The retention of student records that pertain to a student's eligibility, receipt and refund of federal student assistance (Title IV) for all students, the retained records must include a complete set of documents confirming that all admissions requirements were satisfied.
The minimum student record retention requirements for records related to financial aid eligibility are derived from the Federal Regulations. In setting its standard for minimum records retention, EA considers the June 30th end to US Department of Education (ED) award year/period, the dates for finalizing award year expenditures and reports, the filing date EA Compliance Audit that includes the closed award period and the date range for ED accepting and closing the prior period’s Compliance Audits and /or an “open” ED Program Reviews.
All student records must be retained for six (6) years from the date of the student’s last date of attendance. Once the minimum retention period has elapsed, the files can be purged of everything except the below, which must be retained indefinitely:
- Proof of High School Graduation/GED (hard or scanned copy)
- Signed Enrollment Agreement (hard or scanned copy)
- Official Transcripts from your campus (hard copy or electronic)
In addition, all attendance and final grade documentation should be retained for no less than six (6) calendar years after the end of the fiscal year.
An electronic copy of the student’s grades, courses, attendance and academic transcript is maintained in the College’s database business system that is backed up nightly and remote data is also maintained.
All past school catalog editions must also be retained and archived. These catalogs include course descriptions and other essential academic information that supports transcript information.