Total Enrollment Reporting Process (TERP)

Enrollment reporting is an important part of student loan servicing. Lenders and servicers rely on this information to properly track the status of borrowers’ enrollment when servicing Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans. To streamline the enrollment reporting process, the National Student Clearinghouse (The Clearinghouse), in conjunction with the student loan community, created the Total Enrollment Reporting Process – TERP. ISAC was very involved in the testing of TERP and pleased to have been the first guarantor to utilize TERP for its lender partners.

TERP provides lenders and servicers with more timely and accurate student enrollment information in order to properly track borrowers. Through TERP, guarantors outsource their enrollment reporting to The Clearinghouse, which collects, checks and distributes the data to the guarantor’s lenders and servicers. The TERP data flow creates a centralized reporting process to lenders and servicers that comes from a single and reliable source.

TERP provides a number of benefits to ISAC’s lenders and servicers, such as:

Provides current enrollment data more frequently – data is updated and available on a weekly basis rather than every 60 days.
Ensures more complete enrollment information – the files contain enrollment data reported to The Clearinghouse and the NSLDS.
Eliminates redundant enrollment records – enrollment data from NSLDS has been reconciled with date reported directly to The Clearinghouse by more than 3,300 participating institutions.
Eliminates dual reporting -- all enrollment data is supplied by one entity, The Clearinghouse, thereby eliminating separate reports from ISAC.
Reduces unnecessary status adjustments to borrower accounts.
Is easier to work with -- enrollment information comes in the same media format you currently use to receive data from The Clearinghouse.
Improves the customer service lenders/servicers provide to their borrowers and schools.
Saves computer-processing resources.

National Student Clearinghouse

The National Student Clearinghouse, a non-profit organization founded by the higher education community, streamlines the student record verification process for colleges and universities, students and alumni, lending institutions, employers, and other organizations. The Clearinghouse maintains a comprehensive electronic registry of student records that provides a single, automated point-of-contact for organizations and individuals requiring timely, accurate verification of student enrollment, degree, and loan data. More than 3,300 colleges, representing 96% of the nation’s enrollment participates in The Clearinghouse.

Lenders that join The Clearinghouse can eliminate paperwork; reduce default rates and servicing expenses. It improves lenders’ ability to track and respond to borrowers’ enrollment status changes, including more easily identifying students who need to be converted to repayment and eligible for a deferment based on in-school status.

Participating in The Clearinghouse provides lenders with access to the following services:

Online Inquiry - enables lenders to review borrowers' enrollment histories, download and print enrollment certifications and check data elements, such as withdrawal, graduation or anticipated graduation dates.

Enrollment Status Reports - Lenders can be automatically notified of borrowers' enrollment status, allowing for the tracking of changes that occur over time. A number of enrollment status reporting options are available.