Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Answer

The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a federal privacy law that gives students certain rights with regard to their own education records, such as the right to inspect and review their own records. To protect a student’s privacy, the law generally requires schools to ask for written consent from the student before disclosing personally identifiable information from that student’s records to others. However, FERPA does permit schools to disclose student information without consent under limited circumstances (referred to as exceptions). For example, student information may be disclosed as directory information or in response to a health or safety emergency. More information can be found at www.saic.edu/ferpa.

On some occasions, a student may wish to give SAIC permission to share information from his or her education records with specific individuals. For example, it is often beneficial to the student for SAIC staff and faculty to be able to discuss student information with a parent, guardian, spouse, or other support person. You may, at your discretion, give SAIC faculty and staff permission to release personally identifiable information to a third party (e.g., a parent/guardian, emergency contact, spouse, or potential employer) by providing written consent. You may use the ‌FERPA Student Authorization to Release Information Form [PDF]. Please return the completed form to the Director of Registration and Records. By completing and returning this form, you consent to SAIC's disclosure of information from your student records to the person that you designate on the form.