§ 6-85-215 - Student consent form. - Arkansas Statutes

6-85-215. Student consent form.

(a) (1) (A) A student receiving any state-supported student financial assistance shall complete and sign a form authorizing or refusing to authorize:

(i) The institution of higher education to release the student's individual personal information to the Bureau of Legislative Research;

(ii) The institution of higher education to provide the bureau with academic progress information for the scholarship recipient; and

(iii) The Department of Higher Education to release the student's individual personal information to the bureau.

(B) If a student is less than eighteen (18) years of age, the student's parent or guardian shall complete and sign the form.

(2) (A) A decision to refuse to authorize the release of information under this section does not apply to nonindividually identifiable information released under any other section of this subchapter or under any other law.

(B) In order to provide better statistical data, each institution shall report the number of students who refuse to authorize the release of information.

(3) (A) Before any state funds for state-supported student financial assistance are released on behalf of a student, the form signed by the student or the student's parent or guardian indicating either the student's authorization to release or the refusal to authorize the release of information under this section shall be obtained by:

(i) The department if the department awards the state-supported student financial assistance; or

(ii) The institution of higher education if the state-supported student financial assistance is awarded solely by the institution.

(B) The form shall state that:

(i) The purpose for the bureau's collecting data is to guide the General Assembly's evaluation of the need for adjustments to scholarship program eligibility and funding levels; and

(ii) A refusal to authorize the release of information under this section will not affect the student's eligibility for a scholarship.

(C) A high school student enrolled in a course for concurrent credit is exempt under this section.

(4) The form shall list the categories of information authorized for release under this section.

(5) The Director of the Bureau of Legislative Research may:

(A) Seek an opinion from the Family Policy Compliance Office of the United States Department of Education concerning the requirement to authorize or refuse to authorize the release of information under this section; or

(B) Request the Department of Higher Education to seek the opinion on behalf of the bureau.

(b) The information consented to be released by the student shall include:

(1) A unique student identifier;

(2) Status for Federal Pell Grant;

(3) Postsecondary grade point average;

(4) Number of semester hours attempted;

(5) Number of semester hours completed;

(6) Gender, race, ethnicity, and age;

(7) High school graduated from or General Educational Development test score;

(8) High school grade point average; and

(9) ACT score or ACT equivalent score, if available.

(c) This section does not apply to scholarships or other forms of student financial assistance that are completely privately funded.

(d) Approved institutions of higher education shall undertake any procedures necessary to ensure the collection of the information under this section and shall provide it to the bureau in a mutually agreed upon electronic format by November 1 of each school year for students awarded for that academic year state-supported student financial assistance.

(e) (1) The student data provided to the bureau under this section are not subject to release under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, 25-19-101 et seq.

(2) The bureau shall not release any personally identifiable student data received under this section.

(f) The bureau shall inform the Department of Higher Education of any data used in the preparation of reports and provide the department at least two (2) working days to review any student-related data used in preparation of reports before publicly releasing that student-related data without personally identifiable data.