FERPA Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives students certain rights with respect to their education records. This includes the right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the college receives their request for access.
Students should submit to the registrar, appropriate dean, or other appropriate official, written requests that identify the record(s) they wish to inspect. The college official will arrange 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 college 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 are provided the opportunity for challenge through a hearing the content of their educational records if they believe the records contain information that is inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the right to privacy. (Grades are not subject to challenge.) Limited disclosure of information from a student's record shall be conducted through the Office of the Registrar to those who have written consent or to officials specifically permitted within the law, such as college officials and – under certain conditions – local, state, and federal officials.
Exceptions permitting disclosure without consent would be disclosure to officials with legitimate educational interests. This would include a school official, a person employed by the college in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record to fulfill his or her professional responsibility. This would also include law enforcement unit personnel, health staff, a person or company with whom the college has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent) and a person serving on the Board of Directors or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks.
Dependent students under 18 years of age: Parents may have access to dependent educational records. The college will assume a person under 18 is a dependent if their parents provide a written statement that the student is listed as a dependent on their federal income tax forms.