Office of the Registrar

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a Federal law that helps protect the privacy of student education records. The Act provides students the right to inspect and review education records, the right to seek to amend those records, and the right to limit disclosure of information from the records. The intent of the legislation is to protect the rights of students and to ensure the privacy and accuracy of education records. The Act applies to all institutions that are recipients of federal aid administered by the Secretary of Education.

Students should submit to the registrar, dean, head of the academic department, or other appropriate official, written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect within 45 calendar days following the receipt of a request. The Uni­versity official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the University official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

Students may ask the University to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student's privacy. They should write the University official responsible for the record, clearly identify the portin of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate. If the University decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the University will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing re­garding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when he or she is notified of their right to a hearing.

There are several exceptions to FERPA’s general consent requirement, some of which are described below. Under these exceptions, the University is permitted to disclose personally identifiable information from education records to a third party without consent.

  1. A school official is a person employed by the University in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including university police and student health); a person or company with whom the University has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the governing board; 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 responsibility.
  2. Upon request, the University discloses education records without consent to offi­cials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll.
  3. Directory information is the information in the education record that generally would not be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. Directory information includes the student's:
  • name,
  • address,
  • telephone listing,
  • electronic mail address,
  • photograph,
  • date and place of birth,
  • major field of study,
  • participation in officially recognized activities and sports,
  • dates of attendance,
  • enrollment status,
  • degrees, honors and awards received,
  • expected graduation date,
  • planned post-completion placement (e. g. AAMC match), and
  • the most recent educational agency or institution attended by the student.

A student who does not want any or all of the above listed information to be released must submit a written request to the Office of the Registrar no later than the 10th day of the academic term.

Eligible students who believe that their FERPA rights may have been violated by the University may file a complaint with the Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) in the U.S. Department of Education at https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/file-a-complaint.  SPPO will review the complaint to ensure that the complaint:
  • Is filed, in writing, by an eligible student who maintains FERPA rights over the education records that are the subject of the complaint;
  • Is submitted to SPPO within 180 days of the date of the alleged violation or of the date that the eligible student knew or reasonably should have known of the alleged violation; and
  • Contains specific allegations of fact giving reasonable cause to believe that a violation of FERPA has occurred.

More information regarding SPPO's complaint process is available at https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/file-a-complaint.