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Governance

The ecosystem's trust in CRED depends not on intentions, but on whether the structure makes adverse outcomes impossible. CRED's governance model enforces neutrality and public-good access by structure, not by promise.

Independent governance entity

CRED is governed by an entity structurally separated from any single operator's commercial business. The governance entity holds decision rights over data access terms, pricing, and roadmap priorities. The lead technical partner (Acadeum) builds and operates the infrastructure; it does not unilaterally control the rules of access.

Institutional Advisory Board

A rotating board drawn from CIC, AASCU, AAC&U, community college associations, and state system representatives provides stakeholder direction on data access, credit transferability, and participation policies. AACRAO advises on registrar standards and academic records policy; ACE leads the research and policy framework.

Vendor Neutrality Panel

Ecosystem participants — including registrar data providers, credential registries, and competing transfer-tool vendors — hold seats on a standing neutrality panel. CRED is neutral ground: infrastructure that competitors build on, not a platform that competes with them.

Published data access terms

Core equivalency data is published under a Creative Commons-style license at no cost. Access terms are public, reviewed annually, and amendable only with governance entity concurrence. Sustainability comes from value-added services above the data layer — enhanced SLAs, analytics, and premium integration support — never from gating the core public data.

  • Core course & equivalency data: free, forever
  • Contribution obligations, not fees: participants keep their records current (est. 2–4 hours of registrar time per quarter)
  • Value-added services (SLAs, analytics, premium support): fee-based, above the public layer

The full governance charter, license text, and data access terms will be published during the pilot period (2027–2028) and ratified by the Institutional Advisory Board.