FERPA

1. FERPA Family Educational and Privacy Rights Act Information Releases Throughout the Institution Requirements and Good Practices

2. Four Basic Rights Under FERPA • Right to inspect and review education records • Right to seek amendment of education records if believed to be inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights • Right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information, under most circumstances • Right to file a complaint with ED concerning alleged failure to comply with FERPA

3. Who has these rights? • Eligible students Students who are 18 years old or older or are attending an institution of postsecondary education Definition of attendance is at the discretion of the school

4. Who else has these rights? • Parents of ineligible students A parent can be a natural parent, a guardian, or an individual acting as a parent in the absence of a parent or guardian NOTE: In the case of divorced or separated parents, either parent is considered a parent by definition

5. Limitation on the Right to Inspect and Review • School is not required to, but may choose to, allow a student to inspect and review the financial records of the parents • Parents do not have the right under FERPA to either permit or deny release of the record to the student • Check with school’s legal counsel regarding any applicable state privacy laws

6. What are the School’s Responsibilities? • Annual notification of FERPA rights • Notification of designated directory information and procedures for student to prevent disclosure of directory information • List of education records • Documentation of students file when certain disclosures are made

7. Annual Notification • To whom? All currently enrolled students • How? By any means that are reasonably likely to inform students of their rights • What must it include? Right to inspect and review records and procedure for exercising that right Right to seek amendment to records and procedure for exercising that right

8. Annual Notification, cont’d • What must it include? Right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in education records, except to the extent that FERPA allows disclosures without consent Right to file a complaint with the Department of Education concerning alleged violations of FERPA by the institution

9. Designated Directory Information • Must notify students of what information is designated as directory information • Must also explain the eligible student’s right to refuse to let the institution disclose directory information • Must give a period of time within which the student has to notify the institution in writing that s/he does not want any of the information as directory information

10. List of Education Records The institution is required to establish a list of all the educational records it maintains, where those records are housed at the institution, and the procedures by which a student can review those records.

11. Documentation of the Student File When Disclosure is Made • The institution must maintain a record of each request for access to and each disclosure of personally identifiable information if the disclosure was made without written consent from the student unless the request was from, or disclosure was to:

12. Documentation of the Student File when Disclosure is Made • The student • A school official determined to have a legitimate interest • A party seeking directory information • A party seeking records as directed by a law enforcement subpoena

13. Documentation of the Student File when Disclosure is Made • The record of each request or disclosure must be kept with the education records of the student for as long as the records are maintained. • The record must include: Parties who have requested/received information The legitimate interest the parties had in requesting or obtaining information

14. Required Consent Before Disclosure of Information • Before the school may disclose personally identifiable information, the student must generally provide a signed and dated written consent • The consent must: Specify what may be disclosed State the purpose of the disclosure Identify the party to whom disclosure may be made

15. Disclosures without Consent • Information may be disclosed without the student’s consent to the following parties: School officials with legitimate interests Officials from other schools where the student seeks or intends to enroll Authorized representatives of the US Comptroller General Authorized representatives of the US Attorney General The US Department of Education

16. Disclosures without Consent State and local educational authorities The alleged victim of a crime of violence or non-forcible sexual offense The parent of a dependent student as defined by the IRS The student The parent of a student under the age of 21 regarding a student’s violation of laws governing the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance

17. Redisclosure of Information • An institution may only disclose information on the conditions that: The party not disclose it further to any other party without consent of the student AND the party who receives the disclosed information may use it only for the purpose for which disclosure was made

18. Redisclosure of Information • Limitations on redisclosure don’t apply, if: the disclosure concerns a health or safety emergency it is directory information that is disclosed the disclosure is made due to court order or subpoena disclosure is made to the student School must inform the party of the redisclosure limitations

19. Exceptions to FERPA • Power of Attorney (POA) • Military recruiting on campus

20. Power of Attorney • Popular with study abroad students • Provides rights to designated individuals who normally would not have those rights • Laws vary from state to state • Check with school’s legal counsel about the laws in your state or a POA from another state

21. Military Recruiting • Solomon-Pombo Amendment states that federal funds cannot be made available to a school that denies or restricts access to military recruiters or denies or restricts the establishment or operation of an ROTC unit • Generally, student recruiting information must be provided to a military recruiter, unless the student has prohibited release

22. Recent FERPA Changes In response to the 9/11/01 attacks, Congress made changes to FERPA Section 507 of the USA PATRIOT ACT amended FERPA

23. Recent FERPA Changes, cont’d • Ex Parte Orders • Lawfully Issued Subpoenas and Court Orders • Health or Safety Emergency • Disclosures to INS

24. Good Practices • Signed confidentiality statements • Restricted access to records • Formal procedures on establishing identity • Easy to use, systemic way to track parties who have access to information • Ensuring privacy during formal and informal counseling

25. Good Practices • Ensuring computer screens are not easily viewed by unauthorized persons • Logging out of unattended computers • Filing documents regularly • Shredding discardable documents which contain personally identifiable information

26. Good Practices • Designate a ‘FERPA expert’ on campus Act as a resource on campus for FERPA related questions and concerns Update and maintain FERPA related information contained in school publications Conduct regular training campus-wide on FERPA policies and procedures

27. FERPA Information Family Policy Compliance Office U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue, SW Washington, DC 20202-4605 (202) 260-3887 FERPA@ed.gov www.ed.gov/offices/OM/fpco