QUESTIONS FOR CURRENT STUDENT AND THEIR FAMILIES
Why won’t a college tell me whether my child is attending classes or what his/her grades are?All colleges that receive federal funding are bound by a Federal Act call the Family Educational rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) The general purpose of the act is to ensure students access to their education records and to protect such individuals rights to privacy by limited the transferability of their records without their consent. (Joint Statement in Explanation of the Buckley/Pell Amendment, 120 Cong. Rec. 39,858, 39,862 ( Dec. 13, 1974)). “Generally speaking, parent of children who attend or have attended a school that received federal funding has rights under FERPA. However, parents transfer their rights under FERPA to their child when he or she ‘has attained eighteen years of age or is attending an institution of post-secondary education.’ 20 USC1232g(d). “(2003, FERPA Answer Book Supplement 10, page 1:2.)
