Last updated: June 30. 2023

This Privacy Policy describes the online and offline information practices for California Southern University, a member of the American InterContinental University System (collectively, “Institution”, “we”, “us” or “our”), and informs you about the rights you have regarding your personal information and how you may exercise those rights. You may always reach out to us with any questions by contacting info@calsouthern.edu

California residents should also review Appendix A – State Specific Privacy Information & Rights for information about your rights and how to submit a privacy request, including requests that we not sell or share your personal information by visiting Do Not Sell or Share My Info.

Categories of Personal Information Collected and Examples

(Some types of personal information may overlap with other categories.)

Purpose(s) for which the categories of personal information are collected and used
A. Identifiers. A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, e-mail address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers. • to communicate with you
• to determine your eligibility for our services
• to identify, authenticate and verify your identity
• to provide you with our services and products
• to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)). A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment data, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information. • to communicate with you
• to determine your eligibility for our services
• to identify, authenticate and verify your identity
• to provide you with our services and products
• to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law. Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, gender, veteran or military status, • to determine your eligibility for our services
• to provide you with our services and products
• to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
D. Commercial information. Records of products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. • to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals
E. Sensitive Personal Information. Social Security number, driver’s license number or other government-issued identification number, financial account number, any health insurance or medical identification number, Racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, or union membership, an account password, security questions and answers. • to identify, authenticate and verify your identity
• to provide you with our services and products
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
F. Internet or other similar network activity. Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. • to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
G. Geolocation data. Physical location or movements. • to determine your eligibility for our services
• to identify, authenticate and verify your identity
• to provide you with our services and products
• to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
H. Audio or Visual data. Audio, electronic, visual, or similar information. • to communicate with you
• to determine your eligibility for our services
• to identify, authenticate and verify your identity
• to provide you with our services and products
• to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
I. Professional or employment-related information. Current or past job history, employment record(s), and performance evaluations. • to communicate with you
• to determine your eligibility for our services
• to identify, authenticate and verify your identity
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)). Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. • to communicate with you
• to determine your eligibility for our services
• to identify, authenticate and verify your identity
• to provide you with our services and products
• to develop and improve our services and products
• for physical and IT security purposes
• for employee and contractor management purposes
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements
• to prevent or investigate illegal or suspicious activity
K. Inferences drawn from other personal information. Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, household characteristics. • to develop and improve our services and products
• to provide you with marketing about our services and products
• to support our mission, objectives and goals

Data Retention of Personal Information: We may retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary or relevant for the business purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including, for example, to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements, and for backup, archival, and other internal operations purposes. The criteria we use to determine retention periods include (i) the content of the record or information, (ii) the time required to retain personal information to fulfill business purposes, including providing products and services; (iii) our legal and regulatory requirements and obligations; (iv) whether our contracts have special requirements for data retention; and (v) our legitimate business needs.

Data Retention of Personal Information: We may retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary or relevant for the business purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including, for example, to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements, and for backup, archival, and other internal operations purposes. The criteria we use to determine retention periods include (i) the content of the record or information, (ii) the time required to retain personal information to fulfill business purposes, including providing products and services; (iii) our legal and regulatory requirements and obligations; (iv) whether our contracts have special requirements for data retention; and (v) our legitimate business needs.

The Privacy Policy applies to the information, services, and products we offer, and the information we collect on our websites, mobile applications, virtual private networks, learning management systems, and other online services where this Privacy Policy is posted or referenced (collectively, our “Services”). The Privacy Policy applies to all individuals who use or access our Services, including visitors, prospective students, student applicants, current or former students, job applicants, current or former employees, and contractors. By using or accessing our Services, you expressly consent to our use of your information collected for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to our privacy obligations for student educational records covered under the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and similar state laws. To learn more about our FERPA policy, please see the Institution’s catalog.

Please see Appendix A – State Specific Privacy Information & Rights for information, required disclosures, and privacy rights applicable to residents of specific states.

We collect information directly from you.  You may give us your information by completing online or paper forms, or by corresponding with us by e-mail, phone, text message, mail, fax, web chat, instant message, or in-person. This includes personal data you provide when you:

  • Request information about or purchase our Services;
  • Discuss your interest in and/or your eligibility for our Services with us, including any of our departments.
  • Apply for financial aid, scholarships, grants, or other types of financial aid
  • Create or register for a user account on our Services;
  • Subscribe to our publications such as newsletters, alumni communications, career services information, social media sites, investor updates, or webinars;
  • Request marketing be sent to you such as by e-mail, mail, phone, live chat, or text message;
  • Interact with our Services such as through our online application center, financial aid calculator, online live chat, or by providing your contact information;
  • Interact with our social media pages
  • Participate in educational and learning activities or sign-up for events;
  • Enter a competition, sweepstakes, or promotion;
  • Complete a survey or other assessment tool;
  • Provide information in-person at institution events, industry events, other venues, or by phone, fax, online chat, text message, virtual attendance, or e-mail;
  • Interact with vendors that provide services and products on our behalf.
  • Provide information to apply for a position on our job/hiring information websites, complete a background check, take an assessment, interview, complete mandatory employment forms, or apply for employee benefits;
  • Engage with us as a service provider, contractor, business, or education partner;

We collect information through automated technologies and interactions. As you interact with our Services, we may automatically collect data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies and other similar technologies. We may also receive technical information about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies.
We collect information you post or submit. We may collect information you post, comment on, upload, or submit in a public space while using our Services.

We collect job application and human resources information. If you apply for a job or are hired, we may need to collect information required to verify your eligibility from third parties.

We collect Audio/Visual Information. When you visit, attend, or work at one of our facilities, we may capture or collect photographs and record audio and video at the facility (including through the use of CCTV cameras and other technologies to secure our premises). We may record calls and communications from you or to you for quality and training purposes. We may engage or otherwise permit other parties to also collect information through our Services in these ways.

We collect information from you passively. We use tracking technologies like browser cookies and web beacons to collect information passively about you. This includes when you use our Services or when you otherwise interact with our Services, advertisements, e-mails, or our in-app notifications that we or our vendors send to you. We may collect information from your devices when your device connects to or is detected by our WiFi services. We may also embed technologies (which may include, for example, web beacons, tags, and pixels) in the e-mails and other communications we or our vendors send to you to help us understand how you interact with those messages, such as whether and when you opened a message or clicked on any content within the message. We may engage or otherwise permit other parties to also collect information through the Services in these ways. We may record your sessions and interactions with our Services, including consents, page and mobile application interaction information, and other electronic communications and content from your use of the Services (such as content entry, mouse movements, screen captures, what areas of the websites you visit and for how long, what search terms or other data you enter, and what products or content or links you view and click on), and methods used to browse away from the page.

We receive information from vendors we hire to work on our behalf. For example, vendors that host or maintain our websites and send promotional e-mails for us may give us information. Our employment and recruiting vendors also give us information.

We collect information from third parties. We may receive information about you from other sources. This might include our business partners, our education partners, other academic institutions, and organizations that administer exams, manage records related to education, and disciplinary records, or provide scholarships, grants, and other financial aid. It may also include your friends and family who use our referral features. We may also collect information about you from advertising networks, internet service providers, data analytics providers, government entities, operating systems and platforms, and social media sites.

We combine information we obtain from different sources. We may combine information that we collect offline with information we collect online. We may also combine information you submit or that we track across multiple devices. We may also combine information we collect from you with information we get about you from other sources.

The types of personal information we collect about you varies depending on your interactions with our Services and your relationship with us. Not all types of information are collected on all individuals. Generally, we may collect the following categories of personal information:

Name, Contact Information, and Other Identifiers: full name, previous name(s), physical postal address, billing address, telephone number(s), unique personal identifier, e-mail address(es), account name, or other similar identifiers.

Demographic Information: including race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, national origin, disability, and citizenship status, language(s) spoken, marital status, military status, and highest education level completed.

Commercial Information: including records of personal property; products or services purchased, obtained, or considered; or other purchasing or relevant consuming histories or tendencies.

Internet or other Electronic Network Activity Information: including online identifier(s), internet protocol (IP) address, MAC address, the type, make, manufacturer, and identification number of the device(s) you use to access our Services, the browser or mobile operating system you are using, signal strength, date/time stamp, how often you use our app and where you downloaded it, your use of the WiFi, such as which websites you visit, and your recorded interactions with our Services and advertisements.

Geolocation data: including geographic location information about a particular individual or device when you access our Services, wireless access point location (which can be associated with a physical location), or keycard entry access activity at our facilities for authorized individuals.

Audio, video, and other electronic data: including photos, call recordings, video or digital CCTV footage at our facilities.

Employment Information and History: including submitted job applications, resumes, candidate evaluations or interviews, employee file records,  work authorization records, payment and salary records, schedules, employee benefits, employee development and training records, reviews and requests. It may also include previous education transcripts, previous employer(s) name and contact information, proof of previous or current employment, background check documentation, and other federal, state or internally required forms, contracts or information for lawful employment, prior occupation(s), job title(s), employer name(s), and professional or employment-related information from prior employment.

Customer Records: including paper and electronic customer records containing signature, social security number, date of birth, physical characteristics or description, passport number, alien registration number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, identity verification data and documents, other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information.

Education Information: including information regarding past and present education, institutions attended, years of attendance, courses of study, attendance records, transcripts, grades, awards earned, degree(s)/certificates/certifications obtained, discipline records, financial aid documentation, and awards, payment history, admissions application, enrollment agreement, required program or other disclosures, professional and employment-related information, assignments, tests and other student-generated work or materials, and directory and non-directory information as those terms are defined in the Institution’s FERPA policy.

Inferences drawn from any of the above categories of Personal Information: inferences used to create a profile about a consumer reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.

We use your information to communicate with you and provide our Services. This includes determining your eligibility for our Services, maintaining or servicing your account, providing customer service, processing or fulfilling orders and transactions, verifying your information, processing payments, providing financial aid processing, providing advertising or marketing services, providing analytic services, collections activity, responding to your questions or inquiries or notifying you if you won a promotion or sweepstakes. We will also use your information to send you information about your account or about our relationship. We may send push notifications to you from our mobile applications, text messaging services, or other similar services that you have opted into.

We use your information to identify and authenticate. We use your information to verify your identity, such as when you access your account.

We use your information to provide you with our Services. This includes providing educational services and products and fulfilling your requests.

We use your information to understand your interests and develop and improve our services. We may use your information to improve and develop our Services. This may include improving student retention and the user experience. We may also use your information to customize your experience with us. For example, we may use your information to determine your interest in our Services and products, or to better understand what other products and services may interest you.

We use your information for marketing purposes. We may provide you with information about our existing Services, new products, and services, or other ads. We might use your information to serve you with relevant ads. These might be third-party offers or products we think you might find interesting. Our business vendors and education partners may also serve you with advertisements for our Services or other’s services or products. We may use your personal information to send these communications.

We use information for security purposes. This may include detecting security incidents, protecting against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, and prosecuting those responsible for that activity. It may also include debugging to identify and repair errors that may impair the functionality of our Services, undertaking activities to verify, maintain, improve, upgrade, or enhance the quality or safety of a service, device or system that we own, manufacture, manufacture for, or control. We may also use information to protect our family of companies, students, prospective students, applicants, website visitors, alumni, employees, visitors, and others. It may also include protecting our Services.

We use information for verification purposes. This may include using certain pieces of personal information to verify your identity, including to access your account, participate in certain Services, or if you make requests related to this Privacy Policy.

We use your information for employee management purposes. This may include applicant and candidate evaluations or interviews. It may also include maintaining your employee file for work authorization, payment and salary records, providing and administering employee benefit programs, and managing and maintaining employee development such as reviews or disciplinary actions.

We use your information to support our mission, objectives and goals. We may conduct internal research for technological development and demonstration, conduct and analyze results of surveys, focus groups, interviews, employer feedback and other assessment measures.

We use information as otherwise permitted or required by law, our authorized regulators, or as we may notify you. This includes using your information for our legitimate business needs.

We share your information within the Perdoceo Education Corporation family of companies. This includes our network of institutions and the Career Education Foundation Scholarship Fund, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) fund dedicated to providing both need-based and merit-based scholarships to qualified students attending our institution(s).

We share your information with service providers who perform Services on our behalf. For example, this may include payment processors or companies that provide identity verification services. It may also include companies that fulfill transcript requests or send communications on our behalf. We may also share your information with others that provide educational services on our behalf.

We share information with our business partners. For example, this may include third parties that provide educational products and services related to our business. It may also include social media sites or a third-party that co-sponsors a promotion.

We share information with those who help pay for your education. We may share your information with authorized individuals, such as family members or employers who help pay your tuition. We may also share information with third party banks or lenders that provide education loans and other services to you. For more information about how we treat education records and financial information, please see the Institution’s Catalog.

We share information with third parties for marketing purposes. This may include third-parties that serve ads on our behalf. This may also include third-parties in whose products or services we believe you may be interested. These third-parties may also share your information with others. These third parties may use your information for their own marketing purposes or the marketing purposes of others. This may include the delivery of interest-based advertising.

Your information may be publicly accessible. Information you submit using our Services, such as in chat rooms, online classrooms, social media, discussion boards or other features can be seen by others who use those features. This may include information about you, such as the courses you are enrolled in or your contact information. Online Live Chat or classroom sessions may be recorded for use by enrolled students. Students who participate with their web camera engaged or utilize a profile image are consenting to have their video, audio, or image recorded. For more information on the Recording Policy, please see the Institution’s Catalog.

We will share your information with any successor to all or part of our business. For example, if all or part of our business is sold, we may share your personal information with the new owner. This may include as part of an asset sale, corporate reorganization, or other change of control. We may also share your personal information with others as they conduct diligence.

We share information with regulating agencies and government entities. We may share your information with the organizations that analyze our education practices and provide our authorizations to operate as an educational institution. We may also share information with accreditors, regulators, and government agencies.  For more information about how we treat education records and financial information, please see the Institution’s Catalog.

We will share information to comply with the law or to protect ourselves. This includes responding to a court order or lawfully issued subpoena. It could also include sharing information if a government agency or investigatory body requests it. We might share information when we are investigating potential fraud or for disciplinary purposes. We may also share information if you are the winner of a sweepstakes or other promotion with anyone who requests a winner’s list.

We will share information you direct us to share. This may include transcripts, educational background, professional records, and other information related to our Services that you may request.

We will share information for other reasons we may describe to you.

You can opt-out of receiving certain of our communications. You may contact info@calsouthern.edu for assistance at any time.

E-mail. If you would like to opt-out of marketing e-mails, you may click “UNSUBSCRIBE” on any marketing e-mail.

Text Messages. If you would like to opt-out of text messages you may respond to any text with the keyword “STOP” or “UNSUBSCRIBE”.

Telephone Calls. If you would like to be added to our Do Not Call list, please call us and request to be added to our Do Not Call list. You may also contact info@calsouthern.edu for assistance at any time. We will accept your Do Not Call request by any reasonable method of communication such as e-mail, fax, text message, or mail. Please provide the phone number you would like added to the Do Not Call list.

Note: Even if you opt-out of our promotional communications, you may still receive mandatory, transactional, and emergency notification communications from us.

You can control certain cookies and tracking tools. We use tracking tools, including cookies, on our websites. Third parties may also use cookies on our websites. Cookies are small files that download when you access certain websites. Your browser may give you the ability to control cookies. How you do so depends on the type of cookie. Certain browsers can be set to reject browser cookies, and also explain how you can manage and delete cookies.

You can control certain tools on your mobile devices. For example, you can turn off the GPS locator or push notifications for apps on your mobile phone. Please contact your device manufacturer for assistance with these tools and other security features they may offer you.

To exercise your access, disclosure, deletion rights, or other applicable rights, you must submit a verifiable consumer request to us. We have outlined the procedure below.

  1. a. You may submit your request via our online form at: Privacy Data Request. This is the most efficient way to make your request. You may also contact us via our toll-free number 800-477-2254 or at info@calsouthern.edu.
  2. You will be asked to provide certain personal information that we will review against our records to validate your identity. We require this personal information to prevent identity theft or fraud. In some cases, we may need to contact you for additional information or clarification to comply with your request. We cannot provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you. We will only use personal information provided to verify your identity or the requestor’s authority to make the request.
  3. We will respond to a verifiable consumer request within the period of time required by applicable law. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will explain why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.

Our Services are meant for adults. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 16. If you are a parent or legal guardian and think your child under 16 has provided us with information, please contact us at info@calsouthern.edu. You can also write to us at the address listed at the end of this Privacy Policy. Please mark your inquiries, “COPPA Information Request.”

The Internet is not 100% secure. We cannot promise that our Services or the use of the Services will be completely safe. We encourage you to use caution when using the Internet. We use security measures designed to safeguard personal information under our control. User IDs and passwords are needed to access certain areas of our Services. It is your responsibility to protect your username and password(s).

Information we maintain may be stored in the United States. If you live outside of the United States, you understand and agree that we may transfer your personal information to the United States. The Services are subject to U.S. laws, which may not provide the same level of protection as those in other countries. We may retain your personal information for as long as it is necessary or relevant for the business purposes described in this Privacy Policy and in Institution-specific materials, including, for example, to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements, and for backup, archival, and other internal operations purposes.  We also keep personal information as otherwise required by law.

Our Services may contain links to other third-party sites, products, and services that are not governed by this Privacy Policy. If you click on a link to a third-party site, you will be taken to a site we do not control. We are not responsible for third-party sites or their privacy practices. We recommend that you carefully read the privacy policies of those sites.

California Southern University is a member of the American InterContinental University System. If you have any questions about our privacy practices, please contact us at info@calsouthern.edu or by telephone at 800-477-2254. You may also write to us at the following address:

California Southern University
Attn: Privacy Matters – California Southern University
2200 East Germann Road, Suite 120
Chandler, AZ 85286-1585

From time to time, we may update or revise this Privacy Policy. We will notify you of any material changes to this Policy as required by law. We will post an updated copy on our Services and other applicable locations. Please check periodically for updates.

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