About PESC

Mission & History

Established in 1997 at the National Center for Higher Education and located in Washington, D.C., PESC - the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, community-based, umbrella association of colleges and universities; college and university systems; professional and commercial organizations; data, software and service providers; non-profit organizations and associations; and state and federal government agencies.

Mission

Through open and transparent community participation, PESC enables cost-effective connectivity between data systems to accelerate performance and service, to simplify data access and research, and to improve data quality along the higher education lifecycle.

While PESC promotes the implementation and usage of data exchange standards, PESC does not set (create or establish) policies related to privacy and security. Organizations and entities using PESC standards and services should ensure they comply with FERPA and all local, state, federal and international rules on privacy and security as applicable.

Vision

PESC envisions national and international interoperability, that is a trustworthy, inter-connected environment built by and between communities of interest in which data flows seamlessly from one system to another and throughout the entire eco-system when and where needed without compatibility barriers but in a safe, secure, reliable, and efficient manner.

Goals of the Mission and Vision

To achieve the mission and the vision, PESC organizes activities to:

Goals of the Mission and Vision

History

On August 18, 1997, a critical meeting was convened at the National Center for Higher Education at One Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. which resulted in the formation of PESC - the Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council. At that time, several major factors relating to modernizing data systems and standardization were emerging and the higher education community* had reached the tipping point where a new, centralized, community-funded organization to promote and facilitate the use of electronic standards for data sharing and reporting was needed:

Factors Influencing the Creation of PESC

Three major legislative items also helped in the creation of PESC:

The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA): Section 12 of the NTTAA, passed in 1995, states that "all Federal agencies and departments shall use technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies."
OMB Circular NO. A-119: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued in 1998 Circular NO. A-119 which provides guidance for agencies participating in voluntary consensus standards bodies and procedures for satisfying the reporting requirements of NTTA.
Section 143 of the Higher Education Act of 1965: Language was added in 1998 which directs the Secretary of Education and the Chief Operating Officer [of Federal Student Aid within the U.S. Department of Education] to "encourage and participate in the establishment of voluntary consensus standards and requirements for the electronic transmission of information necessary for the administration of programs."

On August 4, 2000, the PESC Board of Directors founded the Standards Forum for Education. XML development and applications were emerging in all industries, but PESC had identified an absence of any single organization responsible for developing XML business standards for the postsecondary community. The community embraced the Standards Forum for Education and together worked to develop and produce the first PESC approved standard, the XML Postsecondary Transcript, in July of 2004. Numerous development efforts have since taken place within the Standards Forum for Education and more and more are being proposed from within the community.

PESC has successfully created the environment envisioned in 1997 and now with its largest membership in its history and with its standards being implemented across North America, continues to serve the needs of the higher education community. The benefits of standards, once realized, spark the need for more standards, education and training, and other supporting mechanisms.

* Organizations included: AACRAO, ACT, Brigham Young University, Educause, Citibank, COHEAO, Datatel, EFC, ETS, Harbinger-Supply Tech, KPMG, Law School Admission Council, NACUBO, NASFAA, NCHELP, New York University, Pearson, Sallie Mae, Sungard SCT, SLSA, University of Oklahoma, University of Texas at Austin, U.S. Department of Education