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Protecting Your Privacy
In compliance with the U.S. Department of Education guidance and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) the Financial Aid Office honors the privacy and confidentiality of students, parents, and spouses. We protect the integrity of this confidential information on FAFSAs and other financial aid applications and documents required to determine financial aid eligibility.
Federal Tax Information (FTI)
The federal FAFSA Simplification Act resulted in the use of Federal Tax Information (FTI) data to populate Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) that colleges and state higher education agencies receive from the U.S. Department of Education after students submit FAFSAs. While most FTI data is obtained directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), some of it is calculated based on specific IRS data. A few examples of FTI data, of which there are many, include tax filing status, adjusted gross income (AGI), and student and parent allowances.
In contrast to ISIRs, FAFSAs and FAFSA Submission Summaries that students and their contributors have access to do not contain FTI data. Colleges are permitted to use FTI data for the application, awarding, and administration of financial aid, though it has a very high level of privacy and confidentiality. The Financial Aid Team is prohibited by the Internal Revenue Code, the U.S. Privacy Act and the Higher Education Act from disclosing FTI data to students, parents and others.
Adhering to Protocol
To protect the privacy and confidentiality of this information and to minimize the risk of identity theft, the Financial Aid Office has a comprehensive protocol to confirm the identity of individuals who come into, call or email the Financial Aid Office and ask questions regarding students' financial aid eligibility, awards, applications, satisfactory academic progress, and other confidential information directly or indirectly related to the financial aid process.
Confirming the Identity
Below we summarize the process for confirming identify for each communication method.
- Note that ‘student’ is defined as a current, accepted, former, or prospective Pennsylvania College of Technology student.
- The processes below are guidelines. If Financial Aid Office staff have reason to question the authenticity of any individual asking questions specific to a student’s financial aid information, we reserve the right to withhold information to protect the integrity of confidential information detailed above.
- If the identity of an individual is not confirmed, Financial Aid Office staff will only answer general financial aid questions.
Process Per Method
Students must:
- State their full legal name
- Show a valid picture ID card, either issued by Penn College or a government source
- State their 9-digit Penn College ID number, if one exists and they do not present a valid Penn College ID card
Parents or others without their student present must:
- State their full legal name and the full legal name of their student
- State their relationship to their student
- Show a valid picture ID card from a government source, or from Penn College, if a Penn College employee or student
- State the student’s 9-digit Penn College ID number or social security number
- Provide the PIN or email address that your student authorized when your financial aid access was approved. This will allow the Financial Aid Team to confirm your 'connection' to your student.
Students must state:
- Their full legal name
- Their 9-digit Penn College Student ID number or, via phone, social security number
- Their date of birth
Parents or others without their student present must state:
- Their student’s full legal name and 9-digit Penn College ID number or, via phone, social security number
- Their student’s date of birth
- The caller’s full legal name and relationship to their student
- Provide the PIN or email address that your student authorized when your financial aid access was approved. This will allow the Financial Aid Team to confirm your 'connection' to your student.
Students must provide:
- Their full name
- Their 9-digit Penn College Student ID number, if one exists
If the message appears to be from someone other than the student, we will follow the procedure listed below in this section for parents or others.
For messages that originate from any email account other than a student’s Penn College account, Financial Aid Office staff will respond to the message to state that we will respond to the student’s Penn College email account. If no Penn College email account exists, staff will suggest a phone or in-person conversation.
Parents, spouses, and others must provide us their email address that their student authorized when their financial aid access was approved. This will allow the Financial Aid Team to confirm their 'connection' to their student as long as the following information is also provided:
- Their student's 9-digit Penn College ID number
- Their full legal name and the full name of their student
- Their relationship to the student
Financial Aid Office staff will copy students’ Penn College email accounts on our replies to parents/others.
The processes above are guidelines. If Financial Aid Office staff have reason to question the authenticity of any individual asking questions specific to a student’s financial aid information, we reserve the right to ask for additional identifying information or to withhold information to protect the integrity of confidential information detailed above.
Exception for Release of Info to Third-Parties
Section 312 of the Education Appropriations Act, 2019 (H.R. 6157: Public Law No: 115-245) permits colleges to provide FAFSA data to the following entities with a student’s explicit written consent:
- Scholarship granting organizations
- Tribal organizations
- An organization assisting a student in applying for and receiving federal, state, local or tribal financial assistance
The law states that organizations that receive this information must not sell or otherwise share this information.
Thank you for your appreciation and understanding of the necessity for this Privacy and Confidentiality Policy. Contact the Financial Aid Office with any questions.
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