Disclosure, Ethics and Trust: Representing an Education Product the Right Way

Why Trust Is the Whole Job

eFit Campus Associates pays commission on the money eFit collects from programs an associate originates, every semester those programs keep paying. That structure rewards one thing above all: departments that stay. Departments stay when the person who introduced eFit told them the truth, disclosed their interest and respected their students' privacy.

Academic communities are also small. Chairs talk to chairs at conferences, and coordinators move between institutions. A reputation for straight dealing travels with you, and so does the opposite. Membership in the program is selective for exactly this reason.

The FTC Endorsement Guides in Plain Language

The Federal Trade Commission's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, updated in 2023, describe how people who recommend products should handle their connections to the companies behind them. Four ideas matter most for associates.

1. A commission is a material connection. Any relationship that could affect how much weight a listener gives your recommendation, including payment, counts. Your commission clearly qualifies.
2. Disclose it clearly and conspicuously. The disclosure should be hard to miss, in plain words, and placed where people will see it before they act on your recommendation.
3. Disclose it in the message itself. A disclosure on a separate profile page or at the bottom of a long thread is easy to miss. Put it in the email, the post or the first minute of the conversation.
4. Say only what you believe and what eFit could say itself. Your recommendations should reflect your honest opinion, and any factual claim should be one eFit can support.

The program's standard wording meets all four ideas in one sentence:

Disclosure on Social Media and in Writing

Written channels need the same clarity as a conversation. In email, put the disclosure in the first paragraph and again in your signature. On social media, place it at the start of the post or caption, where readers see it before tapping "more," and use the platform's paid-partnership or branded-content label when one exists. In video, say it out loud near the beginning and show it on screen.

Short tags can work when they are clear and visible, such as "#ad" at the beginning of a post. A disclosure mixed into a cluster of hashtags at the end is easy to overlook, so lead with it. Avoid vague labels such as "#partner" or "#sp" that many readers will misread.

FERPA: The Line Associates Never Cross

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects the privacy of student education records at schools and colleges that receive federal funding. Institutions take it seriously, and so does eFit.

For associates, the rule is simple and absolute: you never request, receive, view or store student records. That covers class rosters, grades, activity data, assessment results, journal entries and anything else that identifies a student. Your work involves faculty and staff, and it ends at introductions, demos and relationships. eFit handles student data under its own privacy policy and security practices, and eFit answers FERPA questions from institutions directly.

A few practical habits follow from the rule. Demonstrate eFit with the free demo, which contains no real students. Decline politely when a well-meaning instructor offers to show you their class results. And if student information reaches you by mistake, stop, keep it out of your files and messages, and contact eFit for instructions.

eFit also serves middle and high schools for students 13 and older. In those settings, associates work only with teachers, department heads and administrators, and never contact students directly.

CAN-SPAM Basics for Associates

The CAN-SPAM Act sets rules for commercial email, and the FTC has said the law covers commercial messages generally, including individual business email. Penalties can apply to each message that breaks the rules, and both the sender and the company promoted can be responsible. Build these requirements into every message you send about eFit.

Warm, one-to-one email to someone who asked to hear from you is the most natural kind of outreach. Treat the checklist as your baseline even then.

Respectful Outreach

Legal compliance is the floor. Good practice sits well above it. The associates who build lasting territories reach out through warm introductions and write one message at a time to one person at a time. They avoid purchased contact lists, mass emails assembled from faculty directories, and repeated follow-ups after someone has declined. When a person asks you to stop, stop, note it in your records, and move on graciously. The five-minute introduction shows what respectful first contact looks like.

Honest Claims

Every factual statement you make about eFit should appear in eFit's published product information. Faculty accounts are free. Students pay $59 per student, per semester. Activity is graded automatically from steps and eFit Minutes, with phone-only tracking through Google Health or Apple Health. Grades export as a CSV file that imports into D2L, Canvas, Blackboard and Moodle gradebooks. 17,665 students have tracked activity in eFit.

Keep to statements like those. Leave out integration claims beyond the CSV export, certifications, endorsements, named customer schools, time-savings figures and statistics you cannot source. Make no promises about your own earnings or anyone else's. If a department asks something you cannot answer from published facts, the honest reply is "I will get you an answer from eFit."

Situations and What to Do

Frequently Asked Questions About Disclosure and Ethics

Do I have to disclose that I earn a commission?

Yes. The FTC's endorsement guidance asks anyone with a material connection to a product, such as a commission, to disclose it clearly when recommending that product. eFit Campus Associates standards require disclosure in the first message or first minute of every conversation, using wording such as: "I am an eFit Campus Associate and may earn a commission if your program adopts eFit." This is general information; consult an attorney for legal advice.

Can an associate see student grades or activity data?

Associates never request, receive, view or store student records of any kind, including rosters, grades and activity data. If student information ever reaches you by mistake, stop, keep it out of your files and messages, and contact eFit for instructions.

Does CAN-SPAM apply to one-to-one sales email?

CAN-SPAM covers commercial email messages, and the FTC has said it applies to individual business messages as well as bulk email. Every commercial message should carry accurate header information, an honest subject line, a valid postal address and a clear way to opt out, and opt-out requests must be honored within ten business days. Consult an attorney about your specific situation.

Can I post about eFit on social media?

You may, provided the disclosure is part of the post itself and easy to see, for example at the start of the caption or through the platform's paid-partnership tool. Keep claims to eFit's published product facts and follow the program standards.