Student Privacy

College students across the nation are familiar with the pressure of either having their tuition paid by the deadline or coming up with the money to pay toward furthering their education.  While there are many students under different circumstances who cannot pay their fees by the deadline, a mass e-mail is sent out to all students at USC Aiken with a list of students’ names who have not yet paid their tuition.

I believe this is wrong, because most people who receive these e-mails read them to see who is at risk for having their semester canceled.  Also, such matters concerning finances should be a private matter, meaning a notification should be sent to the handful of students whom the notification is meant for.

Over the past few years of my attendance at this university, I have read the e-mails sent with the list of the 30 or so students who have yet to beat the deadline, and I always wondered why these notices were never sent to the students who owed money rather than the entire student body on campus.

Personally, I would feel embarrassed if the entire school, at least those who check their e-mails or even these notifications, knew that I fell behind on my payments for school.  I feel that such disclosure of personal information is a violation of privacy.

Rather than sending an e-mail to every student on campus, those in charge of this business should send these notifications to the individuals whom it pertains to in the attempt to avoid any ridicule.