3.6
FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR
Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law
applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S.
Department of Education. FERPA applies to a student who is, or has been, in
attendance at Alamo Colleges. The student’s age is not a consideration. Whether under
18 years of age, older than 18, or older than 21, the student has the same FERPA
protections provided the student is (or was) enrolled in a college course. Physical
presence in class is not required. Therefore, a student who receives instruction through
distance learning and other contemporary modalities will be covered by FERPA.
Education records pertaining to high school students enrolled in and attending dual
credit courses with Alamo Colleges will be protected by FERPA.
More information located at the following links:
http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
http://www.alamo.edu/district/legal/
3.6.1 General Records Information
Directory information is information that would not generally be
considered
harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. Directory information may
be disclosed without consent from the student. Students have the
opportunity to opt out of directory information disclosures during
registration by completing and submitting
Request for Nondisclosure Form (found on the FERPA section of each
campus website) to the campus Admissions office.
Each individual college of the Alamo Colleges has agreed that Directory
Information shall be considered the following:
Name
Dates of Attendance
Major
Classification
Enrollment status (full-time or part-time)
Previous institutions(s) attended
Degrees awarded
Academic honors/awards
If a student has restricted directory information a flag will be set on
SPAPERS. When a student is pulled up in the Banner, those that are
utilizing the option to withhold certain information will also have the word
“Confidential” displayed at the top left side of each Banner form.
3.6.2
Financial Aid Information
SFA has an additional policy in regards to discussing financial aid
account information. Under FERPA, the access rights that parents and
legal guardians had in the elementary and secondary school setting is
transferred to students once a student has turned eighteen, or is
attending any post-secondary educational institution. This means the
parents no longer have the rights to student information, except in certain
cases regarding FAFSA information.
For a dependent student, financial aid information may be discussed with
the parent whose information is included on the FAFSA. For an
independent student, information should be released to the student only.
No financial aid data may be given to anyone else (exceptions are
provided below under ‘Release without Consent’) without the written
consent of the student, and if dependent, the parent that is listed on the
FAFSA (custodial parent).
Also, parent data on the FAFSA may not be discussed with the student
without the parent’s consent.
3.6.3
Verification of Identity
The Scholarships & Financial Aid will verify the identity of each student or
parent before releasing financial aid information. The measures by which
to do so may include, but are not limited to:
In Person
Photo identification of student is required before releasing any account
specific information. Photo identification would also be required for
parents who meet the criteria described above. Identity must be verified
for all in person visits, if account specific information is to be released.
Via phone
Student verification
Verify date of student’s birth, SPAIDEN
Parent verification (if listed on FAFSA)
Verify name and last four digits of Social Security Number listed on the
FAFSA, RNANAxx
Determine which parent has their information on the FAFSA in the cases
of divorce or separation
3.6.4
Release of Information
Student information may not be released without a signed "FERPA
Consent Form" from the student. In the case that a parent’s
documents/information is part of the request, the parent must also sign
the form.
3.6.5 Release Without Consent
FERPA allows schools to disclose a student’s educational records, without
consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR §
99.31):


School officials with legitimate educational interest;
A school official is a person or entity: (a) employed by the
university or the university system in an administrative,
supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position; (b)
serving on a university governing body or duly authorized panel or
committee; or (c) employed by or under contract to the university
to perform a special task, function, or service for the university.
 A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the
information requested is necessary for that official to (a) perform
appropriate tasks that are specified in his/her position description or in the
performance of regularly assigned duties by a lawful supervisor; (b) fulfill
the terms of a contractual agreement; (c) perform a task related to a
student's education; (d) perform a task related to the discipline of a
student; or (e) provide a service or benefit relating to the student or
student's family, such as health care, financial aid, job placement, or
former student-related activities.
 Other schools to which a student is transferring;
 Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes;
 Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student,
such as a scholarship donor
 Students give consent to share their educational records with
scholarship donors through the university-wide scholarship applications.
 Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the
school;
Accrediting organizations;
 To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
(Information will be shared with General Counsel before release)
 Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies;
and
 State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system,
pursuant to specific State law.
 Requests for aggregate data where the individual student is not
identified are not covered under FERPA and may be released.