SBE: Sole Source - National Student Clearinghouse

The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) awarded a sole-source contract to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) for comprehensive data processing and access services. The contract, valued at $422,688, covers fiscal years 2026 and 2027, with a performance period from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2027. The primary service involves providing post-secondary enrollment data tracking for Illinois high school graduates, supporting the state's Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requirements.

The contract encompasses detailed reporting services, including state-level aggregate and student-level reports with expanded data elements such as gender, ethnicity, economic status, and academic performance metrics. NSC will deliver these services at a rate of $425 per high school with enrollments over 200 students, with an 8% contract discount applied. The data collection covers more than 3,700 participating colleges and universities nationwide, representing 99% of public and private U.S. higher education institutions, and will enable ISBE to track student enrollment, persistence, and degree attainment comprehensively.