Advising: FERPA Guidelines

• What are the specific guidelines for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)?

Here are the guidelines:

What is FERPA?

• FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
• It is a federal law that protects the privacy of student educational records.

What are the rights of an eligible student?

• Right to review and inspect records maintained by the school.
• Right to request that Massasoit correct anything they believe to be inaccurate or misleading.
• Right to consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable information (PII)

Who is an “eligible student”?

• An eligible student is defined in FERPA as a student who has reached the age of 18 years of age OR is attending a postsecondary institution.
• At Massasoit, all enrolled students, regardless of age, are considered eligible students and protected by FERPA.
• FERPA remains in effect throughout the eligible student’s lifetime.

What are educational records?

• Records directly related to a student and maintained by Massasoit.

This does not include:

• Sole possession records
• Employment records
• Law enforcement records
• Health and medical records
• Alumni records

What constitutes PII (Personally Identifiable Information)?

• Student name and address
• Family names and addresses
• Social security number
• Date of birth, place of birth, mother’s maiden name
• Information that would allow re-identification of the student's identity

What constitutes directory information?

• Student name
• Town of residence
• College email address
• Level of education (first or second year)
• Enrollment status (full- or part-time)
• Program of study
• Dates of attendance
• Degrees
• Awards received from Massasoit (e.g., Dean’s List, athletics awards, etc.)

Maintenance of educational records

• Records with personally identifiable information should not be left out on a desk or visible on a computer screen.
• Records with personally identifiable information should be placed in a secure file cabinet, desk drawer, etc.
• Records not archived in Banner should be placed in a fireproof and disaster-resistant environment.