Enrollment Verification

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Victor Valley College has authorized the

National Student Clearinghouse

to provide enrollment and degree verifications.

 

The National Student Clearinghouse:

Web: http://www.degreeverify.org

Mail:
National Student Clearinghouse
2300 Dulles Station Boulevard, Suite 300
Herndon, Virginia 20171

Phone: 703-742-4200

 

Student Records, Directory Information and Privacy

According to the Victor Valley College board policy 5040, the Chancellor shall assure that student records are maintained in compliance with applicable federal and state laws relating to the privacy of student records. 

Any currently enrolled or former student of the College has a right of access to any and all student records relating to him or her maintained by the College. 

What is FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (sometimes referred to as the Buckley Amendment), is a federal law that protects the privacy of education records of all students enrolled in schools beyond the high school level. Schools are required to maintain that privacy, primarily by restricting release of records and the access provided to those records. Any educational institution that receives funds under any program administered by the U.S. Secretary of Education is bound by FERPA requirements. Institutions that fail to comply with FERPA may have funds administered by the Secretary of Education withheld.

How Does the USA Patriot Act Amend FERPA?

President Bush signed the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act" on October 26, 2001. Section 507 of the USA PATRIOT Act amends FERPA by permitting institutions to disclose, without the knowledge or consent of the student, personally identifiable information from the student's education records to the Attorney General of the United States or his designee in response to an ex parte order (one filed without notice to the student) in connection with the investigation or prosecution of terrorism crimes. Also, the school is not required to record such disclosures.
 

What are Education Records?

Under FERPA, education records are defined as records that are directly related to a student and are maintained by an education agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. The information may be recorded in any way, including, but not limited to, handwriting, print, computer media, videotape, audiotape, film, microfilm, microfiche, and e-mail.

Education Records DO NOT Include:

  • Records or notes in sole possession of the maker, used only as a personal memory aid and not revealed or accessible to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record (this might include notes an instructor makes while providing career/professional guidance to a student) 
  • Records made or maintained by physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other health professionals and paraprofessionals that are used only in connection with treatment of students 
  • Employment records when employment is not contingent on being a student, provided the record is used only in relation to the individual's employment 
  • Records created and maintained by a law enforcement unit of the institution used only for law enforcement purposes