FERPA and Your Students--A Beginner’s Guide
By Dave Bowman, Regional Marketing Director
Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc
For schools, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) details the transfer of rights to access educational recordsundefinedfrom the parents of your students to the students themselves. Under FERPA, all education records (except directory information, in most cases) are confidential, and cannot be disclosed unless the student consents or the request fits an exception outlined by FERPA.
While FERPA is a complex issue that requires research, here are a few things schools must know:
Know the Student’s Rights
The FERPA provides several rights to students with regard to their education records, including the right to access, review, and request amendment of their education records, and demand records be disclosed only with student consent. FERPA also gives students the right to file complaints against the school for disclosing education records in violation of FERPA.
Know the Parents’ Rights
Unlike students, parents do not have automatic access to their child’s education records even if their students are dependent students.
There are a few instances that do allow access to parents, including if the student has provided written consent. Under certain circumstances, as outlined in the FERPA, full rights may be given to the parent at the school’s discretion.
Know Your School’s Responsibilities
There are steps that schools must take to ensure that they are complying with FERPA:
- School faculty and staff must have a legitimate educational interest to see a student’s education record, or meet an exception outlined by FERPA.
- Know your definitions. FERPA defines: school, eligible student, attendance, dates of attendance, disclosure, and the different types of records and student information.
- The school must respond to a student request to view education records by:
•o Providing copies (or other arrangements) of applicable education records (exceptions outlined in FERPA) within 45 days of the receipt of the request.
•o Not charging a fee for the record search (but may charge a copying fee).
•· Know what to do when a student asks to amend a record. The school must:
•o Decide within a reasonable timeframe.
•o If approved, amend the record as requested.
•o If denied, inform the student or parent of their right to a hearing, and
•o Allow the student or parent to insert a statement in the record, if denied after the hearing.
- Notify students in attendance of their FERPA rights annually.
- Review campus policy annually.
Know Where to Learn More
FERPA compliance help is available. You can email your compliance questions to the U.S. Department of Education at ferpa@ed.gov.
FERPA information is available from several sources:
You may also wish to consult your campus legal counsel, as this article is intended to provide general FERPA information only.
By following these guidelines, and becoming familiar with FERPA, schools can ensure that the privacy of students’ confidential education records is protected.
