Please return to this page for the most recent National Student Clearinghouse Data Breach updates.
September 7, 2023 update
On July 18, 2023, a notification was sent to current Criswell College students and an announcement was posted on the College’s website regarding a security breach in software used by National Student Clearinghouse ( “Clearinghouse”), a company that Criswell College utilizes for federally mandated enrollment certifications and transcript services.
The third-party forensic cybersecurity firm used by Clearinghouse to investigate this breach has notified the College that there is no evidence to suggest that the unauthorized party specifically targeted Criswell College or its students. There is also no evidence that identity theft or fraud of Criswell College students occurred in relation to this incident. Further, no information related to Criswell College students was obtained or exposed that requires specific action to be taken by affected students or that calls for further action by the College or Clearinghouse.
While there has been no appreciable impact on Criswell students as a result of this incident, the College reminds the members of our community to regularly monitor their accounts and to educate themselves regarding identity theft, fraud, fraud alerts, credit freezes, and the steps that can be taken to protect one’s personal information by contacting consumer reporting bureaus, the Federal Trade Commission, or the Texas Attorney General. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington D.C. 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1.877.438.4338; and TTY 866.653.4261.
July 18, 2023 update
National Student Clearinghouse ( “Clearinghouse”), which Criswell College utilizes for federally mandated enrollment certifications and transcript services, has identified a security breach. This breach, affecting several higher education institutions across the country, potentially includes student data from Criswell College such as full name, date of birth, social security number, student email address, and physical address.
Clearinghouse has no evidence that the unauthorized party was specifically targeting Criswell College’s data on their systems. Furthermore, no systems operated or maintained by Criswell College were breached, as this incident is localized to the Clearinghouse systems.
Clearinghouse is currently conducting a comprehensive investigation to determine the scope of the breach and identify the affected individuals. Because this breach encompasses multiple organizations and higher education institutions across the United States, the investigation is expected to be extensive and may require a significant amount of time before its completion. Clearinghouse has indicated that every effort is being made to expedite the process and provide you with the necessary information as soon as possible.
In the meantime, it is always a good practice to review credit score/record and bank/credit card statements regularly, consider changing online account passwords regularly, not open attachments/links of emails or text messages from unknown or suspicious senders, etc. Further information regarding identity theft can be found at https://consumer.ftc.gov/features/identity-theft.
More information can be found on the Clearinghouse website https://alert.studentclearinghouse.org/.
