to alleviating your administrative burden for complying with the FVT/GE reporting requirements through a new and free solution that will enable low-effort data submission/extraction, data access, benchmarking, evaluation, and outcomes reporting.

The Clearinghouse’s Free Solution

What will the Clearinghouse’s free FVT/GE reporting solution include?

  • Data Identification and Augmentation: Using enrollment and degree data from your institution and NSLDS, we will expertly identify your institution’s student groups. Then deploying a validated process that examines 20 years of enrollment and financial aid history, with unparalleled accuracy, the Clearinghouse will add students to your institution’s standard or transitional cohort file (see “What information do I need to report for FVT/GE?”) and, starting with the first reporting due by January 15, 2025,* your annual cohort file (see “How do the standard, transitional, and annual cohort reporting options differ?”).
  • Data Streamlining, Integrity, and Accuracy: With the assistance of your institution’s FVT/GE contact, we will complete the validation and data augmentation process. In addition, we will ensure your data passes a robust series of validations to prevent records from being rejected downstream by NSLDS.
  • Data Streamlining, Augmenting, and Access Provisioning: Your institution will be able to easily access your Completers List, including updating students who graduated using our Enrollment Reporting service. Through a user-friendly and dynamic interface on our secure site, your institution officials can confidently review your draft Completers List and identify the updates required. Using the downloadable worksheet with all the updates, your institution can then conveniently reference the updates required in NSLDS, This feature ensures your institution’s reporting is as up-to-date and accurate as possible before the debt-to-earnings calculations are determined.

 

Activating the Clearinghouse Solution

How do I sign up for the FVT/GE service?

Contact your Clearinghouse Regional Relationship Manager or email GEreporting@Studentclearinghouse.org for an addendum.

Important Note Watch our on-demand webinar, “FVT/GE: Sign up for Success with the Clearinghouse,” which will walk you through our FVT/GE service activation. Register for the webinar now.

How soon after you receive our signed amendment will you contact us?

Our Activations team will connect with you within 3-5 business days after we receive your signed amendment to start the activation process and assist you throughout the process.

Will there be dedicated role types for FVT/GE administrators at our institution and, if so, who will assign them?

Yes. The role types are “Financial Aid Officer” and “Financial Aid Viewer.” Your institution’s Clearinghouse user administrator can manage access and role types, including assigning the Financial Aid Officer or Financial Aid Viewer roles.

Although each role can be assigned to more than one user, you should not assign both roles to the same user. In addition, the Financial Aid Officer role must be assigned to at least one user at your institution because it is the role responsible for updating and submitting FVT/GE data for your institution.

Both roles require a Web user ID and will receive system-generated email alerts related to FVT/GE.

  • Financial Aid Officer: Has access to manage your institution’s FVT/GE reporting on the Clearinghouse secure site, including the ability to correct, download, and upload data. The user must also be assigned the Submission Data or Submission Data Alternate role in order to correct and upload data for your FVT/GE reporting.
  • Financial Aid Viewer: Has view-only access and can download reports on the Clearinghouse secure site but cannot correct or upload data.

Do I need to update my TG mailbox on the NSLDS site?

The Clearinghouse Activations team will work with you after you have signed and returned the amendment to get your TG Mailbox updated with the Central Processing System (CPS) and NSLDS.

What if my school has not yet been activated with the Clearinghouse FVT/GE service and we receive the Completers List in our TG Mailbox on the NSLDS site?

You should start reviewing your Completers List to ensure your graduated students are included. Once your service is activated, our Clearinghouse Activations team will instruct you on how to request an ad hoc Completers list.

How does FVT/GE impact my enrollment reporting to the Clearinghouse?

Corrections to your Completers List are driven directly by updates to the enrollment data you provide to the Clearinghouse and, subsequently, by the data the Clearinghouse provides to the NSLDS on your behalf. You will have multiple opportunities to address discrepancies on your Completers list by updating the data via our Enrollment Reporting service.

  • For data that has been reported to the Clearinghouse that may need to be added to your Completers List: The Clearinghouse will provide you with a list of these students for review in the Completers List portion of our FVT/GE application.
    • You can identify students who you want to add to your Completers List.
    • After you have reviewed and confirmed these students, we will generate and push an adds file to the NSLDS to augment your Completers List data.
  • For data that is on the draft Completers List but not reflected in the Clearinghouse: The Clearinghouse will provide you with a list of these students for review in the Completers List portion of our FVT/GE application.
    • You can provide the updated Graduated status and Program Status Effective Date for each student/program combination.
    • Once you’ve marked this section complete, it will generate a Graduates Only file within our Enrollment Reporting application for your Submission Data and/or Submission Data Alternate contacts to review and process.

You can also use our secure site’s Student Look-Up tab to update these students or submit a separate Graduates Only file (see our Enrollment Reporting Programming & Testing Guide) using the same method you use to submit scheduled enrollment files (e.g., secure FTP). This ensures the updated enrollment reporting is available for both the NSLDS SSCR Roster Distribution process and your FVT/GE Draft Completers List. Your Submission Data or Submission Data Alternate contact will need to make these updates.

Can I participate in the Clearinghouse’s free FVT/GE reporting solution if my institution is behind in its enrollment reporting?

No, your institution must be active and up to date with the Clearinghouse Enrollment Reporting service to participate in our FVT/GE reporting solution service. The Clearinghouse will leverage enrollment data for multiple award years to meet FVT/GE requirements for the Completers List, Student Level Report, and Program Level Report.

To check if your institution is current with Enrollment Reporting,

  • Log in with your Web User ID at studentclearinghouse.org.
  • Select the “Student Reporting” tab.
  • Click the “Data Reporting Dashboard” link.
  • Scroll down to the “Reporting” section and select the “Enrollment Reporting (Submission Schedule)” tile.
  • The “Scheduled Transmission Date” column of the “Future Transmission” tab of the table will reflect a future scheduled transmission date for the current academic term if you are current with Enrollment Reporting. If there are multiple scheduled transmission dates in the past, your institution is behind in its enrollment reporting.

If your school is behind in its enrollment reporting and you need assistance, please contact schoolops@studentclearinghouse.org.

What if my institution has two or more branches that are active with the Clearinghouse’s Enrollment Reporting service?

Your Clearinghouse FVT/GE service will be set up for the 6-digit OPEID-level main branch. Typically, for most institutions, this is branch 00.

For the FVT/GE role types, Financial Aid Officer and Financial Aid Viewer, access must be granted at the main 8-digit OPEID that corresponds to your institution. For example, if your main branch is 001234-00, it is the branch that must correspond with either of these role types to access your institution’s FVT/GE reporting page on the Clearinghouse secure site.

Which administrator(s) at our institution should be designated as the “Service Activation Contact” and “Executive Contact” on the Clearinghouse FVT/GE addendum?

Your institution can designate whomever you determine is the best fit to be the “Service Activation Contact” and “Executive Contact” for your FVT/GE service amendment at your discretion.

Do the FVT/GE roles need to be assigned to the same individuals who have assigned roles for our Enrollment Reporting service?

No. The assignment of the Financial Aid Officer and Financial Aid Viewer roles for viewing and reporting your FVT/GE data is determined by your institution, and do not need be designated to any specific person or department. Some institutions are preparing for FVT/GE by collaborating cross-departmentally. Therefore, contacts within your registrar, financial aid, institutional research offices, etc., could assume ownership of your institution’s FVT/GE regulation reporting.

FVT/GE Programs

What is an eligible program?

An eligible program is one that qualifies for federal aid (Title IV, HEA, including considerations for federal grants) and leads to an associate, bachelor’s, professional, or graduate degree. 34 CFR 668.8 provides specific details about program eligibility qualifiers, including the minimum length of instruction to qualify.

What is an ineligible program?

A program that does not qualify for federal aid.

What is a GE program?

Per Federal Student Aid (FSA) in its FSA Dear Colleague Letter (GEN-24-04):

“All nondegree programs (e.g., certificate programs, diploma programs) that lead to recognized credentials at public and private nonprofit institutions are GE Programs except for CTP programs and prison education programs.

All educational programs offered by for-profit (proprietary) institutions are GE Programs except for CTP programs and a limited number of bachelor’s degree programs in liberal arts if the institution has been regionally accredited since October 2007 and the program has been offered by the institution since January 2009 under 34 CFR 600.5(a)(5)(i)(B). These bachelor’s degree programs in the liberal arts offered by proprietary institutions are Eligible Non-GE Programs, but are not GE Programs.

Some institutions offer degree programs where students may also be awarded a non-degree credential (e.g., certificate, diploma) after completing a portion of the degree program. Such programs are generally not considered GE Programs at non-profit and public institutions. However, a program where a significant number of the students enrolled in the program do not actually earn the degree and withdraw after obtaining the certificate may be, upon review, determined to be a non-degree program. In that case, the certificate program would then be considered a separate GE Program.”

What is a non-GE program?

Per Federal Student Aid (FSA) in its FSA Dear Colleague Letter (GEN-24-04):

“Eligible Non-GE Programs include all Title IV eligible programs, including degree programs, at public, private non-profit, and proprietary institutions, with the exceptions described above.”

Which programs must be included in FVT reporting?

GE programs and eligible non-GE programs.

How do I determine if any of my school’s graduate-level programs qualify as graduate programs for GE reporting?

According to page 5 of the NSLDS Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) User Guide:

“A qualifying graduate program is a program whose students must complete required postgraduation training programs to obtain licensure to practice in the field. Such programs must be accredited by an agency that meets State requirements if a State has such requirements for licensure. In order to be considered a qualifying graduate program, at least half of a program’s graduates must obtain licensure in a State where the postgraduation training requirements apply. Refer to the GEN-24-04 Regulatory Requirements for Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment for more information.”

What are the separate report requirements for FVT/GE?

There are three reports:

  1. Student Level Report
    a. Schools must select from two cohort options, either standard or transitional
  2. Program Level Report
  3. Completers List

What is a completer?

A student who graduated from the program. Completers are not withdrawn students.

Completers List

What is the Financial Value Transparency/Gainful Employment (FVT/GE) Completers List?

The FVT/GE Completers List is created by NSLDS using your institution’s Enrollment Reporting data. The list contains students who completed a GE or eligible non-GE program during the applicable cohort period. Ultimately, this list will be used, in conjunction with the student detail and program files, to determine a program’s debt-to-earnings (D/E) and earnings premium (EP) rates. If your institution partners with the Clearinghouse for FVT/GE reporting, the Clearinghouse will post the FVT/GE Completers Lists we receive from NSLDS on our secure site for your review.

If we plan to use the Clearinghouse’s FVT/GE solution, should my institution follow the NSLDS SAIG enrollment instructions in FSA’s June 13, 2024, Electronic Announcement?

No. If you sign up for the Clearinghouse’s FVT/GE reporting solution, you should not follow the NSLDS SAIG instructions. The Clearinghouse is working directly with Central Processing System (CPS) for SAIG to finalize the TG mailbox designation for institutions participating in Clearinghouse FVT/GE. This includes our enrolling your institution in FVT/GE reporting if your institution is already enrolled in the Clearinghouse’s NSLDS batch service for enrollment reporting.

How will the FVT/GE Completers List process work if my institution partners with the Clearinghouse for FVT/GE reporting?

NSLDS will create the Draft FVT/GE Completers List for your institution (6-digit OPEID) and send it to the Clearinghouse.

If students need to be added to the FVT/GE Completers List, you can update the students and programs on our secure site, and then the Clearinghouse will submit those students to NSLDS on your behalf. After a 60-day correction period, NSLDS will use the updated information to create the Final FVT/GE Completers List. The Clearinghouse will retain your institution’s Final FVT/GE Completers List on the secure site for your review.

How are Graduated programs shown as excluded on the FVT/GE Completers List?

Students with excluded programs will still appear on the FVT/GE Completers List but with one of the indicators below specifying the program should be excluded from D/E and EP measures calculations:

  • Deceased
  • In-School
  • Disabled
  • Completed a Higher Undergraduate Credential Program
  • Completed a Higher Graduate Credential Program
  • Comprehensive Transition and Postsecondary (CTP) Program
  • Approved Prison Education Program

How do I add missing Graduated (G) students to the Completers List?

If your institution participates in the Clearinghouse, you can review the Completers List Worksheet on our secure site. On the Completers List Worksheet, you can sort, filter, add, and remove students from your Draft Completers List.

There may be students on the Draft Completers List who do not have a corresponding Graduated (G) enrollment status in the Clearinghouse database. You can indicate which of these students you would like the Clearinghouse to submit to NSLDS on your institution’s behalf using the Completers Adds process that will be part of the Clearinghouse’s FVT/GE reporting solution.

How do I add missing Graduated (G) enrollment statuses and missing Graduated status students to the Clearinghouse database?

If your institution participates in the Clearinghouse, you can review the Completers List Worksheet on our secure site. On the Completers List Worksheet, you may see students who appear on the NSLDS Completers List as Graduated (G) but who do not have a corresponding Graduated (G) enrollment status in the Clearinghouse database. On the worksheet, you can add the appropriate G status and Program Status Effective Date (PSED) to apply the Graduated (G) enrollment status in the Clearinghouse database for these students. The Clearinghouse will autogenerate a Graduates Only file that will create the trigger to perform the final update of these students in our database.

You can also use our secure site’s Student Look-Up tab to update these students or submit your own Graduates Only enrollment file (see our formatting guide) using the same method you typically use to submit scheduled enrollment files (e.g., secure FTP). This will ensure the updates are available for the NSLDS SSCR enrollment reporting roster distribution process, in addition to your FVT/GE Draft Completers List.

What is the deadline to finalize the FVT/GE Completers List?

ED allows institutions 60 days to submit changes to the initial Draft Completers List. For schools participating in the Clearinghouse’s FVT/GE reporting solution, our secure site FVT/GE platform will display a counter (a “Count Down”) that visually tracks the delivery timeframe for your institution and is pre-set to start at 50 days. This enables the Draft Completers List to be sent in a timely manner from the Clearinghouse to NSLDS within the federal guideline’s 60-day time allowance.

Also see FSA advises on the Completers List due date.

Who at my institution will be notified when our FVT/GE Completers List is received and available?

If you participate in Clearinghouse FVT/GE, an automated email will be sent to users at your institution with the FVT/GE Financial Aid Officer or FVT/GE Financial Aid Viewer role notifying them that your Completers List is available for review. A reminder email will also be sent to them 10 days before your Draft FVT/GE Completers List updates must be finalized.

What automated email alerts will be sent during the Completers List process?

The following automated email alerts will be sent to users at your institution with the Financial Aid Officer or Financial Aid Viewer role to keep you informed during the Completers List process:

  1. When a Draft FVT/GE Completers List is received and the NSLDS data is reconciled against the Clearinghouse data.
  2. When a Draft FVT/GE Completers List with partial data is received and available for review (no reconciliation against the Clearinghouse data is performed).
  3. When there are 10 days remaining in the Clearinghouse’s 50-day correction period and all reconciliation have not been marked as complete.
  4. When a Final FVT/GE Completers List is received from NSLDS and available for review.

All emails will be sent from schoolops@studentclearinghouse.org.

How do I ensure I am always informed about my institution’s FVT/GE reporting process?

Contact your institution’s Clearinghouse User Administrator to be assigned either the FVT/GE Financial Aid Officer or FVT/GE Financial Aid Viewer role to receive the automated updates.

Which years are on the Draft Completers List created and distributed by NSLDS for the initial FVT/GE regulation reporting in 2024?

The calendar year for earnings data is 2022. For programs that are not qualifying graduate programs (QGPs):

  • The two-year cohort consists of students who completed the program during the 3rd and 4th award years prior to the calendar year used for earnings data to calculate the debt-to-earnings (D/E) and earnings premium (EP) measures.
  • The four-year cohort consists of students who completed the program during the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th award years prior to the calendar year used for earnings data to calculate the D/E and EP measures.

For example, the D/E and EP measure calculations during the 2023-2024 award year for programs that are not QGPs:

  • The two-year cohort period will be award years 2017-2018 and 2018-2019
  • The four-year cohort period will be award years 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019.

Where can I view the College Student ID (CSID) and/or Social Security number (SSN) for a record that corresponds to the Draft Completers List?

On the “Student Records Missing from the Completers List” and “Student Records Missing in the Clearinghouse” tiles, there is a drop-down clickable arrow to the left of the masked SSN.

  • College Student ID: Click the arrow to view the College Student ID. If your institution has not reported a College Student ID to Clearinghouse, the College Student ID will be blank.
  • Social Security number: The SSN can be unmasked by selecting the “Show” link to the right of the masked SSN.

Where are tutorial recordings on the Draft Completers List process?

You can view them on our Clearinghouse Academy site

Should students who did not receive Title IV aid from my institution for the completed program be included in the Draft Completers List?

No, you should not include these students. Only students who received Title IV aid at any time from your institution for the completed program should be included in your Draft Completers List.

Click the “Student Records Missing from the Completers List” tile to review and select the student records you would like to report to NSLDS. If a student did not receive Title IV aid in the specified program at your institution, move them to “Not to be Reported.”

What do I do if I get an error when downloading my institution’s Draft Completers List?

You should ensure there is a PGP key provided on the “Report Encryption” tab in the “Service Profile” for your institution. The FVT/GE reports are secured with an additional layer of PGP encryption, which the Clearinghouse uses to encrypt reports downloaded by all authorized users.

Reporting FVT/GE Data

What information do I need to report for FVT/GE?

  1. You will also need to report student-level information containing detailed information on the students who attended your programs, such as enrollment status(s) for each award year, tuition cost, cost of books and supplies, grants and scholarships, private education loans, residency status, etc.

You can report student-level information using one of these two options:

    1. Standard cohort file: Seven years of undergraduate data and eight years of graduate data.
    2. Transitional cohort file: The last two years of data for both undergraduates and graduates.
  2. You will be required to report a program-level data file containing general information on the programs your institution offers, including the number of students in the program and whether or not it is a qualifying graduate or undergraduate program.

How do the standard, transitional, and annual cohort reporting options differ?

  • Standard Cohort: The initial standard cohort file includes seven years of undergraduate and eight years of graduate student information. This data is used by NSLDS to calculate the debt-to-earnings rates and earnings premium measures for your institution and determine the median debt for the reported period.
  • Transitional Cohort: If your institution elects to submit the transitional cohort, the data used to calculate the debt-to-earnings rates and earnings premium measures will be determined by 1) the median debt for the most recently completed two-year award period and 2) earnings across the standard cohort period of data. As a result, your students’ median earnings data will be based on students who graduated from 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 (for programs with 30 or more completers in a 2-year period), or 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, and 2018-2019 (for programs with 30 or more completers when the 4 years must be leveraged), while their debt will be based on the most recent two-year period of data provided by your institution.

Although the transitional cohort requires less data and therefore places less overall burden on your institution, you should be aware that if your institutional cost and/or the cost of books/supplies increased in the past six years, both the calculation and how it affects your institution may be impacted given its comparison to earnings over the six-year cohort.

  • Annual Cohort: Starting October 2025, your institution will be responsible for reporting the most recent award year of data for your programs and students, including all fields that were reported in the initial standard or transitional cohort file.

Will we report FVT/GE data as part of our existing Enrollment Reporting transmission or will it be separate?

The Clearinghouse will offer an augmented supplemental process for institutions to use to provide us with their standard and transitional reporting in compliance with the January 15, 2025* deadline. This approach will 1) mitigate the burden on institutional IT teams to implement the needed student informational system (SIS) changes and 2) provide institutions with additional reporting flexibility so they can provide the new data elements and discrepancy resolutions to the Clearinghouse. Going forward, the Clearinghouse will collaborate with all major SIS vendors to determine how institutions can best integrate the additional data elements into their reporting processes.

Attest to Qualifying Graduate Programs for AY 2023-2024

What is a Qualifying Graduate Program (QGP)?

A Qualifying graduate program is a program offered by your institution where the program’s students:

  • Must complete the required postgraduation training programs and
  • Must obtain licensure in one of the following fields: medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, clinical psychology, marriage and family counseling, clinical social work, and clinical counseling and
  • If licensure is necessary, that the program is accredited by an accrediting agency that meets state requirements and
  • At least half (50%) of the program’s graduates obtain licensure in a state where the postgraduation training requirements apply

See federal regulation eCFR : 34 CFR 668.2 (“Qualifying Graduate Program” section).

Where can I find the Qualifying Graduate Programs CIP Code list to help my institution identify programs we offer as meeting QGP criteria?

How do I navigate to the “Attest to Qualifying Graduate Programs for AY 2023-2024” section on the Clearinghouse secure site?

  1. Log in with your Web User ID at studentclearinghouse.org.
  2. Click the FVT/GE Reporting Dashboard link on the Student Reporting tab OR the FVT/GE tile on the Data Reporting Dashboard to open the FVT/GE Dashboard.
  3. Once on the FVT/GE Dashboard, in the “Before you Begin” section, select “Review Qualifying Graduate Programs” under “Attest to Qualifying Graduates Program for AY2023-2024.”

Is my institution required to complete the “Attest to Qualifying Graduate Programs for AY 2023-2024” section?

No, this section is optional. If you select the Student Level Report Standard cohort type and skip the QGP attestation, the Clearinghouse will include all programs from FSA’s QGP list (with credential levels 05, 06, 07 or 08) offered by your institution for award year (AY) 2016-2017. For programs in AY 2016-2017, you should determine those that are not QGPs by submitting “Invalid Flag” = “X” and omitting all financial aid data for these programs.

The QGP Indicator within the Program Level file is a required field for FVT/GE reporting. If you do not complete the “Attest to Qualifying Graduate Programs for AY 2023-2024” section, the Clearinghouse will not populate this field, and your school must provide this indicator.

What if my institution does not address the “Attest to Qualifying Graduate Programs for AY 2023-2024” section?

By not completing this section and not accounting for QGPs that may apply to your institution before you begin work on either the Student Level Report (Standard cohort type) or the Program Level Report, you may incur FVT/GE compliance reporting risks.

Additionally, the Qualifying Graduates Program Indicator within the Program Level cohort file is a required field for your institution. It will not be populated by the Clearinghouse if you do not complete the “Attest to Qualifying Graduate Programs for AY 2023-2024” section.

Student Graduated Status Reconciliation

What is “Graduated Status Reconciliation?”

Student records appearing on this list were previously reported by your institution to the Clearinghouse on a DegreeVerify transmission, but do not have the corresponding program-level Graduated (G) enrollment status required for compliance reporting to the NSLDS. You can use the “Graduated Status Reconciliation” list to update a student’s program status to Graduated, whenever a Graduated enrollment status isn’t reflected for the completed program. The enrollment status change to Graduated (G) will be sent from the Clearinghouse to NSLDS on your behalf.

How do I navigate to “Graduated Status Reconciliation” on the Clearinghouse secure site?

  1. Log in with your Web User ID at studentclearinghouse.org.
  2. Click the FVT/GE Reporting Dashboard link on the Student Reporting tab OR the FVT/GE tile on the Data Reporting Dashboard to open the FVT/GE Dashboard.
  3. Once on the FVT/GE Dashboard, in the “Before you Begin” section, select “Review Student Data” under “Graduated Status Reconciliation.”

My institution does not use DegreeVerify, will we still be presented with this list?

No, the “Graduated Status Reconciliation” list is only presented to institutions that utilize our DegreeVerify service. This is because the reconciliation is performed by the Clearinghouse comparing DegreeVerify records to program-level enrollment reporting within the Clearinghouse system.

How far back is the data that populates “Graduated Status Reconciliation” reviewed?

The reconciliation is performed for DegreeVerify records the Clearinghouse received from your institution on or after January 1, 2015, that do not have a corresponding Graduated (G) enrollment status at the program level. This time frame aligns with the data reporting requirements for FVT/GE regulations.

Is my institution required to address the “Graduated Status Reconciliation” section?

No, this is an optional reconciliation. However, we encourage your institution to complete this section to ensure comprehensive and accurate enrollment reporting is reflected and consistent across systems (your institution’s SIS, the Clearinghouse, and NSLDS).

IMPORTANT: Depending upon the quality of your historical data, SIS conversions, and other data idiosyncrasies, your institution may notice large windows of inconsistencies in your datasets that may require updating. While the Clearinghouse is committed to ensuring the integrity of your data throughout this process, we strongly encourage you to be aware of the potential audit risks associated with revising large quantities of historical records in advance of making any changes. This action can result in additional oversite for your institution, including potential findings and program reviews. For additional guidance, please contact our Audit Resource Center at auditresource@studentclearinghouse.org.

What if my institution does not address the “Graduated Status Reconciliation” section?

This could result in NSLDS not receiving a Graduated (G) enrollment status for a program the student completed. This inconsistency could be identified in an audit and impact your institution’s FVT/GE reporting by preventing the Graduated status from being accurately included in the Student Level Report and/or Completers list.

What roles does a school user need to address the Graduated Status Reconciliation Report?

In order for a user with access to update this list, the Financial Aid Officer role and Submission Data or Submission Data Alternate roles are needed. The Financial Aid Viewer role provides view-only access.

Student Level Report

How does the Clearinghouse determine my institution’s Student Level Reporting cohort? Is there a difference in the way the Clearinghouse does this if I pick Standard vs. Transitional?

First, your institution selects your cohort type (Standard or Transitional). The report selection type you choose will apply to your institution for the next six years of reporting to the NSLDS.

After your institution selects your cohort type (Standard or Transitional), our system will generate your cohort, separated by award year, for the applicable cohort period with enrollment information previously reported by your institution to Clearinghouse, using NSLDS’s prescribed logic.

  • The Transitional reporting type will generate a file for the following award years: 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
  • The Standard reporting type will generate a file for the following award years:
    • If there are no Qualifying Graduate Programs (QGPs) at your institution: 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024.
    • If your institution has Qualifying Graduate Programs (QGPs), the report will also include students in QGPs for award year: 2016-2017. This is in addition to the required reporting for the Standard cohort type that includes these award years: 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024.

How long do I have before I must upload my data for the Clearinghouse?

The NSLDS deadline is January 15, 2025*. We recommend you upload your FVT/GE data for the Clearinghouse as soon as possible to allow adequate time to correct errors and warnings and finalize the Student Level Report and Program Level Report data before the deadline.

Is there a required file naming convention for batch uploads?

Yes. The required file naming convention for batch uploads is 6digitOPEID_AwardYear (e.g., 123456_20192020.csv, 123456_20192020.txt).

What is the process for uploading my data?

Once you have validated the student-level enrollment data in the cohort file and added all financial aid and institution cost data for each student record, you can upload the completed files, by award year, to the Clearinghouse.  See the Student Level Reporting Specifications.

Our system will validate your file(s) formatting. At least 80% of records on your file(s) must pass initial file formatting validations to proceed. If fewer than 80% of records on your file(s) pass, you must resubmit a corrected file for that award year.

After passing the 80% validations, our system displays any error/warning flags on the Clearinghouse secure site’s Data Corrections platform. Your institution can then review and correct the information within the platform.

Once you have corrected the errors for each award year’s file, the data is processed into our database and, if you choose, you can download a CSV file to review the data. After your institution reviews the data, you can accept it. At that point, the Clearinghouse submits the data, with all applicable award years, to NSLDS. If NSLDS detects additional errors, NSLDS will send an error report to the Clearinghouse that will be presented on our secure site UI (user interface) for your review.

Can multiple users at my institution work on the error and warning flags?

Yes, multiple users can work on students with error and warning flags. For example, a registrar’s office administrator can address enrollment flags while an institutional effectiveness administrator can address cost-related flags. Once the validation on an error or warning flag is complete, the user can validate the update. Any remaining updates (e.g., unworked cost errors) will remain on the student record until a user makes the necessary update to correct the error and submit it for validation.

If an enrollment file is currently in-house at the Clearinghouse, and a student on the enrollment file is also on the Student Level Report file, can I update the student on the Clearinghouse’s secure site FVT/GE platform?

No, the student will be flagged as an error on the Student Level Report. Once the enrollment file is processed by the Clearinghouse, you can update the student on the FVT/GE platform.

At what point will my data be submitted to the NSLDS?

After you complete the error report and click “Accept and Send to NSLDS,” the Clearinghouse will send the completed Student Level Report file, including all applicable award years for the cohort type selected (Standard or Transitional), to NSLDS.

Does the Clearinghouse maintain a report history/audit trail for the Student Level Report?

Yes, the Clearinghouse secure site maintains data your institution submitted to the Clearinghouse and that we sent to NSLDS for FVT/GE reporting. You can use the “Download AY File” option to download a copy of the corresponding Award Year’s cohort. Additionally, you can view your institution’s error reports and any records that were updated on the report(s).

What is the naming convention for the “Download AY File” file?

The file name convention is 6digitOPEID_AYxxxxxxxxS_Timestamp or 6digitOPEID_AYxxxxxxxxT_Timestamp (e.g, 123456_AY20192020S_20240701_081215)

  1. AYxxxxxxxx = Award Year (AY20192020)
  2. Reporting Type = (S or T)
    • S is Standard cohort type.
    • T is Transitional cohort type.
  3. Timestamp = created date and time (YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS)

What happens if I make changes to data fields the Clearinghouse provides on the Student Level Report cohort file?

If you change fields already populated on the file, the records could be flagged with an error or warning. This includes removing student records from the Student Level Report.

What are the Student Level Report award year cohort file’s errors and warnings and how do I resolve them?

For errors and warnings, including how to correct and prevent them, see Student Level Report Errors & Warnings Resolution.

Program Level Report

Can I work on the Program Level Report tile prior to completing the Student Level Report tile?

You must complete the Student Level Report tile’s two most recently completed award years (AY) before the Program Level Report tile is enabled so you can work in it.

How to Stay Informed

How can I stay updated on FVT/GE and the Clearinghouse’s free FVT/GE reporting solution?

Bookmark our Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment resource center page! It will be regularly updated with the latest information on our solution and how institutions should prepare to report FVT/GE data as well as the regulatory landscape. You can also sign up on our FVT/GE resource page to be notified when new releases of the Clearinghouse’s FVT/GE service become available.

We’ll also update this FAQs page as we obtain additional clarity from Federal Student Aid (FSA) on FVT/GE technical requirements and specifications.

Make sure you visit the FVT/GE page on Compliance Central for convenient access to all our resources on signing up for, activating, and using our FVT/GE reporting solution.

In addition, the Clearinghouse is holding free FVT/GE webinars and providing updates on Compliance Central. You can check our Enrollment Reporting & Compliance events calendar to sign up for our live webinars and visit the Clearinghouse Academy to watch our on-demand webinars. Don’t forget to subscribe to Compliance Central to receive our latest compliance and Enrollment Reporting updates.

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