THE FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT

All parents and students will be notified of their rights through publication in the catalogue of the fact that students and parents of dependent students have the right to review a student’s educational records, to request amendment to a student’s educational records, to provide consent prior to disclosure of personally identifiable information and to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education regarding the failure of a college to comply with The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. Students or parents are also advised that a hearing can be requested to challenge the contents of a student’s record, and the student will be given the opportunity to place a statement regarding contested information in the record stating the nature of the disagreement.

  1. A parent or student must make a request in writing to review educational records and has the right to inspect and review the records within 45 days of the day the request is received.
  2. Records will be made available in the Executive Director/President’s office on an appointment basis.
  3. The right to request (in writing) an amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading.
  4. No personally identifiable information will be released to a third party without the written consent of parent or student unless it is:
    1. To other college officials who have educational interest in the information;
    2. To officials of another college where the student seeks or intends to enroll;
    3. To representatives of the Comptroller General of the United States, the Secretary of Education or State and local education authorities;
    4. Relating to financial aid and is necessary to determine eligibility for aid, determine amount of aid, determine conditions for the aid, enforce the terms and conditions of the aid;
    5. To State officials if required by State statute;
    6. To organizations conducting studies for educational agencies or colleges to develop, validate, or administer tests, administer student aid programs or improve instruction. No personally identifiable information will be released except to representatives of the organization and the information provided to the organization will be destroyed when no longer needed for the study;
    7. To accrediting agency to carry out accrediting functions;
    8. To parents of a dependent student;
    9. To comply with a judicial order or subpoena;
    10. To meet a health or safety emergency;
    11. To an alleged victim of a crime of violence regarding the results of disciplinary proceedings against an alleged perpetrator of the crime.
  5. All disclosures of information will be recorded in the file and will include parties receiving information and the legitimate interests of the parties for inspection of the records.
  6. Personally identifiable information which is designated as directory information includes student’s name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities, degrees and awards received and the most recent previous educational agency or college attended.
  7. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the College to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:
    Family Policy Compliance Office US Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW Washington, D.C. 20202-4605