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College application process gets easier with Minnesota e-Transcript Initiative

Archive

6/18/2007


 

Students, high schools and colleges will benefit statewide

Contact: Sandy Connolly, Director of Communications
(651) 259-3902

The state of Minnesota has joined forces with the Midwestern Higher Education Compact to facilitate the electronic transfer of high school transcripts to colleges and universities throughout the state and nationwide. This is made possible through the Compact's contract with Docufide, Inc.

"We are pleased to be able to simplify the process of sending and receiving transcripts for our Minnesota students and schools," said Susan Heegaard, director of the Minnesota Office of Higher Education. "This initiative gives Minnesota the opportunity to join other states in cost effectively implementing a change that educators have long thought important."

Minnesota's participation in this initiative, which was initiated in Minnesota by the Minnesota Office of Higher education, will allow students at high schools and colleges throughout Minnesota to utilize Docufide's secure transcript services to order and have their official transcripts electronically delivered to any participating high school or college. Students will also be able to send transcripts to other destinations nationwide, electronically or on paper.

Docufide has been processing transcripts electronically for high schools across 18 states for the past four years. The company, which is based in Los Angeles, was selected to work with the 11 Midwestern states on this initiative because of its experience as a leader in educational records management services. In addition to Minnesota, several other MHEC states are currently considering joining the initiative. Eleven states make up the MHEC region and include: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Currently, it is estimated that high schools spend nearly $7 per transcript to process the student's transcript requests. "The Minnesota e-Transcript service will have a discounted transcript fee of $2.55 per electronic transcript sent to participating MHEC schools and $4.55 per paper transcript sent (transcripts are sent by Docufide on security paper to any institution not registered to receive electronically). Docufide's services can be paid on a flat annual rate by schools, on a per request basis by students (no cost to schools) or even by the receiving institutions or 3rd party sponsors.

The initiative will be guided by a project advisory committee convened by the Minnesota Office of Higher Education with expertise from the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota Private College Council, the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, the University of Minnesota and representatives of public and private high schools. The MHEC office and Docufide are working collaboratively with these representatives to implement and utilize the service.

Minnesota's initiative will begin with a message to all public and private high school districts and colleges in Minnesota inviting them to be a part of the initiative. Docufide will work with Minnesota's high schools, college admissions directors and registrars to help them evaluate the electronic transcript capabilities and implement the service.

Eastview High School in Apple Valley, Minnesota, has already been using the Docufide e-transcript service since 2004. "The installation, training, and implementation processes were extremely simple and straight-forward," indicated Dr. Randall Peterson, Eastview's principal.

Implementing an electronic high school transcript system region-wide to reduce such costs and improve students' access to college was recommended by MHEC's Student Access Advisory Committee comprised of professionals from the eleven MHEC member states. "This collaborative effort aligns with MHEC's emphasis to maximize students' access to college," said MHEC President Larry Isaak. "We're pleased to see Minnesota signon."

The Midwestern Higher Education Compact sponsors a variety of programs to reduce costs, to increase student access to college, and inform policymaking through targeted and timely research and analysis. The Compact is statutorily created and governed by a board comprising five commissioners from each member state. Commissioners include legislators, governors' representatives and higher education leaders.

Minnesota's participation was initiated by a payment from the state, through the Office of Higher Education, to offset the start-up costs and defray the per-student transcript costs.

Colleges and high schools interested in participating in Minnesota's e-transcript initiative can get more information by contacting Jennifer Dahlquist, MHEC's director of student access, at 612-626-1602 or via email at jenniferd@mhec.org. Further details are also accessible online at http://eti.mhec.org.


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