Office of Student Financial Aid & Student Employment

Family Education Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA)

A student has the right to:

• Inspect and review education records pertaining to the student;
• Request an amendment to the student's records;
• Request a hearing (if the request for an amendment is denied) to challenge the contents of the education records, on the grounds that the records are inaccurate, misleading, or violate the rights of the student.

The parent or eligible student has a right to:

• Inspect and review the student's education records;
• Request an amendment of the student's education records to ensure that information is not inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy or other rights;
• Consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student?s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent;
• File with the U.S. Department of Education a complaint concerning alleged failures by the school to comply with the requirements of FERPA;
• Obtain a copy of the school's FERPA policy.

Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information:

Conditions under which personally identifiable information from a student's edutcational record may disclosed without prior written consent:

1.) Disclosure may be made to authorized representatives of the U.S. Department of Education, the Office of Inspector General, or state and local education authorities.

These officials may have access to education records as a part of an audit or program review, or to ensure compliance with Student Financial Assistance program requirements. (Representatives of the department include research firms that are under contract with the Department to conduct studies of financial aid procedures, using student information provided by the schools selected for the study. This term also includes the Student Financial Assistance program public inquiry contractor.)

2.) Disclosure may be made to authorized representatives of the U.S. Department of Education, the Office of Inspector General, or state and local education authorities.

These officials may have access to education records as a part of an audit or program review, or to ensure compliance with Student Financial Assistance program requirements. (Representatives of the department include research firms that are under contract with the Department to conduct studies of financial aid procedures, using student information provided by the schools selected for the study. This term also includes the Student Financial Assistance program public inquiry contractor.)

3.) Disclosure may be made to the student’s parents, if the student is dependent on the parent as defined by the Internal Revenue Service.

If the student receives more than half of his or her support from the parent, under the IRS definition, the student is a dependent of the parent.

Note: the IRS definition is quite different from the rule governing dependency status for the Student Financial Assistance programs.

4.) Disclosure may be made to organizations that are conducting studies concerning the administration of student aid programs on behalf of educational agencies or institutions.