What is FERPA?
Annual FERPA Notification to Students
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records:
They are:
The right to inspect and review student’s education records within 45 days of the day the University receives a request for access.
Students should submit to the University Records Office a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The University official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. Records that are customarily open for student inspection will be accessible without written request.
The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading.
Students may submit a request to the University Records Office in writing, clearly identifying records that they believe are inaccurate or misleading. They should write the University Records Office clearly identifying the records that you want to have amended and specifying the reasons you believe them to be inaccurate. If it is The University Records Office’s decision, not to amend the record as requested by the student, the student will be notified of your right to a hearing regarding your request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to you at that time.
The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in your education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without written consent.
One such exception permits disclosure to “school officials” with “legitimate educational interests.” A “school official” is any person employed by the University in any administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including public safety and health services staff); any person or company with whom the University has contracted to provide a service to or on behalf of the University (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); any person serving on the University’s Board of Trustees; or any student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a “legitimate educational interest” if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill the official’s professional responsibility.
Another such exception permits the University to disclose your “directory information” to anyone within the University community and general public consisting of:
Your name, local, permanent, and email addresses; local, permanent, and cell phone numbers; college; major; minor; enrollment status/rank; classification (includes level and full-time/part-time status, as well as freshmen, sophomore, etc.); dates of attendance; anticipated date of graduation; degrees; honors, awards; participation in officially recognized activities/sports; photographs and videos for University publications or websites; institution attended immediately prior to admission.
Institutions may disclose educational records or components thereof without written consent of the student to:
- Authorized representatives of the following for audit and evaluations of federal and/or
state programs – Comptroller General of the United States, the Attorney General of
the United States, the Secretary of the Department of Education, state and local educational
authorities (state and local official to whom disclosure is specifically required
by state statute adopted prior to November 19, 1974)
- Veterans Administration officials
- Officials of other institutions at which a student seeks or intends to enroll, on
the condition that the issuing institution makes a reasonable attempt to inform the
student of the disclosure, unless the student initiates the transfer
- Persons or organizations providing financial aid to students or determining financial
aid decisions, on the condition that the information is necessary to (1) determine
eligibility for the aid, (2) determine the amount of the aid, (3) determine the conditions
for the aid, or (4) enforce the terms and conditions of the aid
- Accrediting organizations carrying out their accrediting functions
- Persons in compliance with a judicial order or a lawfully issued subpoena, provided
that the institution makes a reasonable attempt to notify the student in advance of
compliance. Note: the institution is not required to, and should not, notify the
student if a federal grand jury subpoena, or any other subpoena issued for a law enforcement
purpose, order the institution not to disclose the existence or contents of the subpoena
- Organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions to develop, validate and administer predictive tests, to administer student aid programs, or to improve instructions. Those organizations may not disclose personally identifiable information on students, and information secured must be destroyed when no longer needed for their programs.
Directory Information is defined by the Family Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)
Directory information is information contained in a student’s education record “that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy” if disclosed.
The following categories of information with respect to each student have been designated
by the university as directory information which may be made available to the public,
absent a student’s request that any such information should not be released without
the student’s prior consent:
- Student’s name and email address
- Dates of attendance
- Major and minor fields of study, degree desired, classification (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior) and full-time or part-time status
- Participation in officially recognized activities
- Degrees and awards received (i.e. Dean’s List, Who’s Who, etc.).
Instructions for requesting that directory information not be released may be found at FERPA Withhold/Release Form
Before signing this form, please consider the consequences of withholding your Directory Information. For example, TROY would be unable to verify your degree, major, or enrollment for possible employment, non-TROY scholarships, credit applications, insurance purposes, apartment leases, etc.
The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by ÁůşĎ±¦µä to comply with the requirements of FERPA should be submitted to the Office of Student Records, 135 Adams Administration, ÁůşĎ±¦µä, AL 36082, or to the Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20202-4605
When do FERPA rights begin?
FERPA begins the first day students attend classes. It is the policy of TROY University
to protect the privacy rights of students as much as possible.
For more information about FERPA, please click the link below.