Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
FERPA is a federal law that gives eligible students certain rights with respect to their education records. FERPA gives students the following rights:
- The right to inspect and review their education records.
- The right to control disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in their education records.
- The right to request amendments to their education records when those records are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy or other rights.
- The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education if the University violates FERPA regulations. The student should first file a complaint with the director of the University department responsible for the records in question. If the University fails to provide a satisfactory response, the student may submit a written complaint to:
Family Policy Compliance Office
US Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-5920
For Students
FERPA prohibits the University from releasing specific student account information to anyone other than the student without the student’s authorization. University Bursar utilizes the Authorized Payer functionality within UI-Pay as a FERPA release authorization.
When a student grants Authorized Payer access to an individual, the student is also granting University Bursar permission to share specific account information with that Authorized Payer. If the student does not want an Authorized Payer to receive specific account information, the student must cancel that individual’s Authorized Payer access.
For Parents
FERPA was enacted to give students access to their education records and to protect their privacy. Unless a student is legally dependent, the University is prohibited by FERPA from releasing student account information to a parent or guardian without the student’s consent. A current tax return naming the student as a dependent is sufficient documentation to substantiate dependency for FERPA purposes. Upon receipt of a qualifying tax return, University Bursar will release student account information by email, phone or mail to the parent(s) or guardian(s).
A tax return is valid for only one academic year and does not grant the parent or guardian online access to the student’s account. The most effective means of ensuring that parents or guardians receive full access to their student’s account information is to have the student set them up as an Authorized Payer.
For Sponsors
If you participate in Sponsor Billing and a sponsor is covering your tuition and other fees, it is crucial that students establish specific arrangements with us to facilitate billing this sponsor and remain FERPA compliant. For each term a student is sponsored, University Bursar must have a billing authorization on file. This authorization serves as a FERPA release. When a student grants Sponsor Authorization access to an organization or company, the student is also granting University Bursar permission to share specific account information with that designated sponsor.