FERPA FAQ

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (“the Act,” commonly referred to as “FERPA” or the “Buckley Amendment”), is designed to protect the privacy of Students’ Education Records and to give Students access to their Education Records to ensure the accuracy of their contents. Under FERPA, a Student has the right to: inspect and review their record, petition for amendments to their record, provide and revoke consent to disclose their education record, and file a complaint with the Department of Education concerning Lafayette’s compliance with the requirements of the Act.

FERPA rights begin when a Student becomes 18 or matriculates at any post-secondary institution. Individuals who are accepted to the College, but do not attend any classes are not Students for purposes of FERPA or this Policy.

Information about student rights under FERPA is published each semester in the College’s Registration Announcement. It is also available online through the Office of the Registrar’s web page.

FERPA defines “directory information” as information contained in the education records of a student that would not generally be considered as harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. Lafayette College considers the following to be directory information:

•     Student’s name
•     College and home address and campus P.O. box number
•     Phone numbers
•     College-issued email address
•     Date of birth
•     Photograph
•     Dates of attendance
•     Class year/Expected Graduation Date
•     Degree program and major
•     Degrees, honors, and awards received
•     Participation in College activities
•     Weight and height of members of athletic teams

Although this information is public in nature, students may request that it be withheld and released only upon written authorization. Such requests should be made to the Office of the Registrar.

Lafayette may disclose “directory information” to third parties without consent.  However, it is generally College practice not to release data in response to third-party requests.

A school may disclose education records as outlined in the policy.

Lafayette College seeks to teach students to become mature, reasoned, educated adults capable of defining and realizing their academic and personal developmental goals. To that end, College practice is to regard students as the primary contact for interaction regarding information contained in student educational records and to respect the confidentiality of that information. The College encourages students to act responsibly by communicating directly with their parents.

Students may grant anyone permission to access their academic and financial aid record or to speak with department representatives (via phone only) using the Proxy Management System in Banner Self-Service. Those granted access will be referred to as a “proxy.” Students can update and/or revoke access at any time.

College personnel include all employees or agencies contracting with the College to perform a service on its behalf. An employee’s level of access to student information, including directory information, is based on their role within the College. College personnel can access a student’s education record as long as there is a legitimate educational purpose / interest in doing so. Use of the information in the completion of the responsibilities of a College employee meets the criteria of a legitimate educational purpose. However, faculty and staff members also have a legal responsibility under FERPA to protect the confidentiality of student education records in their possession. 

College personnel may not release lists or files with student information to any third party outside of the College.

Student educational records (other than directory information) may not be released without written consent of the student. Student information stored in electronic format must be secure and available only to those entitled to access that information.

Questions regarding the release of information from student records should be referred to the Office of the Registrar at ext. 5090.

In this age of increasing technology and the use of content management systems (e.g. Moodle), only directory information should be available to the entire class. Grades, scores, and GPAs can never be viewed as directory information. It is against FERPA  to post such details  in a public setting or in any manner that allows students access to each other’s grades, scores, and/or GPAs (i.e. their educational record). 

These requests should be referred to Public Safety.

A person writing a reference letter is free to include his personal observations and assessments of the student as long as those observations/assessments cannot be identified as an education record.  Letter writers can include such subjective observations as “stellar student,” “takes part in class discussions” or “mediocre performance” and can include examples. These statements are not education records.

However, if the letter includes a statement that calls out specific grades or GPA this release of information would violate FERPA, because  they are details of the student’s education records The writer would be required to obtain the student’s written consent before including this type of information.

If a student asks for a letter of recommendation, the student has access to the letter unless stated  otherwise.