MBI Worldwide Background Checks Blog - Education Verification Basics

There’s a lot to understand about verifying an individual’s education.  To keep it from being too dry (and boring) I have broken it up into mini subjects. Each subject will explain a better process to use, that a team member at MBI Worldwide has learned over the years.  These tips and suggestions will help in expediting and processing an education verification.

THIRD PARTY VENDORS
MBI Worldwide utilizes multiple Third Party Vendors to help supply accurate, timely information:

One example of a third party vendor would be The National Student Clearinghouse. This organization offers access to enrollment and degree records from more than 3,500 colleges and universities. Participating institutions provide access to them for verifying enrollment and degree information on each of their students. A growing number of institutions have outsourced their enrollment and graduation information to third-party organizations. In these cases, the institution will not accept any requests for verifications and will refer all such requests to the third-party source. MBI will then obtain the verification through the third party vendor. If you are requesting an Education Verification from a college or university you might see a fee for this type of search added to your invoice.

MAIDEN NAME / FORMER NAME / ALIAS NAME
When requesting MBI Worldwide to conduct an Education Verification for a potential applicant, be sure they supplied their former and/or maiden names for Education Verification. If they have their diploma/certificate handy, it would be great if they could supply the name used when they received the degree or graduated. This is especially important if you are requesting verification of a High School Diploma or are requesting a verification from 10+ years ago.

GED VERIFICATIONS
General Educational Development or GED are tests which, when passed, certify that the test-taker has a high school graduate’s level of knowledge.

Official GED Testing Centers are controlled environments and all testing sessions take place in person where security measures are enforced. Testing centers are most often in adult-education centers, community colleges and public schools.

Even though the student took the GED at their local community college, that college will not be able to verify that the individual took the test or received their certification. Every state in the U.S. has official GED records of everyone who earned a GED in that state.  For MBI Worldwide to verify a GED we will need to know the State where the tests were taken, the year and the name used when they took the tests. GED certifications usually take a minimum of two (2) weeks to verify.

INTERNSHIPS AND RESIDENCY PROGRAMS
Even though Internships and Residency programs are required in order for a student to graduate, the Institution where they received their degree will not be able to verify their Internship and/or Residency.  In order for MBI Worldwide to verify, please enter the request under Employment Verification, list the Employer as the organization where they completed the program, the job title will be “Intern” or “Resident” and provide the approximate dates (or at least the years).

By: Kathy Elders