Your information should have a defined purpose—and an exit.

1. Who we are

The Degree Agency, operating the Degree Dean brand, is an independent education consulting company. It is not a school, registrar, accreditor, admissions office, or degree-granting institution. The Degree Agency generally decides why and how information submitted directly to us is processed.

2. Information we collect

• Identity and contact: first and last name, email, phone, state, contact preferences, and consent records.
• Education and professional profile: degree interests, estimated credits, institutions, credentials, training, professional area, and career goals.
• Planning context: schedule, budget range, funding type, learning preferences, constraints, and consultation notes.
• Service and transaction records: appointments, messages, agreements, invoices, service status, and support history.
• Technical data: essential security, diagnostic, and consent-choice information.
• Future platform data: transcript content or academic records only when intentionally provided through a designated workflow.

Do not provide: Social Security numbers, passwords, banking credentials, full payment-card data, unnecessary dates of birth, unrelated health information, or disciplinary records. Redact student IDs before providing academic documents.

3. Why we use information

• Respond to inquiries and assess service fit.
• Prepare for consultations and provide contracted consulting.
• Model completion scenarios and identify verification items.
• Schedule through Calendly and deliver service communications.
• Maintain security, prevent misuse, document consent, and resolve disputes.
• Send newsletters, marketing emails, texts, or calls only when authorized.
• Improve services using aggregated or de-identified information where practical.

4. AI-assisted processing and communications

Planning AI may extract potential academic assets, estimate time and cost ranges, identify possible equivalencies, rank pathway fit, and recommend a next action. These outputs are probabilistic and require human and school verification.

If you separately opt in to text and AI-call communications, an automated system may send texts or place calls using an artificial, prerecorded, or AI-generated voice. That choice is optional, is not a condition of purchase, and is separate from email marketing consent and consent to use planning AI. See the AI Transparency Notice.

5. Communications and consent records

We may contact you about a request through email, a live call, or an individual text. Optional email marketing, optional automated text and AI-call communications, and optional planning-AI analysis are presented as separate choices. When you make a choice, we may record the disclosure presented, your selection, submission time, source form, and contact information to document and manage consent. You may unsubscribe, reply STOP, tell a caller to stop, or submit a privacy request. Message and data rates may apply.

6. When information is disclosed

Information may be disclosed to vetted service providers supporting hosting, secure storage, email, calling and texting, Calendly scheduling, payment, professional services, and AI features; when directed by you; to protect rights and safety; or when legally required. We do not sell personal information. With cookie consent, Meta may receive website and advertising-event data as described in the Cookie Disclosure.

7. Student records and FERPA

FERPA generally governs education records maintained by covered educational institutions and their qualifying service providers. Information submitted directly to an independent consultant is not automatically a FERPA education record. If a school formally engages The Degree Agency, the applicable agreement and FERPA requirements will control.

8. Retention and disposal

Newsletter, contact, intake, and appointment submissions receive a retention-review date approximately 13 months after collection. Privacy-request records may be reviewed on a longer schedule to document compliance. Active-client, payment, dispute, security, and legally required records may be retained longer. Records are then deleted, de-identified, or retained under a documented exception.

9. Your choices and rights

Subject to verification and applicable law, you may request access, a portable copy, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, withdrawal of consent, marketing opt-out, or information about disclosures. We do not discriminate for exercising privacy rights. Some information may be retained for contracts, security, legal claims, or compliance.

10. Security and privacy engineering

Our program is designed around data minimization, purpose limitation, role-based access, lifecycle controls, secure development, vendor review, incident response, and documented disposal. No system is perfectly secure; safeguards are reviewed against the sensitivity and volume of data processed.

11. Adults only, international use, and changes

Services are intended for adults 18 and older. Information may be processed in the United States. If another jurisdiction applies, additional rights or transfer measures may be required. Material changes will be dated and communicated through an appropriate channel.