Transcript FERPA - Villanova University

School Law Presentation
Amy Ellis
4/19/12
 Family Education Rights & Privacy Act (also called
the Buckley Amendment)
 A federal statutory law enacted by Congress in
1974 in response to litigation over privacy of
written student records
 Applies to all schools receiving federal funding
from US Department of Education
 Parents have full rights to child’s educational
record until they turn 18 or attend school beyond
high school
 Positives:
o A way to protect students’ and their families’ rights
regarding the privacy and accuracy of their educational
records
o Gives parents & students the right to review records for
accuracy
 Negatives/Points of Contention:
o What constitutes an educational record?
o Who should have access to the records, and under what
circumstances? (health or safety situations, the media,
etc.)
 Personally identifiable information directly related to
the student
 Can include:
 Final grades
 Student files
 Photographs
 Transcripts
 Private notes of individual staff or faculty regarding a
student (that are NOT kept in student advising
folders)
 Campus police records
 Medical records
 Statistical data with no mention of personally
identifiable information about specific students
1) Directory Information
2) Non-Directory Information
 Information that can be released without specific written
permission from the student, (except in certain cases
specified by the regulations).
 Most are data that would not be generally considered
harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed, including
information such as name, address, major field of study,
etc.
 Examples include:
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Name
Address (local and permanent)
Telephone number
University e-mail address
Date and place of birth
Major field of study
 Any information not explicitly classified as directory
information
 Unable to be released to third parties except with student’s
written consent (except under strictly defined conditions,
including health/safety cases)
 Examples include:
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Class schedule
Disciplinary status
Ethnicity
Gender
Grade point average (GPA)
Social security number/student ID
Grades/exam scores
Test scores (SAT, ACT, GRE, final exams, etc.)
 With the knowledge you now have about FERPA, read the
New York Times article excerpt and consider the following:
 What do you think the ruling should be?
 Why?
 What do you think the actual ruling was in this case?
 Universities often use FERPA to avoid public scrutiny
for their actions
 Example: colleges withholding disciplinary violations of
an athlete to suit their own purposes, but using FERPA
as an excuse
 FERPA in the News
 Duke Lacrosse Case
 St. Joe’s Todd O’Brien Basketball Case (no legal action yet, but
highly publicized)
 As you read the following two case studies with
another classmate, please consider the following:
 What do you think the ruling was?
 Why?
 Department of Education proposed amendments to
expand FERPA’s exemptions, making it easier for other
representatives to access student records
 Mixed opinion on this—
 Some feel this will improve needed access to data, which
will help inform States’ future educational programs and
increase accountability and transparency
 Others feel this will expose students to new privacy
risks, setting a dangerous precedent and running
counter to the original purpose of FERPA: to protect
students’ privacy
 http://counsel.cua.edu/FERPA/fedlaw/cases.cfm
 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/colle
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ge/chi-070529u-of-i-clout,0,5173000.storyhttp://www.splc.org/news/newsflash.asp?id=147
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/index.html
http://epic.org/privacy/student/EPIC_FERPA_Comme
nts.pdf
http://www.highereducationlaw.org/ferpa