Institutions may disclose the following information on a student without violating FERPA if the student has not restricted their information
Students have the right to restrict disclosure of personally identifiable information the University has designated as directory information that may be released without the written consent of the student.
Restricted records cannot be released without the written permission of the student. This permission must be signed and dated, specify the records to be disclosed, state the purpose of the disclosure, and identify the party or parties to whom the disclosure may be made.
Non-directory information includes, but is not limited to:
The public posting of grades, either by the student's name, institutional student identification number, or social security number is a violation of FERPA. Using an assigned random number that only the student and instructor know would be an appropriate way to post grades. Even then, the order of posting should not be alphabetic.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), also known as the Buckley Amendment, is designed to protect the privacy of students' education records and personally identifiable information. This federal law spells out the rights of students and the responsibilities of educational institutions.
An education record is any record that is directly related to a student and maintained by the university. A student has the right of access to these records.
Education records include any records in whatever medium (handwritten, email, print, magnetic tape, film, diskette, etc.) that is in the possession of any school official. This includes transcripts or other records obtained from a school in which a student was previously enrolled.
Statements made by a person making a recommendation that are made from that person's own observation or knowledge do not require a written release from the student who is the subject of the recommendation. However, if personally identifiable information obtained from a student's education record is included in a letter of recommendation (grades, GPA, etc.), the writer is required to obtain a signed release from the student which:
Since the letter of recommendation would be part of the student's education record, the student has the right to read it – unless he/she has waived that right of access.
The student has the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.
This complaint may result in the loss of federal funding for financial aid and educational grants for ÁùºÏÂÛ̳ and the filing of civil litigation.
Action to terminate funding is generally taken only if compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means.