Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Tutorial (4)

How do students revoke their consent to release information?
Students can print the “STUDENT INFORMATION RELEASE AUTHORIZATION” form, complete, (including the revocation section), sign, date, and mail or fax the form to the University Registrar’s Office.

Do parents or guardians of college students have the right to see their children’s education records? Does it make a difference if they are paying the tuition?
As noted above, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parent to the student once the student turns 18 years old or enters a postsecondary institution at any age. Parents or guardians may have access to their student’s education record if the student has completed, signed, dated, and submitted the “STUDENT INFORMATION RELEASE AUTHORIZATION” form as described above. It does not make a difference if the parent/guardian is paying the tuition.

What if my child is a minor and he or she is taking classes at the University while still in high school, do I have rights?
As indicated above, if a student is attending a postsecondary institution – at any age – the rights under FERPA have transferred to the student.

May a postsecondary institution disclose to a parent, without the student’s consent, information regarding a student’s violation of the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance?
Yes, if the student is under the age of 21 at the time of the disclosure, FERPA was amended in 1998 to allow such disclosures. See § 99.31(a) 15 of the FERPA regulations.

Can information be disclosed without consent for registered sex offenders?
Yes.  The new regulations allow disclosure without consent of any information concerning registered offenders provided to an educational agency or institution under 42 U.S. C. 14071 and applicable Federal guidelines.

Can non-directory (personally identifiable) information be disclosed during a disaster or other health or safety emergency? 

Yes. In some situations, a school may determine that it is necessary to disclose non-directory information to appropriate parties in order to address a disaster or other health or safety emergency. FERPA permits school officials to disclose, without consent, education records, or personally identifiable information from education records, to appropriate parties in connection with an emergency, if knowledge of that information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals. See 34 CFR §§ 99.31(a)(10) and 99.36. This exception to FERPA’s general consent requirement is temporally limited to the period of the emergency and generally does not allow for a blanket release of personally identifiable information from the student’s education records.

Under this health or safety emergency provision, an educational agency or institution is responsible for making a determination whether to make a disclosure of personally identifiable information on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the totality of the circumstances pertaining to a threat to the health or safety of the student or others. If the school district or school determines that there is an articulable and significant threat to the health or safety of the student or other individuals and that a party needs personally identifiable information from education records to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals, it may disclose that information to such appropriate party without consent. 34 CFR § 99.36. This is a flexible standard under which the Department defers to school administrators so that they may bring appropriate resources to bear on the situation, provided that there is a rational basis for the educational agency’s or institution’s decisions about the nature of the emergency and the appropriate parties to whom information should be disclosed. Within a reasonable period of time after a disclosure is made under this exception, an educational agency or institution must record in the student’s education records the articulable and significant threat that formed the basis for the disclosure and the parties to whom information was disclosed. 34 CFR § 99.32(a)(5).

Are instructors permitted to post grades by Social Security Numbers/CWIDs?
No. A student’s social security and campus wide identifications numbers are, by definition, “personally identifiable information” under FERPA and may not be disclosed without consent in any form.

Is a signed consent form still needed if a student and family members have an appointment with faculty or staff to review the student’s academic progress?
Yes.  By signing the “STUDENT INFORMATION RELEASE AUTHORIZATION” form, students give universities the authority to share information contained in their educational record to their parent or guardian. FERPA does not allow for information to be released on the assumption that if the student is in the room, the student has given their consent.

Can education records (grades, billing, medical, and financial data) be sent to students via email?
Yes.  It is O.K. for faculty and staff members to share the student’s academic progress in courses, account balances, medical, financial aid, and admission information with students via their official NSU e-mail addresses but not with a third party. In other words, all communications that you would normally send via the student’s mailing address can also be sent to the student’s official NSU e-mail address.