Lesson 4 of 7

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was
enacted in August of 1974 to protect student education records and pertains to
any school, either K-12 or higher education, public, or private, that receives
funds under any program from the U.S. Department of Education.

Most public and private U.S. schools fall under FERPA and IT
staff who work for these institutions must understand FERPA’s
provisions to ensure compliance.

To get a handle on FERPA requirements, here are 10 things
you should know:

  • FERPA
    covers private and public schools, colleges, and universities.
  • Regulations
    were set before the information age and as a result must be carefully
    interpreted.
  • Directory
    information, which can be shared without the consent of a student, must be
    used carefully.
  • Records
    of a student’s use of a school network require stringent protection.
  • “Do
    not share” requests must be honored.
  • Do
    not use “last four” recording of a student’s social security
    number.
  • Appropriate
    access rights must be maintained.
  • Privacy
    rights of students and parents’ need to fulfill financial responsibilities
    could conflict.
  • The
    information age has changed the way you need to comply with FERPA
    regulations.
  • Consult
    a lawyer for advice on compliance issues.

For details, download Ten
things you should know about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA).

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What are the steps to compliance?

According to the University of North Texas, there are two basic strategies
institutions should take: Notify current students annually in writing of their
rights under FERPA, and grant access by students or parents, if applicable, to
education records. For details, and the answers to other questions such as what
are and are not considered educational records, see FERPA Training Q&A.

For a comprehensive list of FERPA resources, including free
downloads, see page two.

FERPA resources

White papers

Vendors

  • DocFinity
    (Optical Image Technology)
  • IBM
    (Rational Software Development Platform)
  • Hewlett-Packard
    (OpenView Compliance Manager)
  • Xerox
    (FERPA Compliance Services)

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