This document provides an overview of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for educational institutions. It defines key FERPA concepts such as education records, directory information, and exceptions for disclosure. It explains that FERPA protects the privacy of student education records, gives students rights to access their records, and provides guidelines for correcting inaccurate records. The document also summarizes FERPA requirements regarding annual student notifications, consent for third party disclosures, and the role of school officials in obtaining or releasing student information.

1. FERPA: What You Need
to Know
DJ Wetzel, Director of Financial Aid Operations
Greenville Technical College
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2. FERPA – The Law
• Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
of 1974
• FERPA is a federal law “designed to
• 1) Protect the privacy of education records;
• 2) Establish the right of students to inspect and review
their education records, and;
• 3) Provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate
and misleading data through informal and formal
hearings.”
• FERPA is enforced by the Family Policy Compliance
Office, U.S. Department of Education, Washington,
D.C.
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3. Key Concepts
• Annual Notification of Student Rights under FERPA
• What is an education record
• Public vs. private information (PII)
• School Officials and Legitimate Educational Need
• Requirements for disclosure of education records
• Exceptions…
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4. Annual Notification
• Annual notice to students must include:
• Right to inspect and review education records, and the
procedures to do so
• Right to seek amendment of records if they find errors
• Right to consent to disclosures of education records
• Right to file an complaint with FPCO
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5. What is an Education Record?
• Directly related to a student
• Maintained by a school or third party agency
• Examples:
• Grades
• Transcripts
• Class lists
• Student course schedules
• Financial information
• Student discipline files
• Notes from a conversation with a student (Excluding sole
possession records).
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6. What is an Education Record
• Education record formats (Including but not limited
to):
• Handwriting
• Print
• Computer media
• Videotape
• Audiotape
• Film
• Microfilm
• Microfiche
• Email
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7. Public vs. Private Information
• Public (Directory) information: Information
contained in an education record which would not
generally be considered harmful or an invasion of
privacy if disclosed:
• Name
• Address
• Email
• Telephone listing
• Major
• Dates of attendance
• Grade level
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8. Public vs. Private Information
• Private (Personally identifiable information)
• Generally be considered more sensitive or an invasion of
privacy if disclosed
• University ID number
• SSN
• Grades
• Credit hours completed
• GPA
• Current class schedule
• Race
• Gender
• Citizenship
• Date of birth
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9. School Officials
• School Official
• A person employed by the university in an
administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or
support position (including law enforcement personnel
and health staff)
• A person or company with whom the university has
contracted (attorney, auditor, collection agent, third
party processor)
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10. Legitimate Educational Need
• If you need the information in order to conduct the
official university business you are asked to
perform in the normal scope of your duties.
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11. Third Party Disclosures
• Under FERPA, disclosure of information to outside
parties is permissive. However, participating
institutions are required to provide FSA with certain
information on student borrowers and grantees
under the HEA provisions cited above. They may do
so either directly or through a third-party servicer,
but an institution remains responsible and liable for
any failure by its third-party servicer or other agent
to comply with HEA requirements.
• ECAR/PPA
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12. Exceptions…
• Parents of dependent students as claimed with the
IRS
• Best practices?
• Student signed consent to release information
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13. Students have a Right to Know
• What information from education records
school officials within the institution can obtain
without obtaining prior written consent;
• What the criteria are for determining who will
be considered school officials;
• What kind of legitimate educational interest will
entitle school officials to have access to
education records
• What information the institution has designated
as public or directory information.
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14. Information Release Forms
• FERPA requires that a consent for disclosure of
education records be signed and dated, specify the
records that may be disclosed, state the purpose of
the disclosure, and identify the party or class of
parties to whom the disclosure may be made. 34
CFR § 99.30. As such, oral consent for disclosure of
information from education records would not
meet FERPA’s consent requirements.
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15. FCPO FAQ
• Does the spouse of an eligible student have rights
with respect to that student’s education records?
• No, spouses of eligible students have no rights under
FERPA. Before a college or university discloses
information from a student’s education records to his or
her spouse, the student would have to provide written
consent.
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16. FCPO FAQ
• May a school disclose PII from students education
records for the purpose of an audit?
• FERPA permits schools to disclose PII from students’
education records, without consent, to authorized
representatives of State and local educational
authorities, the Secretary of Education, the Comptroller
General of the United States, and the Attorney General
of the United States for specified purposes. Disclosures
may be made under this exception as necessary in
connection with the audit or evaluation of Federal or
State supported education programs, or in connection
with the enforcement of Federal legal requirements that
relate to those program.
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17. FCPO FAQ
• Can parents view a child’s post-secondary
education record?
• FERPA generally prohibits the nonconsensual disclosure
of information derived from education records, except in
certain specified circumstances. One of these exceptions
permits the nonconsensual disclosure of information
derived from education records to that student's parent
if…student is claimed as a dependent by either parent
for tax purposes, then either parent may have access
under this provision.
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18. FCPO FAQ
• May an educational agency disclose information
over the phone?
• While FERPA does not specifically prohibit a school from
disclosing personally identifiable information from a
student’s education records over the telephone, it does
require that the school use reasonable methods to
identify and authenticate the identity of parents,
students, school officials, and any other parties to whom
the school discloses personally identifiable information
from education records. 34 CFR § 99.31(c).
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19. FCPO FAQ
• May schools disclose financial aid records without
written consent?
• FERPA permits institutions to disclose, without consent,
personally identifiable information from students’
education records when the disclosure is in connection
with a student's application for, or receipt of, financial
aid. Disclosures under this exception to consent may be
made if the information is necessary for such purposes
as to: (a) determine eligibility for the aid; (b) determine
the amount of the aid; (c) determine the conditions for
the aid; or (d) enforce the terms and conditions of the
aid.
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20. Consumer Information
• FERPA falls under the consumer information
disclosure requirements.
• Activity 6: FERPA – Consumer Information checklist
from Federal Student Aid
http://ifap.ed.gov/qahome/qaassessments/consume
rinformation.html
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21. Our Role as Data Managers
If you handle student information, you have a data
management role.
• Do you share student information with internal or
external individuals on behalf of the university?
• Is the recipient of that information aware of student
privacy laws?
• Is the recipient a school official and do they have a
legitimate need to access the information?
• Are safe data-handling practices in place when sharing
the information?
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22. Our Role as Data Managers
Do you manage a department system containing student
information?
• Are users aware of FERPA laws?
• Have they taken your institution’s FERPA training and
signed any required acceptable use agreements?
• Does the training include safe practices for handling data?
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23. Best Practices
• What has worked well at your school?
• How do you deal with the inevitable parent question “I
pay the bill, so why can I not get access??”
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24. Err on the Side of Caution!
If you are unsure…
…Don’t share!!
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25. Resources
• http://familypolicy.ed.gov/ferpa-school-officials
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26. Questions?
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27. CONTACT INFORMATION
• DJ Wetzel
• 864-250-8166
• DJ.Wetzel@gvltec.edu
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