TRENTON – Attorney General Peter
C. Harvey announced today that New Jersey
has entered into a settlement agreement
with the National Research Center for
College and University Admissions (NRCCUA),
a non-profit corporation that –
without notifying students, teachers and
parents – sold survey information
it collected from high school students
to profit-making companies, which then
used the same information for commercial
marketing purposes.
According to Harvey, a multi-state Assurance
of Voluntary Compliance agreement negotiated
by New Jersey and 41 other states requires
the Missouri-based NRCCUA to “clearly
and conspicuously” disclose why
it collects student information, and with
whom the information will be shared. In
addition, NRCCUA must pay a total of $300,000
to the 28 states who took part in original
settlement negotiations to fund consumer
awareness programs.
“This
is an important agreement for all New
Jerseyans, and particularly for young
people who are confronting --or one day
soon will confront – the difficult
decision of choosing a college or university,
or selecting a career path,” said
Harvey. “Each year -- based on their
trust in the representation that it could
expand their higher education or career
options – high school students in
New Jersey take time out from the school
day to fill out NRCCUA surveys that ask
for their grade point averages, religious
affiliations, social views, and other
personal information. We are committed
to ensuring these young people are not
exploited in return for their trust.”
Said Acting Governor Richard J. Codey,
“It is unacceptable that personal
information, provided in good faith by
students who believed it might sharpen
the focus of their college or career searches,
was sold for marketing purposes without
their knowledge.”
“New
Jersey’s high school students, their
parents, and the many committed educators
who strive each day to help them make
informed choices about the future deserve
better,” Codey said. “Through
this agreement, we are ensuring that the
future aspirations of our young people
are not exploited for commercial gain.”
Attorney General Harvey explained that
an investigation into NRCCUA’s practices
by New Jersey and the other states began
in late 2001. The investigation determined
that NRCCUA has, each year since at least
1988, been collecting personal information
from millions of high school students
across the nation via a free student survey
it calls a “Post Secondary Planning
Survey.” Typically, Harvey said,
the free surveys are distributed by NRCCUA
to high school teachers and guidance counselors,
who in turn invite students to fill them
out. Students can also complete the survey
online at NRCCUA’s Web site.
In New Jersey, nearly 39,000 high school
students responded to the NRCCUA survey
in 2001. Nationwide, NRCCUA collected
personal information from more than 2
million high school students in the same
year, all the while representing –
falsely – that the survey was funded
completely by NRCCUA’s 850 member
colleges and universities, and that the
information would be used only for college
or career recruitment purposes.
In fact, Harvey noted, NRCCUA had a contract
with American Student List, a for-profit
company that sells information to companies
which use it for commercial solicitation
purposes. American Student List sold the
data provided by NRCCUA to commercial
solicitors, who in turn used it in their
marketing endeavors. NRCCUA also sold
the information to a firm known as Educational
Communications, Inc., which solicits high
school students for the sale of educational
and non-educational products or services.
In reaching settlement with the States,
NRCCUA made no admission of wrongdoing.
Attorney General Harvey said that, in
addition to agreeing to “clearly
and conspicuously” disclose its
reasons for collecting information and
the types of entities it will share that
information with, NRCCUA has agreed to:
-
make “clear and conspicuous”
disclosures in all of its privacy disclaimers
and in all questionnaires, survey instruments
and other documents
- cease
all future use of survey data collected
from a student if a parent (in the case
of a minor student) or adult high school
student requests that the student be
opted out of completing the survey,
or that NRCCUA stop using previously
collected information
- supply
-- in cases where NRCCUA is using, or
permitting others to use, its survey
data for non-educational purposes --
each school that has been sent an NRCCUA
survey packet with a notice form advising
parents (and adult-age high school students)
that the survey may be administered,
and explaining how to opt out of completing
it. NRCCUA is to request in each case
that the parental notice form go out
at least 30 days prior to the survey
being administered.
“The
position put forth by the NRCCUA is that
its annual surveys have been, and continue
to be, an important asset in linking high
school students with career recruiters
and institutions of higher learning that
are compatible,” said Harvey. “However,
as far as the State of New Jersey is concerned,
the fact that their survey has been helpful
does not relieve NRCCUA – or any
other entity engaged in the same activity
– of an obligation to avoid unfair
and deceptive business practices, and
to be completely forthright about what
they are doing with students’ personal
information. ”