Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council
PESC is a non-profit standards development organization founded in 1997 that creates free, open data standards for education record exchange across the P-20W ecosystem, serving higher education institutions, K-12 schools, vendors, and government agencies across North America.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1997
- HeadquartersWashington, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council does
The Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC), founded in 1997 and headquartered in Washington, DC, is a non-profit membership-based standards development organization that creates and promotes free, open data standards for education record exchange across the P-20W ecosystem. Its product portfolio comprises PESC Approved Standards covering college and high school transcripts (XML v1.8 and v1.6 respectively), admissions applications (v1.4), course inventory, ePortfolio, test scores, PDF attachments, and credential/experiential learning — delivered in XML, EDI (Transaction Sets 130, 131, 146, 147, 188, 189, 997), and JSON-LD formats with crosswalk documentation. Supporting infrastructure includes the GEO Code global institution directory and the Common Digital Layout (CDL) presentation-layer framework developed by CanPESC.
PESC operates a community-led go-to-market model anchored by biannual Data Summits ($750-$1,100 registration, member discounts), annual sponsorship tiers ($1,000-$5,000), and recurring institutional, vendor, and government membership fees. The organization convenes working groups, task forces, and partner organizations — including AACRAO, Ellucian, A4L Community, ARUCC, National Student Clearinghouse, CEDS/NCES, Credential Engine, and the Gates Foundation — to drive standards adoption. Implementation spans nearly every US state and Canadian province, supporting hundreds of millions of student records since inception. PESC maintains a formal Joint Venture ('Education Data Unlimited') with the A4L Community and is launching the DSU Standards Library in 2026 to broaden standards discovery across the PK20W+ spectrum.
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council
- Legal name
- Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council
- Website
- https://pesc.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1997
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- PESC is a non-profit standards development organization founded in 1997 that creates free, open data standards for education record exchange across the P-20W ecosystem, serving higher education institutions, K-12 schools, vendors, and government agencies across North America.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Education Data Standards
- NAICS
- Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Academic Catalog, Curriculum & Policy Administration (EDALAAAL)
Keywords
Where Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Washington
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from institutions, organizations, and companies that participate in PESC standards development and adoption programs.
- Data Summit Registration: Registration fees from biannual Data Summits. PESC Member rates $750-$950, Non-Member rates $900-$1,100. Includes Early Bird discounts.
- Annual Sponsorship: Annual sponsorship opportunities at Diamond, Silver levels, and event-specific sponsorships at Bronze, Silver, Gold levels during Data Summits.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | One-time | PESC Member Registration - April 2026 Data Summit |
| Subscription | One-time | Non-Member Registration - April 2026 Data Summit |
| Subscription | One-time | PESC-A4L Joint Summit 2023 Registration |
| Subscription | One-time | PESC-A4L Summit 2024 Registration |
| Subscription | One-time | March 2025 Data Summit Registration |
| Subscription | One-time | October 2024 Data Summit Registration |
| Subscription | Annual | Data Summit Sponsorship Tiers |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) is a non-profit standards development organization that creates, maintains, and promotes free and open PESC Approved Standards for interoperable education data exchange across the P-20W ecosystem. Its core deliverables include XML, JSON-LD, and EDI schemas for college and high school transcripts, admissions applications, test scores, course inventories, credentials, ePortfolios, and PDF attachments, along with supporting infrastructure such as the GEO Code directory and the Common Digital Layout (CDL) framework.
Product overview
The Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) is a standards development organization (not a software product company) that maintains and promotes free, open data standards for educational records across the P-20W ecosystem. Its core product portfolio includes PESC Approved Standards for academic credentials including the College Transcript Standard (XML v1.8), High School Transcript Standard (v1.6), Admissions Application Standard (v1.4), Test Score Standard (v1.1), Course Inventory Standard, ePortfolio Standard, PDF Attachment Standard, and Credential & Experiential Learning Standard. Supporting infrastructure includes EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) formats with XML crosswalks, the GEO Code global institution directory service, JSON-LD Resources for modern web-based data standards, and the Common Digital Layout (CDL) tool for standardizing academic document rendering. The organization convenes the community through biannual Data Summits, an annual Best Practices Competition, and maintains the Canadian PESC (CanPESC) User Group for regional coordination. PESC's standards support machine-to-machine data exchange across educational institutions, government agencies, and technology vendors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- College Transcript Standard PESC Approved XML-based standard (current version 1.8) enabling postsecondary institutions to send and receive student academic records, including personal history, academic status, completed courses with grades, degrees, and test scores, for interoperable exchange with other institutions, vendors, and agencies.
- High School Transcript Standard PESC Approved Standard (version 1.6) for secondary educational institutions to exchange current and historical records of student academic accomplishments, supporting standardized hand-offs to postsecondary institutions.
- Admissions Application Standard PESC Approved Standard (version 1.4) for the electronic exchange of admissions application data among applicants, colleges, universities, states, provinces, application centers, high schools, districts, vendors, government agencies, and service providers.
- Test Score Standard PESC Approved Standard (version 1.1) for applicants and testing agencies to share standardized test scores with colleges, universities, and other authorized recipients.
- Course Inventory Standard PESC Approved Standard for the cataloging and interoperable exchange of academic course information across educational institutions and systems.
- ePortfolio Standard PESC Approved XML schema (version 1.0) for academic electronic portfolio documents, enabling exchange of comprehensive learner achievement records.
- PDF Attachment Standard PESC Approved Standard (version 1.0) for embedding PDF documents within academic record exchanges to support attached documentation.
- Credential & Experiential Learning Standard PESC Approved XML schema for representing academic credentials and experiential learning records in standardized machine-readable format.
- EDI Formats & Crosswalks Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards suite including Transaction Sets 130, 131, 146, 147, 188, 189, and 997 for transcript, admissions, and course inventory data exchange, with accompanying EDI/XML crosswalks for legacy modernization.
- GEO Code Service Global Education Organization code directory service providing a trusted standard identifier for educational organizations internationally to support cross-border data exchange.
- Common Digital Layout (CDL) Free and open framework developed by CanPESC for standardizing the presentation layer and digital structure of academic credentials, ensuring uniform rendering of transcripts regardless of source data format.
- PESC Data Summits Biannual in-person conferences (with some hybrid access) bringing together education data professionals to explore standards, AI, credentials, and interoperability through keynotes, panels, breakout working sessions, and networking; member rates $750-$950, non-member rates $900-$1,100.
- CanPESC User Group Canadian Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council user group, a semi-autonomous permanent group within PESC formed in 2011, fostering collaboration on educational data exchange standards across Canadian provinces and territories.
- Best Practices Competition Annual competition recognizing excellence in data standards implementation and interoperability solutions across the education ecosystem.
Quantifiable outcome
- Hundreds of millions of students have been supported by PESC Approved Standards since 1997
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature11 records
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.
- AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers)coreAACRAO is a founding member organization that has maintained consistent PESC membership and Board representation since the beginning. They collaborate on standards development, SPEEDE Committee support, and co-locate events (April 2026 Summit with AACRAO Annual Meeting). Represents 11,000+ professionals from 2,600+ institutions in 40+ countries.
- ElluciancoreEllucian is a founding member organization that has maintained consistent PESC membership and Board representation since 1997. As a major education technology provider, they support standards adoption across their student information system products.
- Access 4 Learning (A4L) CommunitycorePESC and A4L have a formal Joint Venture Agreement forming 'Education Data Unlimited' to coordinate work aligning secure, trusted, free, and open data standards across P-20W domain. Joint PESC-A4L Summits held annually (November 2023, April 2024, March 2025).
- ARUCC (Association of Registrars of the Universities and Colleges of Canada)coreARUCC is a formal partner through CanPESC (Canadian Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council), a permanent group within PESC formed in 2011. They collaborate on MyCreds/MesCertif national credential wallet serving 70%+ of Canadian postsecondary institutions.
- National Student ClearinghousecoreSupports and operates the SPEEDE Server for EDI Standards exchange, used by hundreds of colleges, universities, vendors, states, and provinces. Key supporter and founding commemorator of PESC's 25th anniversary.
- Common Education Data Standards (CEDS)coreCEDS is an education data management initiative supported by NCES. PESC collaborates on interoperability, data standards alignment, and joint presentations at Data Summits. CEDS provides common vocabulary and data models.
- Groningen Declaration Network (GDN)strategicGDN, founded in 2012, seeks common ground in serving academic and professional mobility needs worldwide. PESC participates in GDN initiatives to advance digital student data portability.
- Credential EnginestrategicNon-profit mapping the credential landscape with consistent information. PESC standards complement Credential Engine's registry by providing standardized credential descriptions for the education ecosystem.
- Data Standards United (DSU)coreDSU establishes 'common ground' mechanism to coordinate and align disparate global data standards across education, employment, and training sectors. PESC Board Member Alex Jackl serves as DSU Chair. Launching Standards Library in 2026.
- T3 Innovation Network (US Chamber of Commerce Foundation)strategicT3 Network accelerates use of digital tools to make the job market fairer and more inclusive. Collaborating with PESC and Gates Foundation's EDUcore on federated AI-ready infrastructure for lifelong learner data portability.
- US Chamber of Commerce FoundationstrategicCollaborating with PESC, Gates Foundation, states, and standards bodies on public-private partnership for federated AI-ready infrastructure supporting lifelong learner data needs.
- Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationstrategicFoundation supports EDUcore initiative collaborating with PESC, US Chamber Foundation, and states on digital credential infrastructure. Marten Roorda serves as Senior Advisor and EDUcore representative.
- SHEEO (State Higher Education Executive Officers)strategicSHEEO serves as advocate for state policy leadership and liaison between states and federal government. PESC collaborates on data standards alignment with state-level education initiatives.
- NCES (National Center for Education Statistics)strategicNCES is the primary statistical agency of the U.S. Department of Education. Supports CEDS initiative and collaborates on education data standards and interoperability frameworks.
- ParchmentcoreParchment (now Instructure) is a key member supporting digital credential exchange. Collaborates on MyCreds/MesCertif in Canada and provides platform for credential issuance and verification.
- AcademyOnecoreAcademyOne is a Diamond sponsor and founding commemorator. Provides technology solutions for credit for prior learning (CPL) and recognition of prior learning (RPL) evaluation, aligned with PESC standards.
- Educational Credential Evaluators (ECE)strategicECE evaluates and authenticates international academic credentials for immigrants and international students. Uses PESC standards for credential data exchange and verification.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Internet2: Internet2 is a US non-profit computer networking consortium serving research and education. It is a peer in education infrastructure that overlaps with PESC's interoperability mission at a broader community/technology level.
- EDUCAUSE: EDUCAUSE is a larger non-profit membership association for higher education IT, with broader scope than PESC but overlapping coverage in data standards, interoperability, and analytics in higher education.
Direct peers
- Credential Engine: Credential Engine is a non-profit mapping the credential landscape with a public registry. Its scope is complementary to PESC's credential standards, and the two collaborate on credential descriptions, making it a closely aligned peer in the credentialing data ecosystem.
- AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers): AACRAO is a founding member of PESC and a direct peer in the registrar/admissions standards space, representing 11,000+ professionals from 2,600+ institutions. It co-develops SPEEDE standards and co-locates events with PESC.
- Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community: A4L is a non-profit community developing data standards (SIF, EDExchange) for the P-20W educational ecosystem. PESC and A4L have a formal Joint Venture Agreement ('Education Data Unlimited') and co-host summits, making them cooperative but directly overlapping peers.
- Common Education Data Standards (CEDS): CEDS is an education data management initiative supported by NCES that provides a common vocabulary and data models. PESC explicitly partners with CEDS on alignment, making it a functionally overlapping peer in the K-20 data standards space.
- 1EdTech (formerly IMS Global Learning Consortium): 1EdTech is the closest direct peer: a non-profit, member-driven standards body that develops interoperability standards (LTI, Caliper, OneRoster) for education technology. Like PESC, it convenes a community working group model and focuses on data exchange standards across K-20.
Emerging players
- Apereo Foundation: Apereo develops open-source software for educational organizations, aligning with PESC's free and open standards philosophy. It is a peer in the open-education ecosystem, though focused more on software than data standards.
- GRONINGEN Declaration Network: GDN is a peer international consortium focused on digital student data portability for academic and professional mobility. PESC participates in GDN initiatives, making it a peer in the global credentials portability space.
Regional players
- EMREX: EMREX is the European counterpart solution for electronic transfer of student records between higher education institutions. It is comparable to PESC's transcript exchange standards but operates regionally in Europe.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council social profiles
Digital presencePostsecondary Electronic Standards Council financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council
What does Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council do?
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) is a non-profit standards development organization that creates, maintains, and promotes free and open PESC Approved Standards for interoperable education data exchange across the P-20W ecosystem. Its core deliverables include XML, JSON-LD, and EDI schemas for college and high school transcripts, admissions applications, test scores, course inventories, credentials, ePortfolios, and PDF attachments, along with supporting infrastructure such as the GEO Code directory and the Common Digital Layout (CDL) framework.
Is Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council a public or private company?
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council founded?
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council was founded in 1997. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council based?
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council is headquartered in Washington, United States, in the North America region.
How does Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Membership Fees are the primary driver. The others are data Summit Registration and annual Sponsorship.
Who are Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Internet2 and EDUCAUSE. Direct peers are Credential Engine, AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers), Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community, Common Education Data Standards (CEDS) and 1EdTech (formerly IMS Global Learning Consortium). Emerging players are Apereo Foundation and GRONINGEN Declaration Network. EMREX is listed as a regional player.
Does Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council have an API?
No public API is recorded for Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council.
What industry is Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council in?
Postsecondary Electronic Standards Council's product category is Education Data Standards. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDALAAAL, Academic Catalog, Curriculum & Policy Administration. Its NAICS code is 611 and its SIC code is 8200.