Institutions of higher learning have been adding questions about criminal history and sex offender status as part of their student application process. The University of Washington is one such college that recently added such questions to their student application process. The University’s questions are very specific: “Have you ever been convicted of a violent felony offense, are such charges currently pending against you and have you been required to register as a sex offender in the USA or abroad?” Changes to the University’s student application process were prompted due to the discovery of two Level Three sex offenders that were enrolled in 2012. With background screening laws changing and being disputed, and the background screening requirements not being standardized and the proper use of criminal history records varying from industry to industry it is a good time for organizations including colleges and universities to partner with a professional third party background screening company. Such a partnership should help Universities stay compliant with current law regarding the background screening industry while giving them access to the most current and accurate background records available. To learn more about this subject read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2013-9-10-College-Applications-Include-Criminal-History-and-Sex-Offender-Questions.html