Social Security numbers, test scores and course grades for nearly 3,200 students were available online and turned up in a Yahoo search, said Aaron Titus of the Web site SSNBreach.org.
Titus, the director of the information privacy program for Washington-based Liberty Coalition, said his group found the information online at the Biological Sciences Department last Friday.
Eighteen files that appeared to have full names, social security numbers, assignment scores, test scores, course grades and indications of academic misconduct of up to 3,199 students were found online, Titus said.
Titus said he notified USC and the FBI of the breach the same day it was found and the school started removing information from the site within hours. But cached versions of the information are still available online and major search engines had indexed the information, Titus said.
Elyse Coolidge, a second-year chemistry student, was listed as one of the students whose information was released. Coolidge said she has not been contacted by USC concerning the matter.
"I feel disappointed," Coolidge said. "If the university knows they made a mistake, they should at least have the integrity to tell me."
Her name showed up in a file named "HonorsGrades.xls," according to ssnbreach.org. The file included full names, four exam scores, detailed lab and lecture scores and final scores.
Coolidge took a biology course in spring 2007. Some scores were dated to spring 2006.
Audrey Graft, a second-year biology student, said she wasn't really upset that her information had been released because it did not contain her Social Security number, but wishes she would have heard from the university.
Titus said he wasn't sure how long the files were online, but he thought some of them may have been up for more than a semester.
USC President Andrew Sorensen was unavailable for comment.
According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, commonly known as FERPA, student education records may not be disclosed to anyone unless the student has given written consent.
Students can check ssnbreach.org to find out if their information and what type of information was leaked.
In April 2006, an e-mail concerning summer school was sent to retail students with an unintended attachment -- a database of student information containing more than 1,200 students' Social Security numbers, local addresses, permanent addresses, cell phone numbers, home phone numbers, e-mail addresses and dates of birth. The e-mail also disclosed the students' emergency contact information.
Staff writers Jess Davis and Jackie Alexander contributed to this report.
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