Authorize Parent/Guardian to View Student Account Information

Environment

Friend Account, My Student's Information, Student Business, New and Prospective Student Business

Issue

  • How do I - a student - authorize my parent/family member to access my financial information in order to view/pay bills?
  • How do I - a parent or family member - set up Friend Account access to a student account?
  • Parents/family members may encounter the following message when they try to access 'My Student's Information': Wolverine Access Parent Business requires that you be authorized by one or more students to access their data. Contact the ITS Service Center if you have questions 734-764-HELP (764-4357)"

Resolution

This process requires action from both the student and the parent/family member. These steps can be done in either order.

NOTE: Students can only authorize parents/family to view details of charges to the student account, to make payments for those charges and to view financial aid information. There is no option to authorize parents/family to view academic details (grades or class schedule) via Wolverine Access. See the FAQs page on Parents & Families website for more details.

NOTE: These steps only apply to Ann Arbor students. U-M Dearborn and Flint have their own student portals for their data. Dearborn and Flint students should contact their respective IT desks for assistance with the parent/family authorization process for their systems/resources.

Instructions for Parent/Family Member (Account Creation)

  1. Create a Friend Account (guest account) via the Friend Account Request page
    • NOTE: If you have a uniqname as an alum, retiree or active employee/student and you would prefer not to create a separate guest account, ask your student to authorize your uniqname@umich.edu email address. With the uniqname email authorized, you can access your student's information by logging into Wolverine Access with your uniqname.
  2. After your student has completed their instructions, see the 'Navigation to View Student's Information' section towards the bottom.

Instructions for Student (Authorization)

  1. Go to Wolverine Access
  2. Log in and navigate based on your status:
    1. Prospective student without a uniqname:
      1. Sign in with your Friend Account email address
      2. Go to the Students Collection > New and Prospective Student Business > New&Prospective Student Center
      3. Click Parent/Family Authorization under the Personal Information section
    2. Admitted student with a uniqname (Ann Arbor students only):
      1. Sign in with your uniqname (your first name should display in the upper-right of Wolverine Access)
      2. Go to the Students Collection > Student Business > Student Center
      3. Click Parent/Family Authorization under the Finances section
  3. Enter your parent/family member's name, the email address associated with the account they'll be using for login, select what you'd like to authorize them for (see the Authorization Options section below for details) and click Save
    1. An automated email with instructions will be sent to the authorized email overnight at around 3am.
      • It should come from targetemail@umich.edu with a subject line of 'Notice of Access to Your Student's U-M Information'
    2. NOTE: The automated email is sometimes filtered as spam - advise your parent/family member to check their spam folder or other filters/folders if they don't receive anything in their general inbox

Authorization Options

Students can select which type(s) of account data authorized users can view. Students can also sign up the authorized emails to receive certain types of communications. For a screenshot of the authorization page, see Student Financial Services' Parents and Family Authorization page.

  • Wolverine Access Authorization
    • NOTE: At least one of these options must be selected in order for the authorized user to access the My Student's Information option on Wolverine Access. If neither option is selected, they will encounter an 'Access Denied' message.
    • My Student Account Data
      • When this box is checked, the user is authorized to view your U-M student account summary, student account bills, 1098-T forms, and provides the options of making a payment and/or enrolling you in a Payment Plan.
      • The user may also receive important messages regarding your student account.
    • My Financial Aid Data
      • When this box is checked, the user is authorized to view your U-M financial aid summary, award notices, and document status.
  • Communication Recipient
    • Student Account News
      • When this box is checked, the user will receive messages about student account-related information, such as payment plan features, rate changes, and news of general interest. Student account information is not specific to an individual student. Please contact Student Financials Services with any questions related to these messages: Contact Student Financial Services
    • Alerts, Bulletins
      • When this box is checked, the user will receive targeted announcements about the University's response to unexpected or emergency situations, such as widespread instances of contagious illnesses like influenza, natural disasters, and other events that may be of concern to parents and others. Announcements will not be specific to individuals and are expected to be infrequent. A source for additional information will be included with each alert or bulletin. In addition, recipients will receive newsletters and other information of general interest to parents and families.
    • UM Housing News
      • When this box is checked, the user will receive U-M Housing's monthly parent email newsletter. The newsletter will include upcoming events, important dates including those related to break periods and move-outs, and useful information on topics related to living in the residence halls as well as very occasional special announcements. Information provided will not be specific to individuals. Please contact Housing with any questions related to these emails - Housing website > HELP > CONTACT
      • The Parents & Families website has an On & Off-Campus Housing page with general information.
    • Financial Aid News
      • When this box is checked, the user will receive messages about applying for aid and e-newsletters with information about deadline and disbursement dates, scholarships, loans, and other related topics. Financial aid information is not specific to an individual student. Please contact the Office of Financial Aid with any questions related to these messages: Financial Aid | Contact Us

Navigation to View Student's Information

The following navigation is the only navigation authorized users should use. Attempting to use other links/tiles on Wolverine Access will likely lead to 'Access Denied' pages.

  1. Go to Wolverine Access > Parents and Family Collection (under the Campus Collections section)
  2. Select My Student's Information
    • ​​​​​​​The full email address that the friend account was set up with is the login ID, and the password is the password created with the Friend account.

Note: Friend accounts and non-student uniqname accounts cannot access the 'View/Pay My Student Account' or 'Student Business' options on Wolverine Access. Only Ann Arbor student uniqname accounts have access to these options.

Bookmark our View or Pay Student Bills with Friend Account for Parents/Family article for future reference about these steps.

Additional Information

If you are using a shared device or someone (your student or another family member) borrowed your device to log into Wolverine Access, you may still be logged in their UMICH account. If you are having trouble accessing 'My Student Information' as an authorized user or one of the Student Business options as a student, we recommend the following troubleshooting:

  • Confirm you're signed in with the correct account
    1. Go to Wolverine Access and check if a name or email address displays in the upper-right corner
      1. You may need to click Sign in in order for Wolverine Access to display the current account  
    2. If the account displaying is not yours, click the name/email address > Sign out
    3. Sign in with your account and confirm your name or email address displays in the upper-right
  • Clear the cache and cookies to force a complete account to log out
    • If clearing the cache and cookies isn't convenient, use another browser or an incognito/private browser

Need additional information or assistance? Contact the ITS Service Center.

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