<p>Our deal with S is that he give us his password so that we can access all of his college information, including grades, transcript, schedule, and financial info. We feel this is our right as the tuition-paying parents. If he refuses, then he won't be attending on our dime, simple as that.</p>
<p>I don't access his personal email or bank accounts.</p>
<p>When he was going through the application process, I set up a lot of his accounts for him (I was his "application secretary"), so I knew the passwords, and yes, I did check his application status. He didn't mind. As to whether that was "illegal" or not, he was under 18, so I doubt it.</p>
<p>I think the trend is toward giving students the power to establish a guest account for a parent, with the student controlling how much info the parent can see. Carleton is working on this right now. That way it's NOT the student's own college login (which would also get the parent into the student's email acount...ick, invasive), and the student gets to specify whether the parent sees tuition/billing account only or also transcripts, grades, schedule, etc.</p>
<p>That feels like a sensible solution to me, and it's compliant with FERPA.</p>
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I don't have passwords for my college son's accounts, school, bank or otherwise. My goodness he is 20 years old!
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<p>Exactly! D's school has a system where parents can set up their own login and password in order to pay bills, as lunitari says above. She has designated us as people to receive her grades each semester, but I don't have access to any of her other information. She's nearly 21, and has always been very open with us - anything she wishes to keep private at this point is fine with me.</p>
<p>There is absolutely such a thing as too much information to my mind. I don't want to read my kids email, I don't want to see every personal item they purchase or piece of food they consume.<br>
If your student is at a school without a separate parent portal, start lobbying for one.</p>
<p>[weird characters appeared at the top when I edited to correct a typo]
I can see more financial/billing information through my son's student portal than through the parent portal (for example, financial aid). If his school had a better parent portal, I'd use it. I do not look at his grades or his e-mail. I just don't do it--so far. He told us his first-semester grades, and we believe him. If he ever balks, he knows we pay the bills and will look at his grades. His school does not provide an option to release grades to parents, though the letter about making the dean's list comes to the home address.</p>
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are parents aware of the US laws that govern the privacy rights of college students, specifically FERPA? I'm no lawyer, but based on my understanding, professors, admissions staff, Bursar's offices, etc. are not allowed to discuss information such as grades or admissions status or even account information to parents (or coaches) unless the student signs a form waiving his/her right to privacy.</p>
<p>"When may a school disclose information to parents of dependent students?</p>
<p>Under FERPA, schools may release any and all information to parents, without the consent of the eligible student, if the student is a dependent for tax purposes under the IRS rules." </p>
<p>As the nation sadly learned two years ago April, the FERPA laws are not well-understood. VT didn't realize that they would not have been violating FERPA regulations to have notified the killer's parents of his problems. (To be fair, many colleges/universities didn't understand the FERPA regulations; we can only hope there is a better understanding now.)</p>
<p>The key is the word "may" in the regulation. Schools can apparently choose not to release any information to parents, even if the student is a tax dependent. It would be interesting to know how many schools release information to parents and how many choose not to.</p>
<p>Parents also need an affidavit from the kids to get medical information if the kid is in the school infirmary (or if the school has any other medical information about the kid). I think this is a separate affidavit under HIPAA, though I could be wrong as I have not gotten there yet.</p>
<p>shawbridge - there is a separate form related to HIPPA. My husband has signed one to release his info to me and I have signed one for release of my info to my husband at all the medical/dental offices we use. I did not ask or have my sons sign one for permission for me to speak about their medical stuff. I worry about that sometimes, it feels like some family member should always be able to speak about another family member in some situations. Some offices are "mellower" about the law than others. One of my husbands medical offices would not even tell me if his labs had arrived when I called to confirm an appointment for him for heavens sake...a yes/no question.</p>
<p>3bm103, actually, if your child is in the school infirmary violently ill, under sedation, etc., the school still cannot talk to you. So, your advice is really good except in extreme, but extremely important, situations.</p>
<p>I go with the executive assistant description. Currently, I don't really know any passwords but they are all saved on my laptop (by their choice I might add). I get calls to check this, send this, etc. However, the lack of anyone understanding that Ferpa thing in 2003, my kid was seriously depressed. Her advisor knew it. I called said advisor when I was concerned, far away and was getting no information from daughter. She told me NOTHING and also gave me no hints that I should be worried. I was furious. The very next year, however, the student could sign a waiver for both financial and academic reasons, specifically to talk to their advisor. I thought the change was due to parents paying more than 1/2 of their tuition, but if it's the whole dependent thing, better still. So I am all for this open communication, but DD wasn't exactly sharing her feelings or issues.. it was "everything's great"... when in reality she was sleeping days away.</p>
<p>My daughter shares her information with me because we have a close and respectful relationship. We don't look at it like I am paying and so I have a right to make these demands, or I won't pay the expenses if you don't sign this release. We look at it as that I am interested in knowing how she is doing with grades, with managing her money, and, as anoher poster siad, we let go one thread at a time. My relationship with her is a combination of boss, secretary, cheerleader, and advisor. She is all set to go off to college in the fall, and is very excited and a little afraid. She is glad that I have her back.</p>
<p>Shawbridge is correct. When my son was in the hospital his freshman year (fender bender not his fault and he wasn't driving, but he concussed), the hospital would give me no information. Finally they must have felt my emotional pain and one nice woman told me he was OK (and that was it "he is OK" and that they would let him call me in alittle bit. Thank heavens for small towns, a nurse actually drove him home when they released him. Months later that would not even discuss any details related to actual medical related findings that I was trying to discern from the invoice. But parents...most often they will NOT talk to you because of HIPPA. Been there learned that.</p>
<p>But people aren/t discussing just medical information which would apply whether your child was a student or not. They are talking about getting their passwords or having them sign forms allowing access to their grades and financial information. None of which I saw as a problem with 15 yrs worth of kids in college so far. If your kids won't tell you, then you have a bigger problem then stealing their password.</p>
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<p>And do you have your students sign forms for just tuition information, or for actual grade information? >></p>
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<p>Our kids gave us access to the billing info. The kids give us the grades themselves. We can talk to the health center and bursars office about BILLS...(not treatment) but we cannot talk to the professors about grades. That works for us. Our kid's school gives us our OWN password for use with the Bursar's billing info. We do not use our kid's password.</p>
<p>I hadn't even considered talking to a professor. My daughter would give me access to grades, medical info, billing, bank statements, whatever, but I think both of us would draw the line at my talking to her teachers. That really feels to me like being intrusive and to her I am sure it would be embarassing.</p>
<p>Eldest son and we had no idea that a school wouldn’t call for a life-threatening situation. Pls be aware and ask colleges about their policies regarding parental notification in a mental or physical health emergency.</p>
<p>The hypocrisy of schools infantilizing young adults by charging tuition based on mommy and daddy’s income but then so scrupulously excluding mommy and daddy from all information regarding the education mommy and daddy are financing is . . . breathtaking.</p>
<p>I actually think there is a legal challenge in there somewhere . . . the whole practice of price discrimination driven by the income of an adult’s parents. At 18 they can vote and fight in a war, blah, blah but mommy and daddy are responsible for their bills.</p>