Student Records Policy

1. Our principles

• Only what is needed. Staff see only the records they need for their job.
• Kept private. Your records are confidential.
• Shared with care. Berean shares your records only as this policy allows.
• Changes are recorded. Berean keeps a log of who changed a record and when.

2. Records we keep

• Your program application, assessment, and admission decision.
• Your enrollment, courses, submitted work, grades, and academic standing.
• Certificates you earn and their public verification records.
• Financial assistance requests and decisions.
• Payment records. Berean does not store card numbers.
• Messages between you and Berean staff about your studies.

3. Who can see your records

You

Your own records.

Your instructors

Work, grades, and discussion posts for the courses they teach you.

Admissions and the Registrar

Application, enrollment, and academic records for the programs they handle.

Finance staff

Payment records.

Financial assistance staff

Financial assistance requests and decisions.

Access is set by each staff member’s role and checked by Berean’s systems. Other students see only what you post in a shared course discussion.

4. Seeing your records

Ask through your student profile, the Contact page, or admissions@bereaninstitutes.org. Berean answers within 30 days. There is no charge.

5. Correcting your records

1. Write to admissions@bereaninstitutes.org. Say which record is wrong and why.
2. Berean tells you its decision in writing.
3. If Berean does not change the record, you may add a short written statement to it. Your statement is kept with the record.

6. When Berean shares your records

Berean shares your records only with your written permission, except:

• with Berean staff who need them for their job, as listed in section 3;
• through a certificate’s public verification record (section 7);
• when the law requires it, such as a court order. Berean tries to tell you first unless the law does not allow it;
• in a health or safety emergency, only as much as the emergency needs.

Berean does not publish a student directory and never sells student records.

7. Certificate verification

Each certificate has an identifier that leads to its public verification record. The record states your name, the credential, the completion and issue dates, and whether the certificate is valid, revoked or replaced. It never shows grades, contact details or payments. Anyone with the identifier can see it, so you decide who to share it with.

8. Transcripts

• Official transcripts are free.
• Berean sends them as a PDF by email within 5 business days of your request.
• Berean sends a transcript only to you, or to a person or school you name in writing.

9. How long we keep records

Academic record

Courses, grades, transcripts, and certificates are kept permanently, so Berean can issue transcripts and verify certificates.

Applications not admitted

2 years after the decision, with their documents and reading and writing assessment answers.

Uploaded files

Files attached to an application, or to a Journal submission that was declined or withdrawn, are kept 2 years after it closes, unless a shorter time is stated. Course work you hand in is part of your academic record and is kept with it. Financial documents for aid are destroyed within 30 days of the award decision (Privacy Policy, section 4).

Financial assistance decisions

The decision and the figures used are kept for seven years after your last enrollment (Privacy Policy, section 4).

Location waitlist

If you join the waitlist for a place Berean does not serve yet, your entry is kept 2 years after you join (Student Location Policy).

Log of record changes

7 years.

After these times, records are deleted. Deleted records leave Berean’s backups as the backups expire.

10. Questions and concerns

If you think your records were handled wrongly, email admissions@bereaninstitutes.org. See also the Privacy Policy.

Berean Institutes · A Colorado nonprofit corporation · Headquarters: Plano, Texas, United States