Community Standards and Policy

Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights include:

1. The right to inspect and review the student’s own education records within 45 days of the University receiving a request for access. Students should submit written requests to the registrar identifying the record(s) they wish to inspect. The University official will arrange for access and notify students of the time and place records may be inspected. Requests for records not maintained by the Registrar’s Office shall be referred to the University official to whom the request should be addressed.
2. The right to request the amendment of a student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA. A student who wishes to request amendment of a record should write to the University official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed and specify why it should be changed. If the University decides not to amend records as requested, the University will notify students of the decision in writing and of students’ right to a hearing regarding amendment requests. Additional information regarding hearing procedures will be provided to students when notified of their right to a hearing.
3. The right to provide written consent before the University discloses personally identifiable information from students’ education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
4. The University discloses education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the University has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using University employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the University.

The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the University to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The mailing address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202-5901

As of January 3, 2012, the U.S. Department of Education’s FERPA regulations expand the circumstances under which education records and personally identifiable information contained in such records–including Social Security Numbers, grades, or other private information–may be accessed without consent. First, the U.S. Comptroller General, the U.S. Attorney General, the U.S. Secretary of Education, or state and local education authorities (“Federal and State Authorities”) may allow access to education records and personally identifiable information without consent to any third party designated by a Federal or State Authority to evaluate a federal- or state- supported education program. The evaluation may relate to any program that is “principally engaged in the provision of education,” such as early childhood education and job training, as well as any program that is administered by an education agency or institution. Second, Federal and State Authorities may allow access to education records and personally identifiable information without consent to researchers performing certain types of studies, even, in certain cases, when such research is objected to or not requested. Federal and State Authorities must obtain certain use- restriction and data security guarantees from entities they authorize to receive personally identifiable information, but Authorities need not maintain direct control over such entities. In addition, in connection with Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems, State Authorities may collect, compile, permanently retain, and share without consent, personally identifiable information from education records, and may track participation in education and other programs by linking such personally identifiable information obtained from other Federal or State data sources, including workforce development, unemployment insurance, child welfare, juvenile justice, military service, and migrant student records systems.