FERPA

SUMMARY OF FERPA

  • A.        ESSENCE OF ACT FERPA deals specifically with the education records of students who reach the age of 18 or who attend a post-secondary institution, affording them certain rights with respect to those records. Institutions may grant a student more rights than those guaranteed in the Act.
  • B.         WHO APPLIES TO Students who are or have been in attendance including those in cooperative and correspondence study.
  • C.         WHO DOES NOT APPLY TO Applicants for admission who are denied acceptance or, if accepted, do not attend an institution.
  • D.        WHAT APPLIES TO Education records --those records directly related to a student and maintained by the institution or by a party acting for the institution.

     

    • Does not include the following:

      *"Sole possession" -records of instructional, supervisory, administrative, and certain educational personnel which are in sole possession of the maker and are not accessible or revealed to any other individual except a substitute who performs on a temporary basis the duties of the individual who made the records

      *"Law enforcement" -records maintained by a law enforcement unit of the institution created by that law enforcement unit for the purpose of law enforcement

      *"Employees" -records relating to individuals who are employed by the institution (e.g., work study)

      *"Medical" -records made and maintained in connection with medical treatment and disclosed only to individuals providing treatment

      *"Alumni activity" -records that only contain information about an individual after that person is no longer a student at the institution (e.g., accomplishments of the alumni)

  • E.         NOTIFICATION OF RIGHTS Institutions must annually notify students currently in attendance of their rights by any means that are reasonable, such as publication of a notice in the student handbook, catalog, or student newspaper.

  • F.         PRIMARY RIGHTS AFFORDED TO STUDENTS BY FERPA Right to inspect and review the education records Right to seek to have the records amended Right to have some control over the disclosure of information from the records.
          • Institutions may not disclose information contained in education records without the student's written consent except under conditions specified in the Act (those items determined by the institution to be "directory information").

    Right to view a copy of the institutional policy Right to file complaints with:

    U.S. Department of Education,
    Family Compliance Office
    600 Independence Ave SW,
    Washington, DC 20202

  • G.        DEFINITIONS
    • DIRECTORY INFORMATION (PUBLIC) (may be released without the written permission of the student unless the student requests a hold) Name Parents' name Local and home address High School attended Previous or future institutions of study E-mail address Photograph or video clip Date and place of birth (student’s age) Telephone number Major field of study Research of special curricular projects Class year Dates of attendance Degrees Activities Information related to participation in officially recognized activities and sports Participation in intercollegiate athletics
    • NON-DIRECTORY INFORMATION (NOT PUBLIC) (cannot be released without the student's permission) Grades Grade point average Courses taken Credits earned Schedule of classes currently registered for Academic action (e.g., probation, suspension, dismissal) Test scores Advising records Educational services received Disciplinary actions Social Security Number