FERPA

Institutions may disclose the following information on a student without violating FERPA if the student has not restricted their information:

• Name
• Email address
• Address (local and home)
• Telephone number (local and home)
• College/school and curriculum
• Enrollment status and credit-hour load
• Dates of attendance
• Classification
• Receipt or nonreceipt of a degree
• Academic awards received (dean’s list, honors students)
• Participation in officially recognized activities
• Sports photograph
• Position, weight, and height of athletes
   

An education record is any record that is directly related to a student and maintained by the university. A student has the right of access to these records.

Education records include any records in whatever medium (handwritten, email, print, magnetic tape, film, diskette, etc.) that is in the possession of any school official. This includes transcripts or other records obtained from a school in which a student was previously enrolled.

What aren’t education records?

• Sole possession records or private notes held by school officials that are not accessible or released to other personnel; law enforcement or campus security records that are solely for law enforcement purposes and maintained solely by the law enforcement unit
• Records relating solely to an individual’s employment by the institution that are not available for any other purpose; records relating to treatment provided by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other recognized professional or paraprofessional and disclosed only to individuals providing treatment
• Records of an institution that contain only information about an individual obtained after that person is no longer a student (i.e., alumni records)
• Grades on peer-graded papers that have not been collected and recorded

Statements made by a person providing a recommendation that derive from that person’s own observation or knowledge do not require a written release from the student who is the subject of the recommendation. However, if personally identifiable information obtained from a student’s education record is included in a letter of recommendation (grades, GPA, etc.), the writer is required to obtain a signed release from the student that includes the following:

• Specifies the records that may be disclosed
• States the purpose of the disclosure
• Identifies the party or class of parties to whom the disclosure can be made

Since the letter of recommendation would be part of the student’s education record, the student has the right to read it, unless the student has waived that right of access.

The student has the right to file a complaint with the US Department of Education in Washington, DC. This complaint may result in the filing of civil litigation and/or the loss of federal funding for financial aid and educational grants for Purdue University. Action to terminate funding is generally taken only if compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means.

For additional information, see the Purdue FERPA policy, check out our FERPA training, or contact the Office of the Registrar at [email protected] or 260-481-6815.

Purdue FERPA Policy

Personally identifiable information includes, but is not limited to, the following:

• Student name
• Name of student’s parent or other family member
• Address of the student or the student’s family
• A personal identifier (PUID, SID, SSN)
• Biometric record
• Other indirect indicators (birth date, place of birth, mother’s maiden name)
• Other information alone or in combination that would make the student’s identity easily traceable

The public posting of grades, either by the student’s name, institutional student identification number, or Social Security number is a violation of FERPA. Using an assigned random number that only the student and instructor know would be an appropriate way to post grades. Even then, the order of posting should not be alphabetic.

Students have the right to restrict disclosure of personally identifiable information the university has designated as directory information and which may be released without the written consent of the student.

Restricted records cannot be released without the written permission of the student. This permission must be signed and dated, specify the records to be disclosed, state the purpose of the disclosure, and identify the party or parties to whom the disclosure may be made.

There are exceptions to the consent to disclosure requirement.

In order to restrict all information, a signed and dated request must be made in writing to the Office of the Registrar, Kettler Hall, Room 107, 2101 East Coliseum Boulevard, Fort Wayne, Indiana, 46815. A form is also available at the enrollment services center desk on the first floor in the main lobby of Kettler Hall. Should the student graduate or otherwise leave the university, this restriction will remain in place until the student requests to remove it.

Note: Once a student’s record has been restricted for directory information, no information can be shared about the individual without the student’s written consent. In such a case, problems may occur thereafter when potential employers or other parties make inquiries about the student. 

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