Home → TN eCampus Faculty → Best Practices for Online Learning → Understanding FERPA

5.5. Understanding FERPA

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (new window), known as FERPA, 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 gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records.
• Rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are referred to as, eligible students, and have the right to inspect and review the student's education records maintained by the school.
• Schools are not required to provide copies of records unless, for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records.
• Parents or eligible students also have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
• Schools may disclose, without consent, directory information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth,  honors, awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them.
• You should never transmit protected information via email. This includes grades, test scores, transcripts, and students' personally identifiable information such as a Social Security number.