Running head: COMMENTARY ON FERPA 1

Commentary on FERPA

Marie Jarra

Georgia Southern University

EDLD 8431
COMMENTARY ON FERPA 2

FERPA short for The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act was an act of congress

established in 1974. This law (20 U.S.C. 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects

the privacy of student education records; the law also applies to all schools that receive federal

funds under applicable programs of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA gives students

age 18 and older in in higher education institution the right to protect their records from third

parties including their parents if they choose to. Institutions must obtain a written permission

from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student's education

record, in the event of noncompliance no federal funds shall be made available to an institution

under any applicable program (Alexander & Alexander, 2011. p.364). In this paper I will

discuss a brief history of FERPA, the dynamics of FERPA and past cases centered on them.

History

In the early 1970s many officials with a badge could obtain personal and academic

records of students and use them in any type of way. Often the files of students contained

medical and mental health information, which could result in a student being removed from one

course and placed into another without notification of the parents. Many of the information on

the files were often personal remarks made by educators that were subjective and many times

without medical certification. Because of this misuse of student information and the Watergate

and President Nixon's resignation, the American public had a distrust of government, and there

was an urgent outcry for increased transparency (Electronic Privacy Information Center, n.d.).

Through these events FERPA was introduced and signed as the Buckley Amendment after

Senator James Buckley who thought it was necessary due to evidence that student records were

being misused across the country (Electronic Privacy Information Center, n.d.).
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Dynamics of FERPA

Under FERPA student disciplinary records are considered educational records and

therefore are protected from public disclosure. In the court case United States of America v. The

Miami University and The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Miami University and The Ohio

State University violated FERPA by releasing student disciplinary records containing personally

identifiable information without the prior consent of the students or their parents to the Chronicle

(Alexander & Alexander, 2011. p.368-374). The U.S. Department of Education filed a

complaint against the Universities prohibiting them from releasing student disciplinary records.

The district court determined that the student disciplinary records were in fact education records

under FERPA, and the court granted the Department of Education motion for summary judgment

and permanently ordered the Universities from releasing disciplinary records in violation of

FERPA (Electronic Privacy Information Center, n.d.). This case is similar to situations that as an

administrator I faced working in the registrars office at Georgia State University, often times we

would receive a request from third party individuals including private investigators, and church

groups to release students records. With FERPA in place and not giving prior consent as an

administrator I was not allowed to release any information to the third party individuals. I agree

with the court ruling in this case, as student disciplinary actions are actions that is tied with that

students academic careers and therefore should be treated as confidential records.

When an institution violates FERPA, rules are enforceable under section 1983. The

forfeit of federal funding is the penalty for any institution found in violation of FERPA

(Alexander & Alexander, 2011,). In an institutions violation of this rule some have attempted to

receive a payment of financial damages. In the Supreme Court case of Gonzaga University v.

Doe, the courts determined that a student or parent could not receive monetary damages as a
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result of an institutions violation. The courts opinion stated, FERPAs nondisclosure provisions

contain no rights-creating language, they have a collective, not individual, focus, and they serve

primarily to direct the Secretary of Educations distribution of public funds to educational

institutions. They therefore create no rights enforceable under 1983 (Gonzaga University v.

Doe, 2002). This case is in particularly important I the realm of FERPA because it sets

boundaries for students and institutions. It would be an increase of loss for institutions if students

and parents were allowed to seek monetary damages from them. Although the institution crossed

the line with violating that students privacy, I feel that unless it directly affects the students

personal life no damages should be awarded.

Conclusion

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, protects students and parents by

imposing upon colleges and universities a direct obligation not to disclose education records. As

an administrator for a higher education institution my time working in the registrars office

placed me in constant contact with FERPA. Before working in the registrars office there was

extensive training and test to make sure that there was a clear understanding of what the rules

and regulations of FERPA entailed. Almost every day was encountered by a parent or relative of

a student wanting to get information of a students record if there was no prior consent by the

student no information would be given out. FERPA by law protects the university student and

ensures that the university is held accountable if there is a violation of students privacy. I

believe that this law is one of the most important laws in higher education because it creates a

trust between students and their institutions.

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Resources

Alexander, K.W., & Alexander, K. (2011). Higher education law: Policy and perspectives.

NewYork, NY: Routledge

Electronic Privacy Information Center. (n.d.). Family educational rights and privacy act

(FERPA). Retrieved from http://epic.org/privacy/student/ferpa/default.html

Gonzaga University v. Doe (01-679) 536 U.S. 273 (2002) Retrieved from: https://supreme.justia

.com/cases/federal/us/536/273/case.html

U.S. Department of Education. (2015). Family educational rights and privacy act (FERPA).

Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html

United States v. Miami University, 294 F. 3d 797 (6th Cir. 2002) Retrieved from:

https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/778106/united-states-v-miami-university-ohio-

state-university-the-chronicle-of/authorities/