Thank you for visiting our website. Our privacy policy is simple and straightforward:

1. We collect no personal information about you unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not use "cookies" or other techniques for collecting personal information about you without your knowledge. We do, however, use temporary cookies for two purposes: first, to match you as you move from page to page with the set of memory variables created during your user session (this is referred to as "maintaining state" in the "stateless" environment of the web); and second, to prevent visitors from fraudulently inflating site ratings.
   
   
2. In the normal course of events, we share your information with no outside organizations. We collect no information for commercial marketing purposes.

Our policy discloses the privacy practices for the students.gov website. But our site contains links to other sites. When you leave the students.gov site, a page will appear saying you are leaving our server. We're making no promises about the privacy practices of other websites. Once you link to another site, you are subject to the privacy and security policies of the new site.

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.

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.

Otherwise, enjoy your visit!

Return to students.gov Home Page

Non-personal Information | Information from E-mail | Security policy

If you do nothing during your visit but browse through the students.gov website, read pages, or download information, our site's operating system will automatically record some general information about your visit.

During your visit, our web operating system will record:

1. 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.
2. The type of browser (such as "Netscape version X" or "Internet Explorer version X") you are using.
3. The type of operating system you are using (such as Macintosh, Unix, or Windows).
4. The date and time you visit our site, and the web pages that you visit on our site.
5. The address of the previous website you were visiting, if you linked to us from another website.

We use this information for statistical analysis, to help us make our site more useful to visitors. This tracking system does not record information about individuals.

If you decide to send us an electronic mail message (e-mail), the message will usually 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 contacting other federal agencies. These federal agencies are governed by the Privacy Act, and will handle your private information in the way required by that act.

Also, you should understand that e-mail 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:

students.gov
830 1st Street NE
UCP 104A2
Washington, DC 20202

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.

The students.gov website is provided as a public service through the U.S. Department of Education, which pays for and maintains this site. Information presented on the site is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. Use of the appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.