Student Record Privacy — FERPA

Enacted in 1974, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords students certain rights with respect to their educational records.  Specifically, it provides students the right to:

• Inspect and review their educational records,
• Request the amendment of inaccurate or misleading records,
• Consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in their educational record [add a link to the release form],
• Request confidentiality [add a link to the request form], and 
• File a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Waubonsee Community College to comply with this law.

A “student” is defined as 1) someone who has reached 18 years of age or 2) is attending a postsecondary institution at any age. This means that all the rights that once belonged to the student’s parents transfer to the student at the postsecondary level. FERPA does state that the college may release information to the parents of a student but is not required to do so. Information about how Registration and Records may disclose information to a parent can be found at our FERPA for Parents page. Access to official educational records does not allow parents to directly contact instructors, academic deans or counselors.