Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Encyclopedia
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA or the Buckley Amendment) is a United States federal law.
It allows students with access to their education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records. With several exceptions, schools must have a student's consent prior to the disclosure of education records. It only applies to educational agencies and institutions that receive funding under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Education
.
Examples of situations affected by FERPA include school employees divulging information to anyone other than the student about the student's grades or behavior, and school work posted on a bulletin board with a grade. Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record.
This privacy policy also governs how state agencies transmit testing data to federal agencies. For example see Education Data Network.
This US federal law also gives students 18 years old or older, or students of any age if enrolled in any post-secondary educational institution, the right of privacy regarding grades, enrollment, and even billing information, unless the school has specific permission from the student to share that specific type of information with the parent.
The law allows students who apply to an educational institution such as graduate school
permission to view recommendations submitted by others as part of the application. However, on standard application forms, students are given the option to waive this right.
FERPA specifically excludes employees of an educational institution if they are not students.
The act is also referred to as the Buckley Amendment, for one of its proponents, Senator James L. Buckley
of New York
.
It allows students with access to their education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records. With several exceptions, schools must have a student's consent prior to the disclosure of education records. It only applies to educational agencies and institutions that receive funding under a program administered by the U.S. Department of Education
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education, also referred to as ED or the ED for Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government...
.
Examples of situations affected by FERPA include school employees divulging information to anyone other than the student about the student's grades or behavior, and school work posted on a bulletin board with a grade. Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record.
This privacy policy also governs how state agencies transmit testing data to federal agencies. For example see Education Data Network.
This US federal law also gives students 18 years old or older, or students of any age if enrolled in any post-secondary educational institution, the right of privacy regarding grades, enrollment, and even billing information, unless the school has specific permission from the student to share that specific type of information with the parent.
The law allows students who apply to an educational institution such as graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
permission to view recommendations submitted by others as part of the application. However, on standard application forms, students are given the option to waive this right.
FERPA specifically excludes employees of an educational institution if they are not students.
The act is also referred to as the Buckley Amendment, for one of its proponents, Senator James L. Buckley
James L. Buckley
James Lane Buckley is a retired judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and previously served as a United States Senator from the state of New York as a member of the Conservative Party of New York from January 3, 1971 to January 3, 1977...
of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
External links
- http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_04/34cfr99_04.html
- http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html