Terms of Use

GIA EDUCATION PORTAL TERMS OF USE

Last Updated: October 20, 2021

THESE TERMS OF USE (THE "TERMS") ARE A LEGAL CONTRACT BETWEEN YOU AND GIA (AS DEFINED BELOW). THESE TERMS EXPLAIN HOW YOU ARE PERMITTED TO ACCESS AND USE THE GIA EDUCATION STUDENT PORTAL (THE "SITE"). UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED, ALL REFERENCES TO THE TERM "SITE" INCLUDE THE CONTENT AND SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE (THE "SERVICES").

The Site and the Services are used by Students and third-parties authorized by the Student, to view academic and financial information related to enrollment in GIA courses and programs. The Site and Services also provide self-service features including without limitation course registration, account payment, and submission of inquiry and request forms. Availability of self-service features are based on the Student’s program of enrollment and the GIA Education School Location to which they are enrolled.

IN THESE TERMS OF USE, THE TERMS "GIA", "WE" AND "US" MEAN ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING GEMOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF AMERICA, INC. AFFILIATES IDENTIFIED IN THE SECOND COLUMN OF THE TABLE BELOW DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU APPLIED FOR ADMISSION FOR EACH GIA COURSE OR PROGRAM.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, with respect to all eLearning courses (which might also be referred to as “online courses”), "GIA" means Gemological Institute of America, Inc.

THE TERM "YOU" MEANS YOU AS THE STUDENT OR THE THIRD-PARTY AUTHORIZED BY THE STUDENT. If you have any questions about these Terms, you can reach us at the Legal Department at the applicable address set forth in the table below.

COUNTRY OF GIA EDUCATION SCHOOL LOCATION	GIA ENTITY
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM	GIA England 104 Great Russell Street London, WC1B 3LA
BANGKOK, THAILAND	GIA (International) Co., Ltd. U Chu Liang Building, 2nd Floor 968 Rama IV Road Silom, Bangrak Bangkok, 10500
HONG KONG, CHINA	GIA Hong Kong Limited 3rd Floor, New World Tower II 16-18 Queen’s Road Central Hong Kong
MUMBAI, INDIA	GIA India Laboratory Private Limited 10th Floor, Trade Centre Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra (East) Mumbai, 400 098
SURAT, INDIA	GIA India Laboratory Private Limited 2nd, 3rd Floor Swastik Universal Dumas Road, Piplod Surat, 395 007
CARLSBAD, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	Gemological Institute of America, Inc. World Headquarters The Robert Mouawad Campus 5345 Armada Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008
NEW YORK, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA	Gemological Institute of America, Inc. 50 W 47th Street New York, NY 10036
TAIPEI, TAIWAN	GIA Instrument (Taiwan) Company 3F, 270 Nanjing E. Road, Sec 3 Taipei 10551, Taiwan ROC

BY CLICKING THE “I ACCEPT” BUTTON OR BY USING THE SITE, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE REVIEWED AND AGREE TO ALL THE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS, DO NOT ACCESS OR OTHERWISE USE THIS SITE, ANY SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SITE, OR ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE SITE.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY TO ENSURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND EACH PROVISION.

CHANGES

GIA may make changes to the content and Services offered on the Site at any time. GIA may change, update, or add or remove provisions of these Terms (collectively "Updated Terms"), at any time by posting the Updated Terms. By using this Site, including without limitation to view academic and financial information or utilize the self-service features after GIA has posted the Updated Terms, you are agreeing to all the Updated Terms; if you do not agree with any of the Updated Terms, you must stop using the Site.

GENERAL USE

By using this Site or the Services, you represent, acknowledge and agree that you are at least 16 years of age. If you are not yet 16 years of age, you may not use the Site at any time or in any manner or submit any information to GIA or the Site.

GIA provides content through the Site and the Services that is protected by copyright and/or trademarks (collectively, the "Materials"). Materials may include logos, graphics, video, images, software and other content.

Subject to these Terms, and your compliance with these Terms, GIA hereby grants you a limited, personal, non-exclusive and non-transferable license under GIA’s copyrights in the Materials to use the Materials and to use this Site, in each case solely for your personal benefit or and solely to apply for GIA educational courses and programs. Except for the foregoing license, you have no other rights or licenses in the Site or any Materials and you may not modify, edit, copy, reproduce, create derivative works of, distribute, display, perform, reverse engineer, alter, enhance or in any way exploit any of the Site or Materials in any manner. No rights or license are granted to you to use any GIA trademarks.

If you breach any of these Terms, the above license will terminate automatically at which time you must immediately (i) destroy any downloaded or printed Materials and (ii) cease using the Site.

ACCOUNT ACCESS

In order to access the Site to receive certain Services from GIA, you must (i) be accepted for Admission by GIA; and (ii) receive credentials from GIA to access the Site.

After receiving the credentials, you will be asked to go to the Site, complete a list of security questions, update your password (hereinafter, the “Password”), and log-on to your account in order to use the Site. You may be asked to change your Password from time to time. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Password, and you are responsible for all activities that occur using your Password. You agree not to share your Password, let others access or use your Password, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your Password. You agree to immediately notify GIA in writing at onlinesupport@GIA.edu if your Password is lost, stolen, if you are aware of any unauthorized use of your Password on this Site, or if you know of any other breach of security in relation to this Site.

COMMUNICATIONS

By using the Site or the Services, you may receive e-mail or text messages on your phone or mobile device, which may cause you to incur usage charges or other fees or costs in accordance with your wireless or data service plan. Any and all such charges, fees, or costs are your sole responsibility. You should consult with your wireless carrier to determine what rates, charges, fees, or costs may apply to your use of the Services.

AUTHORIZING THIRD-PARTY ACCESS

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a U.S. federal law that protects the right to privacy and confidentiality of student records. Except as provided under FERPA, schools must have written permission to release student record information.

If you wish to authorize GIA to release academic or financial information to someone else, such as a parent, legal guardian, spouse or employer, you may set FERPA permissions within the Site. By submitting this form, you give GIA permission to disclose the information to the third-party indicated by you. Upon approval, the third-party is given access to the Site to view the information you have released to them.

You may update or remove the FERPA permissions you have granted at any time on the Site.

ONLINE PAYMENTS

You may opt to make an online payment toward your account balance. This Service is available to you if you are enrolled in a US GIA School Location. Online payments are processed by Transact Campus Inc. Once you complete an initial payment form you will be taken to the Transact Payments powered by Cashnet® site to complete your transaction.

FINANCIAL AID PORTAL – US STUDENTS

If you are a receiving US Federal Financial Aid, you have access to separate Financial Aid Portal where you can view your anticipated aid, status and awards, provide additional required documentation, and accept your awards.

THIRD-PARTY SITES

This Site may be linked to other web sites that are not GIA sites (collectively, “Third-Party Sites”). Certain areas of the Site may allow you to interact and/or conduct transactions with such Third-Party Sites and, in certain situations, you may be transferred to a Third-Party Site through a link, but it may appear that you are still on this Site. In any case, you acknowledge and agree that the Third-Party Sites may have different privacy policies and terms and conditions and/or user guides and business practices than GIA, and you further acknowledge and agree that your use of such Third-Party Sites is governed by the respective Third-Party Site privacy policy and terms and conditions and/or user guides. You hereby agree to comply with any and all terms and conditions, user guides, and privacy policies of any of Third-Party Sites. GIA provides links to the Third-Party Sites to you as a convenience, and we do not verify, make any representations or take responsibility for such Third-Party Sites, including, without limitation, the truthfulness, accuracy, quality or completeness of the content, services, links displayed and/or any other activities conducted on or through such Third-Party Sites. YOU AGREE THAT GIA WILL NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FOR ANY GOODS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, RESOURCES AND/OR CONTENT AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH ANY THIRD-PARTY SITES AND/OR THIRD-PARTY DEALINGS OR COMMUNICATIONS, OR FOR ANY HARM RELATED THERETO, OR FOR ANY DAMAGES OR LOSS CAUSED OR ALLEGED TO BE CAUSED BY OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OR RELIANCE ON THE CONTENT OR BUSINESS PRACTICES OF ANY THIRD-PARTY.

STUDENT PRIVACY NOTICE

You acknowledge receipt of the GIA Student Privacy Notice, which describes GIA’s policies and practices regarding our processing, including collection, use, and handling, of your personal data in connection with your relationship with GIA as an educational services applicant, student, or alumni.

UNAUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES

When using this Site and/or the Services, you agree not to:

Violate any international, federal, state or local law, rule, regulation, ordinance or order.
Infringe or violate the intellectual property or proprietary rights of others.
Invade the privacy of or violate the privacy rights of others.
Impersonate any other person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your identity, age, or affiliation with any other person or entity;
Engage in fraud, identity theft, or any other deceptive activity or unlawful conduct;
Mirror or frame the Site or any individual element within the Site;
Attempt to access, search, scrape, download or copy the Site, the Services or any software, content or data of either, through the use of any engine, software, tool, agent, device or mechanism other than the software and/or search agents provided by GIA or other generally available browsers.
Access, attempt to gain access to, or use non-public areas of the Site, servers, or databases.
Probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Site or the Services.
Avoid, bypass, impair, circumvent or otherwise breach or attempt to breach any security or authentication measures of the Site or the Services.
Attempt to decipher, decompile, disassemble or reverse engineer any of the software used to provide the Site or the Services.
Interfere with or disrupt the Site or the Services, or servers or networks connected to the Site or the Services.
Engage in excessive usage of the Site or the Services, as determined by GIA in its sole discretion, including usage that adversely affects the speed, responsiveness, or functionality of the Site, or disrupts the availability of the Site or the Services for other applicants.

This list of prohibitions provides examples and is not complete or exclusive. GIA reserves the right to terminate access to your account, your ability to access and use this Site (or use the Services) with or without cause and with or without notice, for any reason or no reason, or for any action that GIA determines is inappropriate or disruptive to this Site or to any other user of this Site and/or Services. GIA may report to law enforcement authorities any actions that may be illegal, and any reports it receives of such conduct. When legally required or at GIA’s discretion, GIA will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in any investigation of alleged illegal activity on this Site or on the Internet.

Unauthorized use of any Materials contained on this Site may violate certain laws and regulations.

You agree to indemnify and hold GIA and its officers, directors, employees, affiliates, agents, licensors, and business partners harmless from and against any and all costs, damages, liabilities, and expenses (including attorneys’ fees and costs of defense) GIA or any other indemnified party suffers in relation to, arising from, or for the purpose of avoiding, any claim or demand from a third-party that your use of this Site or the use of this Site by any person using your user name and/or password violates any applicable law or regulation, these Terms, or the copyrights, trademark rights or other rights of any third-party.

PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

Unless otherwise specified in these Terms, all information and screens appearing on this Site, including documents, services, site design, text, graphics, logos, images and icons, as well as the arrangement thereof, are the sole property of GIA, Copyright © 2020 Gemological Institute of America, Inc. All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Except as otherwise required or limited by applicable law, any reproduction, distribution, modification, retransmission, or publication of any copyrighted material is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of the copyright owner or license.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

THIS SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS" AND "WITH ALL FAULTS" AND YOUR USE OF THIS SITE, MATERIALS AND/OR THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. GIA DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, QUALITY, SECURITY, SUITABILITY, REASONABLE CARE, TIMELINESS, AVAILABILITY, TRUTHFULNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF THE MATERIALS OR SERVICES ON THIS SITE. THE MATERIALS HAVE NOT BEEN VERIFIED OR AUTHENTICATED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY GIA, AND THEY MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL OR OTHER ERRORS. GIA HAS NO LIABILITY FOR ANY ERRORS OR OMISSIONS IN THE MATERIALS, WHETHER PROVIDED BY GIA, OUR LICENSORS OR SUPPLIERS OR OTHER USERS.

GIA EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY) WITH RESPECT TO THIS WEBSITE, THE INFORMATION, MATERIALS, OR SERVICES, WHICH INCLUDES BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO, ANY IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE OR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, GIA makes no warranty that this Site will meet your requirements or that this Site will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error free or that defects in this Site will be corrected. GIA makes no warranty as to the results that may be obtained from the use of this Site or as to the accuracy or reliability of any information obtained through this Site. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you through this Site or from GIA shall create any warranty.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, GIA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE, THE SERVICES OR THE MATERIALS.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL GIA BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY INDIRECT, EXTRAORDINARY, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, LOSS OF DATA, REVENUE, PROFITS, USE OR OTHER ECONOMIC ADVANTAGE, HOWEVER ARISING, EVEN IF GIA KNOWS THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY IN THESE TERMS AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL GIA’S LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED FIFTY DOLLARS (USD $50), EVEN IN THE EVENT OF A FAILURE OF THE ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OR ANY LIMITED REMEDY UNDER THESE TERMS.

THE TERMS SET FORTH ABOVE SHALL NOT APPLY TO LIMIT GIA’S LIABILITY FOR FRAUD, WILLFUL MISCONDUCT OR GROSS NEGLIGENCE, INJURY TO PERSON OR DAMAGE TO PROPERTY, OR ANY OTHER LIABILITY WHICH APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT PERMIT TO BE LIMITED.

FEEDBACK

If you send or transmit any communications, comments, questions, suggestions, or related materials to GIA, whether by letter, email, telephone, or otherwise, including through the “chat” function on the Site (collectively, "Feedback"), suggesting or recommending changes to the Site, any Services offered through the Site or Materials, including, without limitation, new features or functionality relating thereto, all such Feedback is, and will be treated as, non-confidential and non-proprietary. You hereby assign all right, title, and interest in, and GIA is free to use, without any attribution or compensation to you, any ideas, know-how, concepts, techniques, or other intellectual property and proprietary rights contained in the Feedback, whether or not patentable, for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to, developing, manufacturing, having manufactured, licensing, marketing, and selling, directly or indirectly, products and services using such Feedback. You understand and agree that GIA is not obligated to use, display, reproduce, or distribute any such ideas, know-how, concepts, or techniques contained in the Feedback, and you have no right to compel such use, display, reproduction, or distribution.

GOVERNING LAW; VENUE

If you apply for any eLearning courses (which might also be referred to as “online courses”) or GIA courses or programs offered by GIA within the United States, then with respect to those courses and programs (i) the laws of the State of California will govern these Terms, without giving effect to conflicts of law provisions, (ii) the United Nations on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods and any laws based on the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA) shall not apply to these Terms, and (iii) any disputes relating to these Terms, the Services, or the Site will be heard in the State or Federal courts located in San Diego County in the State of California and such courts will be the sole and exclusive venue for resolving disputes related to these Terms, the Services, or the Site. You hereby consent to the jurisdiction of such courts.

If you apply for any GIA courses or programs offered by GIA outside the United States, then with respect to those courses and programs (i) the laws of the country where the GIA campus is located will govern these Terms, without giving effect to conflicts of law provisions, and (ii) the courts in the city where the GIA campus is located is being offered will be the sole and exclusive venue for resolving disputes related to these Terms, including without limitation the applications You submit using the Site or the Services offered on the Site. You hereby consent to the jurisdiction of such courts.

GENERAL

GIA prefers to advise you if we feel you are not complying with these Terms and to recommend any necessary corrective action. However, certain violations of these Terms, as determined by GIA, may result in immediate termination of your access to this Site without prior notice to you.

If any of these Terms is found to be inconsistent with applicable law, then such term shall be interpreted to reflect the intentions of the parties, and no other terms will be modified. GIA’s failure to enforce any of these Terms is not a waiver of such term. These Terms are the entire agreement between you and GIA regarding the use of the Site and supersede all prior or contemporaneous negotiations, discussions or agreements between you and GIA about this Site. The proprietary rights, disclaimer of warranties, representations made by you, indemnities, limitations of liability and general provisions shall survive any termination of these Terms.

INTERPRETATION AND TRANSLATION

These Terms have been created, drafted and prepared in the English language. The English language version of these Terms shall control over any translation of these Terms into any other language.

WARNING. By agreeing to these Terms, you certify that you have read and understand the Student Notification of Classroom Chemical Usage at the following link: https://www.gia.edu/gem-education/chemical-safety-disclosure. You understand that you may come into contact with chemicals in certain GIA classes, and that if you are pregnant, have certain medical conditions, or have allergies, you should contact your physician for advice as to whether you should take the class.