FERPA for Students

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, known as FERPA, is a federal law that protects your education records, such as personal information, grades, enrollment records and class schedules. You have specific rights as an enrolled student regarding the release of these records and FERPA requires that institutions adhere strictly to these guidelines. These rights include:

  • The right to see the information the institution is keeping on you
  • The right to seek an amendment to your record and, in certain cases, append a statement to the record
  • The right to consent to the disclosure of your records
  • The right to file a complaint with the FERPA office in Washington D.C.

Special Exceptions

Generally, schools must have written permission from the student to release information from his or her educational records. However, FERPA allows schools to release certain information without the student's consent to these following parties:

  • School officials with a legitimate educational interest
  • Other schools to which a student is transferring
  • Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes
  • Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student
  • Accrediting organizations
  • Compliance with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena
  • Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies
  • State and local authorities within a juvenile justice system pursuant to specific state law

Your FERPA Restrictions and Releases

  • Refer to our Third Party Access Guide for instructions on how you can grant designated third party access to your academic records.

FERPA and Parent Portal Information

View the Workday Student Parents page for more information regarding the Parent Portal. This allows your parents or other designated family members to see only what you allow them to see.

IMPORTANT! Access to Parent/Family Portal does not give the University permission to discuss your academic information with your parents. Allowing parents to view your academic information on Workday is not the same as giving permission through FERPA.