Parents

If you’re a parent of a student, you may have questions regarding financial aid and how to best finance a college education. This is important information regarding releasing a student’s confidential information to their parents, along with information on loans for students and loans parents may use to pay for their child’s education.

For many families, parents and students use a combination of family resources and financial aid to cover education costs. HCC does encourage students to become self-sufficient and become knowledgeable of the financial aid forms, deadlines, web sites and self-service screens and encourages students to work through situations on their own first, then consulting parental advice if needed.

Release of confidential information from student record

Students must complete a FERPA release form to authorize the release of their Houston Community College record to an individual or agency not covered under federal privacy laws. A FERPA release form must be submitted by the student at a campus in-person or notarized prior to submission. Faxed or emailed copies will not be accepted.

Confidentiality Request

Houston Community College System considers name, address, telephone, date of birth, degrees earned and dates, major field of study, dates of attendance, and number of semester hours completed and in progress, enrollment status, student classification and name of most recent institution attended as directory information. This is done in compliance with the Texas Open Records Law.

If you do not want this information released, download the HCC Confidentiality Form‌ and return to the college Registration Office.

Borrowing for college expenses

HCC encourages you to review all information about loans before deciding to borrow and to borrow only what you need. If you choose to borrow, the best financial option for a dependent student and their family is for the student to borrow a Federal Direct Stafford Loan.

There is also an option for parents to borrow money for the education of dependent undergraduate students through the PLUS (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) program.

For authorization of Parent PLUS Loan refunds, please click here to visit the form page:
- Select the correct aid year.
- Scroll to bottom of page and select PDF forms.
- Select "Parent PLUS Loan Refund Authorization" form.
- Fill out form and follow instructions to submit to financial aid office.
For more parental guides and resources, please visit www.finaid.org/parents.