FERPA, Your Students, Their Parents, and You

FERPA is an acronym for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.  It is a federal act that safeguards the privacy of students’ educational records.  One aspect of the law gives students or the parents of minor children the right to inspect the student’s academic record.  The other aspect of the law protects students or the parents of minor children from having academic records released without their consent.  FERPA prohibits the release of information to anyone other than the student or the parent of a minor child without a written release from the student or the parents.  Most college students are 18 years old or older.  This means that a college or instructor may not release information about a student’s academic performance -- this includes grades as well as attendance record -- without a written release from the student.   However, parents who claim their adult student as a dependent on their tax forms continue to have access to their child’s academic records without the written consent of the child.

As a practical matter, we need to be sympathetic to parents who have understandable concerns about their adult children's performance in our classes.  However, we cannot provide details about the student's performance without a written waiver from the student or the assurance that the parent claims the child as a dependant on annual tax forms.   We can encourage our students to share relevant information with their parents, and we can assure parents that we share their concern for their children's academic success.

The boilerplate letter may be of use to you in communicating with parents who inquire about their children's grades, attendance, or class behavior.   It can be adapted to suit your needs.

Dear Parent(s),

I appreciate your concern for your son/daughter's success in his/her English 11/1200 class.  However, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevents me from releasing information about your son/daughter's performance in class.  This includes discussion of grades as well as attendance.  If your son/daughter signs a release authorizing me to release information about his/her work in my course, I'll be happy to share information with you.  FERPA also allows for the release of information to parents who claim their college-age child as a dependant for tax purposes.

It's important that I respect laws governing the release of information about my students.  The purpose of the law is to protect the privacy of students.  If your child signs a waiver, or if you attest to me that you claim your child as a dependant, I'll be glad to discuss his/her class work in detail.