Page 8 - Washburn Unversity New Student Orientation

Under FERPA, once a student turns 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level, access to academic or financial records are transferred from the parent/guardian to the student. Records may be released to parent/guardian only under certain conditions.
What’s Public?
Under FERPA, an institution may define some educational records as “directory” information. This information is not confidential and can be given out without the student’s consent. Washburn University defines directory information as:
• Name
• Photo
• Current address and phone number
• Permanent address and phone number
• University-assigned email address
• Classification status
(first-year, sophomore, etc.)
• Major field of study
• Dates of attendance
• Awards and academic honors
• Degrees and Certificates received and
dates awarded
• Enrollment status (full-time, half-time, etc.)
• Enrollment level (undergraduate
or graduate)
• Most recent educational institution
attended
• Participation in officially recognized
activities and sports
• Height and weight for members of athletic teams
What’s Private?
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal privacy law that gives students certain protections with regard to their educational records. The Act provides students certain rights:
• To inspect and review educational records • To seek to amend those records
• To limit disclosure of information from
the records
• The right to file a complaint with the
U.S. Department of Education for alleged failures by the college to comply with the requirements of FERPA.
To protect the student’s privacy, the law requires schools, except in a few specified circumstances, to ask for written consent before disclosing personally identifiable information to anyone other than the student.
University Registrar
Morgan Hall 102 785.670.1074 registrar@washburn.edu
washburn.edu/registrar www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa
FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT
PRE-ORIENTATION 6