FERPA (Family Education Rights and Privacy Act)
FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.
Under FERPA, students have certain rights, including the right to:
- Inspect and review information in their education records
- Restrict the release of some directory information (contact the Office of Student Affairs)
Under FERPA, staff, faculty, and student employees generally may not disclose information from a student’s record. As a practical matter, this means you should:
- Not provide copies of student records to anyone other than the student or a college employee who needs to know the information to perform their job duties.
- Not share personally identifiable information with third parties. If a third party requests any student information (e.g., a student’s immigration status), direct the inquirer to the Registrar’s Office. If the request is from a law enforcement agency or is received as part of a subpoena, contact the Office of General Counsel.
Special note regarding immigration status: The College will not disclose any specific student’s immigration status except in response to a lawfully-issued subpoena or as otherwise required by law.