Nebraska students soon will be able to electronically transfer their transcripts to high schools, colleges and universities, Gov. Dave Heineman announced Monday.

“This is a great example of how technology can help modernize and simplify a key step in the college application process,” he said.

Nebraska is only the second state to offer the service. The other is Indiana, though Nebraska will be the first to allow students to send transcripts from colleges or universities to other colleges or universities.

The e-Transcript Initiative is being paid for by $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Education. The money will fund the initiative for three years.

The initiative is a collaborative effort by the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education, the Nebraska Department of Education, and Nebraska’s schools, colleges and universities.

Docufide Inc.,  an educational records management company, will provide the software and support necessary to implement the electronic transfer service.

Here’s how it will work:

n Students will access a Web site that will allow them to send their transcripts to a participating institution.

n A staff member at the high school, college or university where the transcript originated will then approve or reject the student’s request to send the transcript.

n Students will then receive notice via e-mail that their transcript has been received by the intended institution.

Marshall Hill, executive director of the Coordinating Commission, said it’s important to give the institution where a transcript originated the ability to administer requests for transcript transfers.

“Those steps are important to keep control of the records where control ought to be,” he said.

Participation in the initiative by high schools, colleges and universities is voluntary. However, Hill expects demand for the service to spread rapidly statewide, he said.

In fact, he hopes to have most of the institutions that want to participate signed up by spring to receive electronic transcripts, he said.

“We think it’s an opportunity to especially let counselors spend more time talking to students, less time doing paperwork,” he said. “That to me is the real gain.”

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.