Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
FERPA is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records. Parents have certain rights with respect to their children's education records, but those rights terminate when the student begins college or reaches age 18. All UC Merced students have FERPA protection. Students can grant authorization to parents and others to access protected information. That process is discussed below. Without this authorization, Student Business Services cannot provide student account information (account balance, refund status, etc.) to anyone other than the student.
Establishing a Parent(s) with Payer Access
For a parent(s) to receive online access to a student account to view e-bills, to receive alerts, to make online payments, and to set up a payment plan, the student must grant the parent(s) authorization by setting up a Payer access (a user name and password) on their MyBill, accessed by students through the UC Merced Connect student portal. From the MyBill home page, click the My Account tab and select “Payer Invitation” under the Payers section. The student must provide the parent(s) first and last name(s) and email address(es).
Once a parent payee has completed the setup process, their user name and password will be needed to access the MyBill website or discuss the student’s account with Student Business Services staff. If the parent forgets his/her username or password, the parent can retrieve the user name or password on the Parent Sign-in page. Student Business Services cannot reset usernames and/or passwords.
For additional information, please see How to view Student Account Activity on MyBill
Viewing Your Student's Account
The following link takes you to the Parent Sign-in page, where you will enter your username and password. As a parent, you are only able to access certain areas of MyBill.
Your student’s account is in real-time and reflects current charges, payments, and waivers. Please note that charges may appear on your student’s account well into the semester if your student adds or drops courses during the Add/Drop period or leaves UC Merced mid-term. Your student is responsible for checking his/her student account regularly for new charges.
Billing Statements
Billing statements are generally available for viewing on the first business day of each month. The billing statement is a static picture of your student’s account when the billing statement is generated. Once published, billing statements are not updated with additional charges or payments. To view the current billing statement, the following link takes you to the Parent Sign-in page.