Privacy Policy
This privacy policy applies to information collected by our websites, products, and services.
Effective Date: September 10, 2020
What are the Accelerated Pathways programs?
The Accelerated Pathways programs(the “Programs”) area suite of services, products and courses provided by Pearson Education, Inc. (“Pearson” or “we” or “us”) to support individuals who are interested in seeking more education.
Pearson offers many of the Programs directly to individuals. Some Programs are offered through participating employers who seek to leverage their tuition benefits strategically to help recruit, develop and retain their talent. In these Programs,Pearsonworks in collaboration with theemployers andselectededucation providersto make applicable Programs available. Pearson also delivers some Programs as a contracted service provider to other organizations and educational institutions.
What does this Privacy Statement cover?
This Privacy Statement explains the way Pearson collects, uses, maintains and discloses information collected through the Programs. This Privacy Statement applies only to Pearson services and Pearson webpages/sites (“Webpages”) related to the Programs, including online contact forms thatyou may complete to request information about the Programs. Other websites and programs, including websites linked from Webpages, may have their own privacy policies and practices.
What personal information does Pearson collect through the Accelerated Pathways Programs?How does Pearson use that personal information?
Information Requests. If you complete a contact form on a Webpage or otherwise request help or information from us, we will collect personal information so that we can contact and communicate with you, address your requests and provide information and messages to you about educational programs that may be available. This information may include contact information, such as your name, email address and phone number and the name of your employer (if you are requesting information about a Program provided in collaboration with your employer), together with your question or request.
Cell Phone—Text Messaging and Calls.If you provide your cell phone number to us and indicate that we may contact you by phone or text message, we may call you and send you text messages to share information related to the Program and to provide enrollment and educational support to you. Message, call and data rates of your carrier may apply. You may opt out of receiving these calls and text messages at any time by telling us in a phone call, contacting us or following the instructions contained in a text message. You are not required to provide your cell phone number or consent to receiving phone or text messages in order to receive information and support through the Program.
Account Data. If you set up a User account with Pearson, Pearson will collect and process personal information to set up, maintain and enable your access to the account. Account Data may include your name, email address, user name and password, together with a list of the Pearson courses, services and products you use or purchase. If your Programs are provided through your employer, Account Data may also include your employer.
Payment and Order Data. If you purchase services, products, courses or certification examinations from or through Pearson, Pearson will collect information needed to process the order and communicate with you about the order. Payment and Order Data may include order details, name, institution or employer name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. Payment data submitted will be disclosed to your financial institution and Pearson’s payment processing vendor for the purpose of processing payment for the order.
Enrollment Support.If you contact or work withan enrollment advisor, we may collect personal information so that we can help you exploreeligible educational options, apply for enrollmentin eligible educational programs and seek financial aid. The personal information may include information about your employment history and educational background, such as employers, work experience, schools, areas of study, grades, transcripts and other educational records, together with personal financial information and any other information that you may choose to share or that may be requested in the application and enrollment process for an eligible educational program and financial aid.
Educational Program Support. If you enroll in an eligible educational program, we may collect personal information for the purpose of providing educational program support services to you. These support services may include course selection and registration assistance, degree audits and assistance to help you be successful and stay on track to complete an educational program and verify your eligibility for financial aid. The personal information may include information about your coursework, grades and other educational records, together with personal financial information and any other personal information that you may choose to shareor that may be requested to enable us to provide appropriate support.
Educational Courses. If you register foror purchase educational courses offered through or by Pearson, personal information will be collected and processed for the purpose of delivering such educational courses to you. This personal information may include assignments, student coursework, responses to interactive exercises, assessments, scores, grades and instructor comments. Additional information about how Pearson handles personal information in connection with its courseware is explained in ourDigital Learning Services Privacy Notice. Personal information collected in connection with an educational course by an educational institution or education provider will be subject to the privacy policies of such educational institution or education provider.
Certification Programs. If you register for and take a certification examination offered through or by Pearson, personal information will be collected and processed for the purposes of providing such examination and certification to you. Personal information collected in connection with a certification program will be subject to the privacy policies of the certification provider.
Feedback. Pearson may provide you with the opportunity to respond to surveys and to evaluate and provide feedback on the Programs. Participation is optional. Pearson may use that information to respond to you about your feedback and to address any issues that you may identify. Pearson may also use survey responses to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or webpages, develop new products and services, conduct educational research and for other purposes specified in the survey.
Contests and Drawings. Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the context or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.
De-Identified Data. Pearson may de-identify and aggregate information collected in connection with the Programsand use it to maintain, support and evaluate the efficacy of the Programs; conduct educational research; develop new products and services; and for other purposes. Unless required to do so by law, Pearson will not attempt to re-identify such de-identified data.
Does Pearson use personal information for marketing purposes?
Pearson may use personal information in order to provide messages and information about eligible educational programs and services that may be available through the Programs from Pearson or selected education providers. If you do not want to receive such messages and information, you may indicate your preferences and opt-out at any time by contacting us or responding to a text or following instructions contained in an email message.Pearson will not use personal information collected as a K-12 school service providerfor the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
Does Pearson collect children’s personal information through the Webpages?
The Programs are directed to learners interested in pursuing Higher Education. They are not designed for, or directed to, children under the age of 13. Pearson will not knowingly collectpersonal information of children under the age of 13 through the Programs or these Webpages.
How does Pearson protect personal information?
We use appropriate commercially reasonable data collection, storage and processing practices and security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction of personal information.
Does Pearson share or disclose personal information?
Except as specifically stated in this Privacy Statement, it is our policy not to share or disclose personal information collected through the Programs with third parties other than affiliates of Pearson and other companies and organizations who perform work for or with us under contract and are committed to protect the privacy of personal information in a manner consistent with this Privacy Statement. These affiliates, companies and organizations may also contact and communicate with you, address your requests and provide information and messages to you, on our behalf, about the Programs that may be available.
If we deliver a Program as a service provider under contract with the organization or educational institution who enrolled you in a Program, we may disclose your personal information to such organization or educational institution for purposes of the Program and performing our contract with such organization or educational institution.
We also may disclose personal information, as follows: (a) with your consent; (b) to the school or university in which you are enrolled, or in which you seek to enroll; (c) to the educational institution, education provider or certification provider (and an authorized certification testing provider) for a course or certification that you register for, take or pursue; (d) to your parents, if you are under the age of 18;; (e)in response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law; (f) as otherwise required or permitted by law; (g) to protect the security and safety of you and other persons, our systems and the data we hold, consistent with applicable law; (f) in connection with a sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of our company or its assets; (h) to address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities; or (i) in order to enforce the Programs’Terms of Service or any contract that you have with us, your school or university, another education provider or certification provider that may relate to any applicable Programs.
You are responsible for providing any documentation of your course enrollment, course completion or course grade required by your employer or any other payor as a condition of partial or full payment or reimbursement of tuition/fees for your educational courses or Program. Pearson may disclosepersonal informationto an employer who provides tuition benefits to you for the purpose of confirming your participation in or completion of a Program, helping you address any tuition benefit coverage issues and for other purposes related to your Program.
Can personal information be accessed or corrected?
You may contact us to request a list of the information we have stored on our systems about you or to correct or update any information you previously provided to us.
The U.S. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides students with privacy rights and protection for educational personally identifiable information collected and processed by or on behalf of educational institutions receiving government funding from the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA provides students with the rights to obtain from these educational institutions access to their educational records, as well as correction and amendment of their educational records. Students should direct any requests for access, correction or amendment of education records to their educational institution. If you have any questions, please contact us.
Do Pearson Webpages for the Programs collect additional information or use cookies? Do they respond to “do not track” signals?
Cookies and Related Technologies.Our Webpages related to the Programsmay use cookies and related technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, personalize content, control security and provide interest-based messages and advertising. These cookies may include Google Analytics cookies that enable us to obtain web trend and analytic information that we use for system administration, to identify problems and improve service. You have a variety of tools to control the use of cookies and technologies, including browser controls to block and delete cookies. You may choose to disable or block these technologies, but that may prevent or limit the functionality of the Webpages.
Application and System Logs. Pearson may automatically collect log data related to interactions with our Webpages in order to ensure availability and security. This log data may include browser type, type of computer/device and technical information about the means of connection to the Webpages, such as operating system, internet service provider and IP address. Log data is collected and used to monitor the health of the websites, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and address security issues and appropriately scale computing resources.
Do Not Track. Do Not Track (DNT) is a proposed mechanism for allowing website visitors to control the collection of certain usage data. Although there has been research into the development of a standard to support the use of DNT signals, there is no adopted standard to follow.The Webpages do not currently respond to Do Not Track signals.
Is this Privacy Statement subject to change?
This Privacy Statement may be revised from time to time through an updated posting. Pearson will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Updates may be made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If Pearson reasonably believes the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of your personal information, Pearson will endeavor to notify you by email or another appropriate way.
What is Pearson’s contact information?
To contact us about this Privacy Statement or the Programs, please email us at studentservices-ap@pearson.com.
California Supplemental Privacy Statement
If you are a California resident, please also read our Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents, which provides information about your California privacy rights and additional information required by California law.