Students can add “delegate access” to their student account, which will allow other individuals to access certain aspects of their account that are otherwise protected.
Protections under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of student records and prohibits university staff from disclosing certain information to parents or other individuals without the permission of the student. Granting delegate access is the exception to this law: Students may grant access to parents, guardians, spouses, or others to have view access of their student portal, make payments on their account, or speak to university staff.
Delegating access to student accounts
Delegating access allows you to grant access to certain aspects of your student account. Delegates can be parents, guardians, spouses, or any other person.
You have the ability to grant permission to view:
- enrollment information,
- enrollment information plus grades,
- and/or financial information (e.g., pay bills, view financial aid).
This allows authorized delegates to pay your tuition/fees and view your financial aid offer (if applicable), view enrollments, view grades, or any combination of the three. Based on permissions granted, delegates can speak to Cal Student Central regarding those topics.
How do you share access with your delegate? When authorizing a new delegate, you will create a unique Delegate Code for that individual. Share this with them; it is required to verify the delegate in order to discuss your student academic or financial information.
How do you access an existing delegate code? Students (not their delegate) can look up the Delegate Code via their CalCentral’s Personal Profile > Delegate Access > select the desired delegate to view/edit their information.
Follow this delegate access step-by-step guide on how to get started. You can find troubleshooting suggestions in the FAQ section.
For technical support, please review the IT Support page.