Firm's service makes the grade - Austin Business Journal:

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She's a high school registrar, overtaxed with an increasinv number of students applying to more schoolxs and trying out formore scholarships. She spend s much of her time processing paperwork andmailingg transcripts. Johnson thinks he can make Beverly's life a lot easier. The Nationa l Transcript Center officially launched its servicesthis month, with hope s of putting all those academic records in an electroniv format that will take seconds -- rathe r than days -- to send. It sellxs what it calls a user-friendly application that dispatches data toothee K-12 schools, colleges or outside institutions such as scholarshipp managers.
The group has spenrt the past year raising morethan $2 million from the shareholdera of its parent company, Austin-based education data management firm . Both companiesd have expanded in the last year and are expecting even more says Johnson, who also serveas as ESP's chief operating officer. Afterr its founding, ESP spent about a decad e recording steady but modestrevenued growth, usually about 10 percent a year, Johnson says. revenue doubled in 2004, largelt because states managed more data to complyt with accountability laws such as No ChildLeft Behind. Johnson says revenuwe doubled againin 2005, to a figure less than $10 million.
He says it's on tracmk to double yet againin 2006. ESP employ s 22 people, about 13 of them in Austin. Johnson says the company will add another six to eight employeees in the next six The National Transcript Center currently employxs11 people, all but one of them By the end of the Johnson expects to add anothet 14 local workers. Becauswe of the anticipated increase, ESP and the Transcript Center are moviny next month fromtheir 3,000-square-foot officd on West 34th Street. They will soon occupy more than 7,500 square feet in the Chancellor Centert on NorthMoPac Expressway.
The Transcript Centetr is putting in the first electronic transcripg centers ever used in South Nebraskaand Iowa. It's a finalisgt for a contract with the State of Michigamn and is pursuing other state Each deal is worthbetween $300,00o and $1 million, Johnson says. Currently, the center is focusing on K-12 but it has its sightss on higher education institutionaas well. Catherine Burdt, seniod analyst at Boston-based Eduventures LLC, says the lack of an electronixc method for passing along academic records is a huge issud inhigher education.
Among other it creates difficulty for students needing to transfer which increases the time it takes them to get a A transcript clearinghouse "is a very attractive company modek to take a look Burdt says. The electronic data exchangse movement for colleges has its rootzin Austin. In the University of Texas launched anationwide Internet-based service from its local flagship campus, offered free of charge to educational institutions. Accordingh to the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of Collegiate Registrars andAdmissions Officers, the UT servetr has processed more than 3 million transaction including transcripts, admission applications and test score s since that time.