Most students I recently surveyed have no idea what FERPA is, or have even really heard of it. FERPA is The Family Educational Right and Privacy Act. There are four parts to this act.
Once a student is 18 years old and/or attending college, he or she becomes an “eligible student,” and all rights formerly given to parents under FERPA transfer to the student, so it is important that students know their rights. If students are unaware of their rights, they do not know if they are being violated. Privacy is an important matter for everyone involved.
Educational Records are records that contain information directly related to the student and are maintained by an educational agency or institution.
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The right to inspect and review their information
A school must provide an eligible student with an opportunity to inspect and review his or her education records within 45 days following its receipt of a request.
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The right to seek to amend their educational records
An eligible student has the right to request that incorrect information in his or her education records be amended. The school is not required to amend education records in response to the request, but the school is required to consider the request. If the school decides not to amend a record in accordance with the request, the school must tell the student of his or her rights to a hearing on the matter. If, after the hearing, the school still decides to not amend the record, the student has the right to insert a statement in the record setting forth his or her views. That statement must remain with the contested part of the student’s record for as long as the record is maintained.
However, while the FERPA amendment procedure may be used to challenge facts that are inaccurately recorded, it may not be used to challenge a grade, an opinion or a substantive decision made by a school about an eligible student.
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The right to have some control over the disclosure of information from their educational records
A school cannot disclose personally identifiable information from an eligible student’s education records to a third party without written consent from the student.
There are exceptions to this right, and under these exceptions, schools are permitted to disclose personally identifiable information from education records without consent. One allows “school officials,” which includes teachers, to obtain access to personally identifiable information contained in education records if the school thinks that they have “legitimate educational interest” in the information. Another exception allows a school to disclose personally identifiable information from a student’s education records to another school in which the student seeks or intends to enroll. A third exception allows a school to disclose personally identifiable information from education records when the disclosure is to the parents of a “dependent student” as that term is defined in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code. If either parent has claimed the student as a dependent on the parent’s most recent year’s income tax statement, the school may non-consensually disclose the student’s education records to both parents under this exception.
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The right to file a complaint with the Department of Education if a student believes that a school has failed to comply with his or her request for access to education records, for amendment of inaccurate information in education records or failed to offer the student an opportunity for a hearing on the matter, or believes that a school has improperly disclosed personally identifiable information from his or her education records to a third party, that student may complete a FERPA complaint form
Schools must also annually notify students in attendance of their rights under FERPA. This annual notification must include information in regards to a student’s right to inspect and review their education records, the right to seek to amend the records, the right to consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information from the records (except in certain circumstances), and the right to file a complaint with the Office regarding an alleged failure by a school to comply with FERPA. It must also inform eligible students of the school’s definitions of the terms “school official” and “legitimate educational interest.”
Milligan’s statement regarding FERPA says “only directory information, such as name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most previous educational agency or institution attended by the student is released without the student’s consent.”
According to Milligan’s statement, the directory is only used within the college, and if a student wishes to be removed from the directory they may file a form in the Registrar’s office.