Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
FERPA Basics
What is FERPA?
- FERPA is a Federal law.
- FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and is also known as the Buckley Amendment in honor of its sponsor Senator James Buckley.*
- FERPA was originally enacted in 1974 and significantly amended in 1992 and 1994.*
- FERPA protects the privacy of student educational records.
- FERPA applies to all educational agencies or institutions that receive funds under any program administered by the Department of Education.
- FERPA applies to ALL students, including international students, who attend these educational agencies or institutions. This includes students enrolled in correspondence and distance learning programs.
Basic FERPA Rules
- Student educational records are considered confidential and may not be released without the written consent of the student. This applies to the records of all students, even those under the age of 18.
- Parents of dependent students, might include those over the age of 18, might be able to access their student's records after a determination of dependency has been made by the Enrollment Services Office.
- As faculty or an employee of the college you have a responsibility to protect educational records in your possession.
- You have access to information only for legitimate use in the completion of your responsibilities as a college employee.
- The college does designate some information as public or directory information, which can be released without the written consent of the student. The student has the right to direct that this information not be released.
Who to Contact
If you have questions about FERPA you can contact the following people in the Enrollment Services Office.- Leon Golden-Novak
FERPA coordinator, Enrollment Services Office (425) 640-1565 - Rae Ellen Reas
Sr. Associate Dean, Enrollment Services Office (425) 640-1401
*Gorn, Susan, The FERPA Answer Book for Higher Education Professionals, LRP publications, 1998
