A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Think College Early Website Policy on Establishing Links to External Organizations

Discussion: The U.S. Department of Education recognizes that helping middle-school students reach their educational goals beyond high school requires the collaborative energy of its partners, stakeholders, and other supportive parties. It is therefore appropriate for the Think College Early website to use the Internet to link to external web sites as a public service to our customers. Although the Department tries to identify and link only with relevant sites, it does not endorse or approve any material on those sites.

Linking Policy: The Think College Early website's mission is to help middle-school students and their parents (or legal guardian) plan and prepare for education beyond high school. Its purposes include disseminating information and serving as a clearinghouse for resources. Consideration for linking will be extended to all parties supporting these goals and the mission of the Department to "Ensure Equal Access to Education and Promote Educational Excellence Throughout the Nation."

As referenced in the Department's policy on linking to external sites, the primary criteria for linking are its "essential and indispensable" relevance and usefulness to the Think College Early initiative. External web site design must also be technically sound, user-friendly, and not duplicative of the overall Think College Early document collection. The Department cannot endorse or appear to endorse any enterprise, product, or service. As a result, ED's Office of General Counsel reserves the right to deny or remove links if it is determined that a group's web site is primarily commercial in nature (i.e., advertising a product, charging a usage fee, soliciting user information, etc.), or if there is any indication of misleading or unsubstantiated claims. The sponsor's record with consumer protection groups may be grounds for denial of linking to the Think College Early website. The Think College Early website may not directly link to order forms or other forms of direct solicitation.

All external links must be clearly identified as Non-U.S. Department of Education websites. The Think College Early website will contain the following disclaimer, appearing prominently in the first frame containing external links, and elsewhere throughout the website (when the technology is available to the Department, this disclaimer should also appear in all frames which guide the user through the Think College Early website):

Non-U.S. Department of Education websites are linked as a public service only. These web sites are provided as a tool to help visitors explore the wide range of options and information available, and to help them make informed choices about how to prepare for and pursue postsecondary education opportunities. As such, the organization, services, advice, or products are not endorsed or guaranteed in any way by the U.S. Department of Education and are entirely the responsibility of the webmaster of the site visited.

This linking policy is subject to revision in order to maintain consistency with the U.S. Department of Education's overall policy on establishing links to external organizations.

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