At Northeastern University, every student has a student ID number. Students often wonder why they need to remember their Northeastern University ID number, known as "NUID" for short and why the University doesn't just use an existing number such as a Social Security Number.
It turns out, the elimination of using Social Security Numbers is the entire point of the NUID. Social Security Numbers, in the wrong hands, can lead to serious, costly fraud. The Social Security Administration has a good website about the problem of identity theft. By having a NUID, in the normal course of business you won't need to use your Social Security Number unless you are doing something where the law requires a Social Security Number such as employment or financial aid.
On a historical note, the first major call for Northeastern to replace Social Security Number use with something else came back in 2005 as a resolution from the Student Government Association. The resolution called for the change to happen with the next incoming class, but because dozens of University systems needed to be changed, the NUID transition didn't happen until February 2007 over a three-day weekend.
3 comments:
Why is this post written? Its not been hidden by anyone that the reason we went to new ID numbers was because we were using an outdated policy. Most schools have changed over to their own ID system instead of SSNs
Some students complain that they have to remember a second number.
They should let students choose what they want. You can have a NUID number or if you want it can just be your Social Security.
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