Student Rights/Privacy – FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 (commonly referred to as the "Buckley Amendment") is designed to protect the confidentiality of education records and to give students access to their records to assure the accuracy of their contents. The Act affords students certain rights with respect to their education records.

A student's rights begin when the student registers and attends his or her first class. The privacy protection FERPA gives to students is very broad. With limited exceptions, FERPA regulations give privacy protection to all student education records. Examples of student records entitled to protection under FERPA include grade reports, transcripts and most disciplinary files. This protected information cannot be released to any third party, including parents and family members, without signed and dated written consent from the student.

Parents often express interest and concern for their student's academic progress. Our hope is that students will maintain open communication with their family members regarding their academic progress and other important issues. We encourage you to discuss these matters with your student. Communicating with young adults is not easy; they're not always as forthcoming as we would like. The college years, however, are a period of remarkable growth and maturation. The ability and willingness of students to share information and insights usually grows, especially as they acquire the confidence that comes with assuming greater responsibility for their own lives.