Ferpa

FERPA

FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a U.S. federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. It gives parents certain rights over their children’s records, such as the right to inspect and request corrections. When a student turns 18 or goes to college, those rights typically transfer to the student. Schools must generally get written permission before disclosing personally identifiable information from education records, with some specific exceptions. Exceptions include routine directory information that schools may share unless families opt out, emergency situations, and certain law enforcement or health requests under defined conditions. FERPA requires schools to notify parents and eligible students annually about their rights and how the school handles records. Violating the law can lead to complaints and possible loss of federal education funds, so schools take recordkeeping and data sharing rules seriously. In practice, FERPA affects how schools work with third-party vendors, researchers, and technology systems that store or process student information. For families and students, knowing FERPA helps them understand what schools can share, how to correct errors, and when to say no to releasing information.