Full Text of law - Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (All sites below will take you to the full text of the law

• FERPA Law Document - Family Educational Rights And Privacy Act (FERPA) (FERPA) sets out requirements designed to protect the privacy of parents and students. In brief, the law requires a school district to: Provide a parent access to their child's educational records; provide a parent an opportunity to seek correction of records he/she believes to be inaccurate or misleading; with some exceptions, obtain the written permission of a parent before disclosing information contained in the student's educational record.
• FERPA Law Document: Alternate Version - No funds shall be made available under any applicable program to any educational agency or institution which has a policy of denying, or which effectively prevents, the parents of students who are or have been in attendance at a school of such agency or at such institution, as the case may be, the right to inspect and review the education records of their children.

 General Information on Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

• Get Access To Your Child's Educational Records - The second Congressional Response to all these federal special education cases, and some other issues, was the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act in 1974. Congress recognized that parents could not get access to their child's records, the evaluations the school was using, the notes teachers were making, what was being "said" about the student in those files, and so forth. An incredible mistake could be made about a student with a disability and the parent would have no way of finding out about it, or correcting it.
• Legally reviewed summary of FERPA (the Buckley Amendment) - This act is enforced to guarantee the rights of citizens, but especially to protect students in whom the federal government has made a significant investment. Toward these ends, the FERPA act mandates that schools must "annually" and "effectively" notify current students of their federally affirmed rights. Though former student need not be annually notified of their rights, all other FERPA rights apply to former students. The annual notification to students must mention the following...
• Model Notification of Rights under FERPA for Postsecondary Institutions - The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the University receives a request for access. Students should submit to the registrar, dean, head of the academic department, or other appropriate official, written requests that identify 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. If the records are not maintained by the University official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
• Overview of FERPA from ed.gov - 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 "eligible students."
• Overview of FERPA from Helpforschools.com - FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student, or former student, who has reached the age of 18 or is attending any school beyond the high school level. Students and former students to whom the rights have transferred are called eligible students.
• Overview of FERPA from SSD Missouri - The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the regulations implementing these acts, govern the release of personally identifiable information by Special School District of St. Louis County (SSD).
• Report of the Committee on Changes (FERPA) - In October 1998, Congress passed amendments to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, also known as the Buckley Amendment) which permit, but do not mandate, the non-consensual disclosure of certain information from a student's disciplinary records. Specifically, these amendments allow institutions to report to parents violations of alcohol and drug laws by students under the age of 21 and to disclose to the public the results of a disciplinary matter in which a student has been found responsible for violating the institution's policy with respect to conduct that would constitute a "crime of violence" or a "non-forcible sex offense".
• The Impact of FERPA and HIPAA on Privacy Protections for Health Information at School: Questions from Readers - Since we published information about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy regulations and about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which applies to education records maintained by schools, we at the Center for Health and Health Care in Schools have received a number of inquiries about details of the two laws.
• What Do I Do When…The FERPA Answer Book for Higher Education Professionals - Get answers to more than 250 questions involving education-record management. This resource contains a question-and-answer section, the full text of the FERPA statute and regulations, as well as sample notices and forms.
• Why Doesn't UConn Send My Children's Grades? - MS Word document.  One of the most common questions I get from parents is “why doesn’t the University send me my child’s grades?” It’s a reasonable question. After all, the parents of most undergraduates do pay some or all of their children’s tuition and fees.
• Release of Student Directory Information and Disclosure of Student Records - The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 protects the privacy of your education records. However, the following information is considered public or directory information and may be released to anyone unless you inform the Office of the Registrar that you do not wish any information released...
• The Other Health Privacy Law: What FERPA Requires of Schools - Congress has amended FERPA a total of nine times since it was enacted in 1974, most recently as part of the Bush administration’s education law, the Leave No Child Behind Act. As it now stands, FERPA applies to any public or private entity that receives federal funds. Parents have the right to review their child’s "education record," defined as "those records, files, document, and other materials which contain information directly related to a student, and are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a person acting for such agency or institution."

FAQ about FERPA (Overview of frequently asked questions regarding FERPA-From the University of North Texas)

• What is FERPA? - FERPA is a Federal LawAlso known as the Buckley Amendment; protects the privacy of a student’s educational records; applies to all educational agencies or institutions that receive funds under any program administered by the Secretary of Education...
• What are and are not education records? - Contain information directly related to the student and are maintained by an agency or institution or party acting in its behalf. Education records do not include...
• What are parental rights under FERPA? - FERPA gives certain rights to parents regarding their children’s educational records. Rights transfer to the student upon reaching 18 years of age or attending any school beyond the secondary level.
• What is directory or public information? - " . . . information contained in an education record of a student which would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed." (1988 Final Regulations)...
• What information can we release without student consent? - The law allows disclosure without consent to: School employees who have a legitimate educational interest; Other schools, upon request, in which a student is seeking or intending to enroll; Accrediting organizations...
• What are 2 basic steps to comply with the law? - Notify current students annually in writing of their rights under FERPA: Right to seek amendment or correction of educational records; Right to have some control over the disclosure of information from education records except when release is permitted by law; Right to file complaints with the Family Policy Compliance Office, United States Department of Education, within 180 days of alleged violation...
• What documents does a student not have a right to see? - Financial information submitted by parents, confidential letters and recommendations placed in student’s file before 1/1/75...
• What are institutional policy and notification requirements? - As of November 21, 1996, an institution is no longer required to have a written institutional policy. The benefit of having a policy is that we have guidelines to follow...
• What can happen if we fail to follow the law? - Lawsuit, loss of Federal funding, conviction of a misdemeanor under the Public Information Act, confinement in the county jail not to exceed 6 months...

FERPA Tutorial

• FERPA Tutorial - The tutorial from Belmont University will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.