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In compliance with Florida Statute 119.071(5), this document serves to notify you of the purpose for the collection and usage of your Social Security number by ¹û¶³´«Ã½ River State ¹û¶³´«Ã½ (¹û¶³´«Ã½). ¹û¶³´«Ã½ collects and uses your Social Security number only if specifically authorized by law to do so or if it is imperative for the performance of its duties and responsibilities as prescribed by law.

Specifically, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ collects your Social Security number for the following purposes:

Student Records Department

Federal legislation relating to the Hope Tax Credit makes it mandatory that all postsecondary institutions report student Social Security numbers to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This IRS requirement makes it mandatory for colleges to collect the Social Security number of every student. A student may refuse to disclose his or her Social Security number to ¹û¶³´«Ã½, but the IRS is then authorized to fine the student in the amount of $50.

In addition to the federal reporting requirements, the public school system in Florida uses Social Security numbers as a student identifier (Florida Statutes 1008.386). In a seamless K-20 system it is non-mandatory; however, it is beneficial for postsecondary institutions to have access to the same information for purposes of tracking and assisting students in the smooth transition from one education level to the next. All Social Security numbers are protected by federal regulations Family Educational Rights and Privacy (FERPA).

Financial Aid Department

It is mandatory that the Office of Financial Aid at ¹û¶³´«Ã½ requires students to submit their Social Security numbers on various forms in order to correctly identify applicants, match each applicant’s Financial Aid record with the student record, and help to coordinate state aid programs with institutional and Federal Aid programs as authorized by Sections 483 and 484 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

Outreach Programs

Programs such as the Educational Opportunity Program and ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Reach-Out Program are youth outreach projects funded by discretionary grants from the United States or Florida Department of Education. As such, each project is required to exclusively serve eligible participants that are citizens or nationals of the United States or permanent residents of the United States. In order to verify a participant’s project eligibility, it is mandatory that Social Security numbers are collected and also later used when submitting information for the Annual Performance Reports due to the United States or Florida Department of Education.

Workforce Programs

It is mandatory that these programs use Social Security numbers as identifiers for program enrollment and completion. Also, Social Security numbers are used for entering placement information into either the OSMIS or the Employ Florida Marketplace statewide data collection and reporting system. Because these are performance-based contract programs, it is required that all participants and their program-related activities be recorded in the Florida state system.

State and Federal Reporting

It is mandatory that the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ collects Social Security numbers to periodically report student-employee-level-data to federal and state agencies for research and data collection.

Testing

It is mandatory that the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ collects Social Security numbers for the purpose of reporting state and national standardized testing results, including but not limited to: TABE, GED^® and CLEP^®.

Miscellaneous

It is mandatory to collect Social Security numbers for agency third-party billings, payment collections, state and federal data collection, tracking, benefit processing, tax reporting, identification and verification.

To protect your identity, ¹û¶³´«Ã½ will secure your Social Security number from unauthorized access and assign you a unique student identification number. This unique identification number will then be used for all associated employment and educational purposes at ¹û¶³´«Ã½.

The full ¹û¶³´«Ã½ Notification of Social Security Number Collection and Usage document can be obtained from Student Success at all ¹û¶³´«Ã½ campuses and on the ¹û¶³´«Ã½ website at irsc.edu.

GED^® is a registered trademark of the American Council on Education (ACE) and administered exclusively by GED Testing Service LLC under license. This material is not endorsed or approved by ACE or GED Testing Service.