What are Student Records? - Office of the Provost and Executive ...

the right to request amendment of records and to have some control over the disclosure ofpersonally identifiable information from these records. Institutions may grant a student more rightsthan those guaranteed in the Act.FERPA applies to all schools that receive funding under most programs administered by theSecretary of Education. Most postsecondary institutions, both public and private, generally receivesuch funding and must, therefore, comply with FERPA. Students have the right to report anyviolation of FERPA to The Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 600Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, 20202-4605, (203) 260-3887, FAX (202) 260-9001.Institutions must annually notify students currently in attendance of their rights by any means thatare reasonable, such as publication of a notice in the student handbook, catalog, or studentnewspaper. The regulations do not specify the means to be used. Schools are not required byFERPA to notify former students of their FERPA rights.Institutions may not disclose information contained in education records without the student’swritten consent except under conditions specified in the Act. An institution is not required todisclose information from a student’s records to the parents of dependent students but may exerciseits discretion to do so. It is the responsibility of an institution to ensure that information is notimproperly disclosed to the parents of students.To Whose Records Does the Act Apply?FERPA applies to the education records of persons who are or have been in attendance inpostsecondary institutions, including students in cooperative and correspondence study programs.Conflict with State LawIt should be noted that FERPA may be more permissive than the privacy and public informationlaws of some states. FERPA should not be interpreted to reduce the stringency of such State laws.They counsel common sense, good judgment, perspective, and integrity for compliance bypostsecondary institutions in the implementation of the Act.In order to comply with all provisions of FERPA, including its regulations and disclosureprovisions, an institution must take three basic steps:1. Have a written institutional policy and procedures on how the institution complies withFERPA;2. Must notify students of their privacy rights under FERPA. Two types of notificationmust be given:(1) annual notification to current students of their rights and(2) public disclosure of the institution’s categories of personally identifiableinformation the institution has designated as “Directory Information.”3. Provide students access to review and request an amendment to their records.