Transcript Practice and Costs Report 2014

Registration & Records
Research
Transcripts

This survey was intended to update and expand on the 1997 SPEEDE/ExPRESS study titled, A Business Case for the Electronic Exchange of Student Records.

This survey was intended to update and expand on the 1997 SPEEDE/ExPRESS study titled, A Business Case for the Electronic Exchange of Student Records, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). The survey instrument consisted of two parts. The first queried respondents on their institutional methods for receiving post-secondary (PS) and high school (HS) transcripts, as well as methods for sending PS transcripts. Additionally, this section asked about the level of automation for these practices and any future eTranscript implementation plans.

The second part was designed to capture the costs associated with each transcript receipt and delivery method through self-reported information on transcript volume, average staff costs, average time on task, and other costs. These values were used to calculate the cost per transcript in this report.

The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) sent the survey electronically from the FluidSurveys1 platform to a list of AACRAO members who had been matched against the membership list of the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO). The cross-listed membership list totaled 1,403 recipients. The overall response rate was 22.5 percent (n=315). Respondents represented the full-spectrum of institutional type and size.

Unless otherwise noted in a specific report, the AACRAO member institution size, type and control categories are based on the following definitions and sources:

The enrollment value used to delineate the institution's size category is defined as full-time enrollment plus 1/3 of part-time enrollment and is based on the enrollment reported by the institution to the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).