Most have eliminated the Social Security number from the card, but what about the myriad of campus systems?

by Andy Williams, Contributing Editor

The ubiquitous nine-digit Social Security number is rapidly disappearing from the ID scene as colleges, governments and businesses attempt to stem a glaring ID theft risk. Colleges and universities long used the number to identify students and staff. Today, however, state legislation, student demands for greater security, and proactive campus administrators are changing all that.

The days when you could approach a bulletin board to see class grades listed by SSN are mostly gone. So too are days when student ID cards had the SSN plastered on the front in bold black print.

It was only few years ago, when the biggest issue with the SSN was that freshman had to memorize it. But today the epidemic of identity theft has raised the bar on SSN concerns.