FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law enacted in 1974 to protect the privacy of student education records. The law applies to those institutions that regularly receive federal funding from the Department of Education and is enforced by the Family Policy Compliance Office of the U.S. Department of Education.

More information regarding FERPA can be found on the US Dept of Education website.

FERPA Info for StudentsFERPA Info for Parents

Generally, schools must have written permission from the eligible student to release any information from a student’s educational records.  However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):

• 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 agencies;
• To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
• Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies;
• and State and local authorities, within a juvenile system, pursuant to specific State law.

UNT Dallas may disclose, without consent, the following “directory” information:

• Name
• Address
• University assigned e-mail address
• University assigned enterprise-wide User Identification Number (EUID) so long as the EUID cannot be used to gain access to the student's education records except when used in conjunction with another factor to authenticate the student's identity.
• Date and place of birth
• Major field of study
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
• Weight and height of members of athletics teams
• Dates of attendance
• Enrollment status (e.g. undergraduate or graduate; full-time or part-time)
• Degrees, awards, and honors received (including selection criteria)
• Expected graduation date
• Most recent previous school attended
• Photograph

However, schools must tell eligible students about directory information and allow eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them.  Schools must notify eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA.  The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a course schedule, student handbook or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.