Privacy Policy for the office of Federal Student Aid

Learn about non-personal information that Federal Student Aid records, links to other sites, and security.

Privacy

Thank you for visiting Federal Student Aid's StudentAid.gov website and reviewing our privacy policy. Our policy is simple: We collect no personal information about you unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. 

If you want to know more about how we record non-personal information about your visit or how we use information that you voluntarily submit, read on. You can also view the U.S. Department of Education’s privacy policy.

Otherwise, enjoy your visit!

Non-personal Information We Record

We are using persistent cookies to collect better data on how this site is working for you.  If you wish to do so, you may disable the cookies in your web browser settings.

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the website, read pages, or download information, our web server will automatically record some general information about your visit.

During your visit, our web server will record:

  • The Internet domain for your Internet service, such as "xcompany.com" or "xcompany.net" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a college or university domain.
  • The type of browser (such as "Mozilla Firefox version x" or "Internet Explorer version x") that you are using.
  • The type of operating system that you use (such as Macintosh, Unix, or Windows).
  • The date and time you visit our site, and the web pages that you visit on our site.
  • The address of the previous website you were visiting, if you linked to us from another website.

The user is not identified in the collection of non-personal information.

Links to Other Sites

Our policy discloses the privacy practices for StudentAid.gov. But StudentAid.gov provides links to other websites. When you leave StudentAid.gov, you will be going to sites that are beyond our control. We try to ensure that links that leave our site are clearly labeled. These other sites may send their own cookies to users, collect data, or solicit personal information. The privacy policies and procedures described here for StudentAid.gov do not apply to any external links. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any site you link to from ours, especially if you share any personal information. Be informed. You are the person best qualified to protect your own privacy.

How will the information collected be used?

Information from the Ombudsman Assistance Request Form

If you decide to complete our Ombudsman Assistance Request Form, you may choose to include your e-mail address or telephone number so that we can contact you. If you include personally identifying information in the form because you want us to address issues specific to your situation, we may use that information in contacting other federal agencies or third parties. These federal agencies and third parties are governed by the Privacy Act, and will handle your private information in the way required by that act. Inclusion of your personally identifying information to any third party inquiry shall be on “as needed” basis only, and to obtain supporting data relevant to your specific issue(s).

Also, you should understand that this form is not necessarily secure against interception. If your communication is very sensitive, or includes personal information such as data from your tax return or student loan account, you may prefer to send it by postal mail. To do this, use the following address: 

U.S. Department of Education
FSA Ombudsman Group
830 First Street, NE
Fourth Floor
Washington, DC 20202-5144 

Fax: (202) 275-0549

Information from the Contact Us Page

If you decide to send us an e-mail, the message will contain your return e-mail address. If you include personally identifying information in your e-mail because you want us to address issues specific to your situation, we may use that information in responding to your request. This information is not maintained in a privacy act system of records.

Also, e-mail is not necessarily secure against interception. Please send only information necessary to help us process your request.

Information from the Site Survey

The Leave Us Feedback form helps us determine the effectiveness of StudentAid.gov as a customer service tool and its potential role in improving the delivery of Federal Student Aid’s information and services. To the extent the user provides personally identifying information voluntarily, the agency will not retain that information in a system of record.

It should take you approximately 5 minutes to complete the Survey Form, including reading instructions, gathering information, filling out the application, and reviewing it. Completing the form is entirely voluntary. Our authority to collect the information is under OMB control number 1845-0045.

Security

The completion of system security plans is a requirement of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-130, "Management of Federal Information Resources," Appendix III, "Security of Federal Automated Information Resources," and Public Law 100-235, "Computer Security Act of 1987." The Web site has completed a system security plan demonstrating its compliance with the IT requirements mandated by federal law and policy. The security plan contains details regarding the Risk Assessment conducted for the Web site, as well as the security controls (hardware/software/facilities/personnel) in place to mitigate any identified risks to the information collected on the Web site. Management, operational, and technical security controls are in place for the Web site, encompassing personnel, physical environment access, contingency plans, disaster recovery, and identification and authentication procedures. The following functions are being performed: security operations and administration, operational assurance, audits and monitoring.

For site security purposes and to make sure this service remains available to all users, this government computer system employs software programs to monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload or change information on this site are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. Server logs are scheduled for regular destruction in accordance with the National Archives and Records Administration General Schedule 20.