Education Verification Background Check Services: A Comprehensive Guide for Employers

An education verification is a crucial type of background check that confirms a job candidate’s educational background. This process involves verifying details such as the schools attended, degrees earned, and any additional training claimed on their application or resume. By comparing the information candidates provide with education history records kept by schools and other organizations, employers can ensure the accuracy of the credentials presented.

Why Conduct Education Verification Checks?

Employers should consider conducting education verification checks for several reasons, including improving pre-screening for employment, potentially reducing liability, and complying with laws and regulations.

Improving Pre-Screening for Employment

Conducting an education verification for employment can reveal important information during pre-employment screening. By comparing the information a candidate provides to academic records from high schools, colleges, and other institutions, you can feel confident they meet the education and training requirements for your open position. The information revealed in an education verification check can empower your decision to extend a job offer to a candidate or make you aware of discrepancies that could be disqualifying for employment.

Reducing Liability

Verifying a candidate’s education history may also help protect your company from the liability risks that hiring a candidate who doesn’t possess the required degrees or training could pose. In fact, nearly nearly half of job candidates (44%) have lied about education credentials on their resume, a ResumeBuilder survey found.

Complying with Laws and Regulations

Federal, state, and local laws may also mandate that you check education history for certain regulated positions, such as those in healthcare or finance, just as they may require a criminal background check for specific jobs.

The Education Verification Process

Education verification is the process of confirming information provided by candidates about the schools they attended, the degrees or diplomas earned, or the certifications they obtained. This screening is also known as an education verification check, degree verification, or education background check and searches student records and contacts high schools, vocational schools, colleges, and universities to corroborate a job candidate’s educational history with the information provided in a job application or on a resume. Employers may also choose to conduct an international education verification if a candidate has attended schools outside the United States.

How Employers Verify Education

To verify education, employers ask candidates to provide school names, dates of attendance, degrees earned, and other school registration information. Employers can conduct an education background check themselves or use a background check company that offers education verification checks, like Checkr, to do so.

Employers who conduct education background checks in-house can use the National Student Clearinghouse, a national online portal that verifies education histories. To access the Clearinghouse, you must register for the service and demonstrate a valid reason for requesting the candidate’s information.

The National Student Clearinghouse connects employers with information for many schools, but in some cases, it may not have a student record on file. For example, a particular college may not appear in the database. When this occurs, employers must typically contact each school the candidate attended to confirm attendance dates, student enrollment, graduation date, and degrees earned. In some cases, employers may also request that candidates provide official transcripts from schools they attended.

Streamlining the Process with Background Check Companies

Conducting an education verification can be time-consuming, but a background check company, like Checkr, can help accelerate the process. These platforms and advanced technology makes education verifications more cost-effective, timely, and accurate. In addition to streamlining the verification process, CRAs are also experienced in authenticating schools listed on a resume. They can help spot online diploma mills that sell diplomas, credentials, or degrees from fictitious schools. These mills often use school names similar to those of prestigious institutions, such as “University of Berkley” instead of “University of California, Berkeley,” to create confusion.

What an Education Background Check Reveals

An education background check shows information about a candidate’s education history, such as dates of attendance, majors, graduation date, and degrees or certificates earned. In the case of candidates who are graduates, the verification will usually focus on the most recent school attended.

For candidates currently in school, an education verification will usually confirm an active student registration status and may also provide the date of enrollment. This type of education verification is sometimes referred to as an enrollment verification. Education background checks are different from professional license verification. License verification confirms a job candidate has a license or certification to work in a particular, often regulated, occupation, such as healthcare.

Scope of Verification

A verification specialist will contact the school, college, university, or other educational institution or agency that granted the degree or certificate. The education verification report will include dates of attendance, degree, major or program, and graduation date, if applicable.

How Far Back Do Education Background Checks Go?

How far back education background checks go depends on the scope of the search, as defined by the employer. Employers often only complete an education verification on the highest degree, certificate, or diploma earned. Depending on the candidate’s history, this might be a high school diploma, a GED, or a college certificate or degree. Less often, an education background check may provide an overview of a candidate’s entire education history. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) restricts how far back many types of background screenings-such as criminal records checks-can go. However, there are no such restrictions on education verification screenings.

Timeframe for Education Verification

The time it takes to perform an education history verification depends on the availability of records; National Student Clearinghouse records vary from school to school. When the information requested is already in the system, education verifications typically take only a few minutes.

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The process will take longer if you request information not included in the record. When this occurs, the Clearinghouse will contact a participating school directly to obtain information. A record may not be available because it is too old or because the student only started attending the school recently, in the case of a current enrollment verification. The volume of pending requests and how promptly the school replies to requests will impact the turnaround time. Delays may also occur if you provide incomplete or incorrect information when making a request. Using a background check company, like Checkr, can help reduce wait times associated with these types of errors by ensuring you’ve gathered all the necessary information from the candidate. Their advanced technology helps accelerate the background check process, while their mobile-friendly candidate portal gives job applicants visibility into the education verification process. They can even upload documents to confirm diplomas or certifications.

Legal and Regulatory Considerations

Legal regulations in the education verification process may impact what information you can access, how you can access it, and the extent to which you can use information gathered through an education background check to make a hiring decision.

Federal, state, and local privacy and background check laws, including the FCRA, regulate employment background screenings, including education verifications. These laws dictate how employers or consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) can conduct background checks, what information the background check report can include, and how employers can use the results of a background check when making hiring decisions. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has also created guidance to help employers avoid discrimination when assessing background check results.

Your legal counsel can help you determine what other laws and regulations may apply to your organization when you conduct education verification checks.

Specific Scenarios

Verifying Education Degrees

Yes, some employers may choose to verify education degrees. Degree verification is a standard part of an education background check. Specifically, the types of degrees earned, and the dates earned commonly appear on an education credential verification report. Verifying degrees earned helps employers ensure that candidates are eligible for a position, while also helps companies protect against potential liability from hiring someone without the proper qualifications for a job. Different type of degree (Associates vs. Bachelors) Different major or program Attended, but never graduated.

Checking International Education Backgrounds

The way employers check international education backgrounds varies, based on the information that is accessible through databases and what laws restrict access to information. If you’re hiring internationally, you’ll typically need to research the process in the country where the candidate lives. However, an education verification services company, like Checkr, can greatly simplify the international education background check process.

GPA Inclusion

A GPA is generally not included in an education verification background check. If knowing a student’s GPA is necessary to make a hiring decision, you can ask the candidate to share their official transcripts from the schools in question.

Common Areas of Resume Fraud

One of the most common areas of resume fraud occurs in the embellishment of the applicant’s education. In today’s changing economy, more positions require advanced skills, degrees and experience. As jobs become more competitive, it is also very common for applicants to exaggerate their educational history.

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