Meteor Governance     Implementation Information     Project History    

Meteor Members     Current Data & Access Providers

Documentation     Additional Information    MAT SharePoint

Implementation Information

There are several types of participants in the Meteor network:  Data Providers, Access Providers, Index Providers and Authentication Agents.  Each of these roles have the following responsibilities:

Data Providers (click for list)
A Data Provider is an entity that holds loan information for users and can thus supply that data to the Meteor Network. 

Access Provider (click for list) 
An Access Provider runs the Meteor software on their Web site allowing users to access the Meteor Network.  Generally, the Access Provider performs the authentication of the end user.  An Access Provider may use an Authentication Agent to perform validation of end users.

Authentication Agents
Authentication Agents are organizations that perform authentication services of students, borrowers and/or financial aid professionals on behalf of an Access Provider.  Authentication Agents utilize their existing method(s) of authentication to validate users of the Meteor Network.  Any organization that currently provides authentication services (schools, lenders etc.) are eligible to participate as an Authentication Agent. 

Index Providers
An Index Provider is an entity that holds information about the location of financial aid data.  These organizations direct the Access Providers to the sources of data for aggregation and display.   The current Index Provider to the Meteor Network is the National Student Clearinghouse.

Steps to Participation
Organizations wishing to participate in the Meteor Network should download the procedures for Access Providers, Data Providers and Authentication Agents.