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FERPA: What You Need to Know

DJ Wetzel, Director of Financial Aid OperationsGreenville Technical College

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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Exceptions…• Parents of dependent students as claimed with the

IRS • Best practices?

• Student signed consent to release information

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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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/consumerinformation.html

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Our Role as Data ManagersIf 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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Our Role as Data ManagersDo 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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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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Err on the Side of Caution!If you are unsure…

…Don’t share!!

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Resources• http://familypolicy.ed.gov/ferpa-school-officials

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Questions?

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CONTACT INFORMATION

• DJ Wetzel• 864-250-8166• DJ.Wetzel@gvltec.edu

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