So, What is FERPA Anyway?

If you haven’t heard of FERPA or the Family Educational Right to Privacy Act yet, you will during orientation, enrollment or upon your first call to the college’s Registrar or your child’s academic counselor. While these five little letters can cause parents of college students a great deal of grief they can also protect your child and his personal information.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of students’ educational records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are called "eligible students.” 

Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies. 

Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information. 

Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions:School officials with 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;Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;Accrediting organizations;To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies; andState and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law.

Source: https://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

FERPA was enacted in 1974, when the social pendulum had swung toward individual rights and the legal drinking age was 18. Many of you reading this book were still young children or maybe even just a twinkle in your parents’ eyes. Obviously, over the past four decades much has changed and even though the regulation seems a little strict and outdated it can protect your child from having his or her grades posted publicly (yes, this used to be a common practice) and it can also protect students from stalkers and others who, thanks to FERPA, can’t even find out if the student is enrolled much less their class schedule or residence hall room number.

So what does FERPA mean for parents of college students? It means that you will not receive a copy of their grades mailed or emailed directly to you, you will not have access to their schedule, and even though you are most likely paying for a portion of their education, you will not have access to their bill.  “And, how is this a good thing?” you ask.

Well, in my opinion, it forces you and your child to have open communication about their academics and finances and it also makes the student completely responsible for his own grades, good or bad. Remember, after four or five years, the name on the diploma will be your child’s, no matter who paid for tuition.

Every college has a form, or written agreement, that your child can sign to give you or another third party access to his grades and other academic information, however, this agreement can be revoked at any time. It’s essential that you be able to rely on your child for this information and no one else.

* FERPA can be circumvented by the college in cases where the student’s health or well-being is in danger or he has violated certain college policies that warrant parental notification. 

Questions to Ask During Orientation

·      Will students receive mid-term grades? If so, when and how?

·      Can parents have access to student’s grades by having the student sign a permission form? (I’ll talk more about this later)

·      Is there a campus wide attendance policy? What is it?

·      What kind of tutoring or other academic services are available?

·      If your child has not declared a major, when will he need to do so? How does one declare a major?

·      Is there a way for parents to receive copies of bills or grades directly from the college?

·      What are the methods of payment for bills?

·      If the bill is not paid in full, what are the penalties?

·      Is there a monthly payment plan available?

·      Where are residence hall rules and policies posted?

·      When will the student know his roommate’s information?

·      When is the residence hall bill due? The meal plan bill?

·      What are the residence hall options?

·      Where do most freshmen live?

·      Are single-sex or coed residence halls available?

·      Can freshmen bring cars to campus? Where do they park?

·      What are the most common safety issues on campus?

·      Where can I find the report on campus crime statistics?

·      What safety programs are available? (Self defense, safe rides etc.)

·      Are there property registration programs available?

·      Are there fraternities and sororities on campus? Do they have houses?

·      What services are offered for students with disabilities?

·      Are students required to have health insurance? If so, is a plan available from the college?

·      What religious services are on campus or nearby?

·      Does the campus have an emergency notification system? How do students sign up?

·      When is parents’ weekend, or are there other events specifically for parents or family members?

·      What is the best way to find more information?

How to Avoid "Hovering"

Most parents don’t want to be helicopter parents. You certainly have better things to do with your time than solve problems for your adult child who is 200 miles away. Parents constantly lament to me “How can he be smart enough to get into college, but he can’t figure this out?” But, if after a few tear-filled calls from your child, you decide to call the college to fix a problem for your child, stop and consider the following.

·               Can he handle this problem on his own? The answer is usually “Yes”, but he just doesn’t know how. Most eighteen-year-olds don’t know how to trouble shoot problems because they simply haven’t had to do it before. Let me tell you a little story to illustrate this point.

Each year, when I worked in residence halls, at least three to ten students would request a maintenance work order for a broken desk light (the lights were built into the desks.) The first few times this happened, I took the students’ word that the light was broken, assuming that they had certainly already confirmed that the light was plugged in and the bulb was not burned out. But, after a few of the maintenance orders came back with notes such as “replaced bulb” I started to realize that students didn’t know how to trouble shoot. They just assumed that if they flipped on the light switch and the light didn’t turn on, then the light was broken. Defining the problem, and trouble shooting the simplest solutions are basic life skills that college students may not have developed yet, but they will definitely need in the future.

As you talk to your child about problems that are occurring in his life, ask him to clarify the problem first and then develop some simple solutions. Offer some suggestions, but don’t solve the problem for him. True, this may require that you have a few, or even several, overly complicated conversations about the same problem, but I assure you that once he has successfully solved one problem with your guidance, he’ll be able to solve many more without calling you.