HireRight Education Verification Alternative: API Options That Don't Lock You Into a Suite

What HireRight's education verification actually does

HireRight offers education verification as one component inside its full background screening suite. For US candidates, it queries the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) — the same database used by most major background check companies — which covers enrollment and degree data from approximately 3,600 US colleges and universities.

For degrees outside the NSC's network (international institutions, vocational schools, some community colleges), HireRight routes requests to its research team. This manual process typically takes several business days and introduces variability in what gets confirmed, how it's documented, and whether the institution's accreditation status is flagged.

The platform also includes:

• Criminal background checks, employment history, and identity verification bundled together
• Candidate-facing portal for document submission and status tracking
• FCRA-compliant workflow and adverse action support
• Dedicated account management and integrations with major ATS platforms
• Volume-based enterprise pricing negotiated per contract

What it does not include: a public developer API for education verification, transparent per-check pricing, or automated diploma mill detection. HireRight is designed to serve enterprise HR teams running comprehensive background screening programs — not developers who need programmatic degree lookups or teams that want to screen school legitimacy before a full background check is warranted.

Where HireRight falls short for education-specific use cases

Three scenarios where HireRight's model creates friction:

1. You need API access for automation

HireRight does not offer a public REST API for education verification. Integration with its platform requires enterprise onboarding and typically works through ATS connectors (Workday, Greenhouse, iCIMS, etc.) rather than direct API calls. If your use case is calling an endpoint from your own application — for example, flagging suspicious degrees in a pre-screening pipeline — HireRight is not designed for that workflow.

2. You need fast turnaround on international degrees

International education verification through HireRight relies on manual research for any institution outside the NSC's coverage. Turnaround can range from 3 to 10 business days depending on the country and institution. For high-volume hiring of international candidates, or for roles where credential fraud is a specific concern, that delay is significant. A database-backed service can return school legitimacy data and accreditation status in seconds.

3. You need diploma mill detection

HireRight confirms whether a degree was granted at a real institution — it does not proactively flag whether that institution is a diploma mill or unaccredited. A candidate who lists a degree from a known diploma mill will pass HireRight's verification if the institution provided a positive response, but the degree itself may be worthless. Catching diploma mills requires a separate check against recognized lists of unaccredited or fraudulent institutions.

Alternatives to HireRight for education verification

VerifyED — school legitimacy and accreditation API

VerifyED is built specifically for programmatic school lookup, accreditation status checks, and diploma mill detection. Its database covers 912,000+ educational institutions across 180+ countries, with a dedicated list of 2,592 known diploma mills. API responses are instant — no manual research queue, no per-check contract negotiation.

VerifyED is not a background check company. It does not confirm that a specific candidate attended a specific school (that still requires the NSC or direct contact with the registrar). What it does is tell you, immediately, whether the institution listed on a resume is real, accredited, and legitimate — which is a useful pre-screen before a full background check is ordered.

Best fit for: developers integrating credential checks into ATS or HRIS platforms, HR teams screening high volumes of international candidates, and any workflow that needs diploma mill detection built in.

GET /api/school?name=Harvard+University
{
  "name": "Harvard University",
  "accredited": true,
  "diploma_mill": false,
  "country": "US",
  "recognition": "Regional (NECHE)"
}

Checkr — developer-friendly background checks

Checkr is the most API-accessible full background check platform available. It offers education verification as part of its package, using the NSC for US degrees. Checkr is a strong alternative for smaller teams that still want a full background check pipeline but need better developer tooling than HireRight provides. Coverage is stronger in the US than internationally.

Certn — international-first background checks

Certn is a Canadian background check company with strong international coverage and a more modern API. If your hiring is global and you need a full background check suite (not just education verification), Certn handles international credentials better than most US-headquartered competitors.

National Student Clearinghouse — US degree confirmation direct

For confirming US degrees specifically, the NSC offers direct access through its DegreeVerify service. This is what HireRight and most other background check providers use under the hood. Going direct to the NSC removes the middleman for US-only use cases, though the interface is not designed for high-volume API use.

How to decide

The bottom line

HireRight is a mature, enterprise-grade background check platform that includes education verification as one of many checks. If your organization is running a comprehensive background screening program through a single vendor, HireRight is a reasonable choice — especially if you are already using ATS integrations it supports.

If you need education verification outside that context — developer API access, real-time international school data, diploma mill detection, or standalone credential checks without a full background check workflow — HireRight is not the right tool. Dedicated credential verification services built for programmatic access will be faster, cheaper per lookup, and more flexible.

Check VerifyED's school database to see coverage for your use case.