General Information About FERPA
This article applies to: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Information Technologies , Security & Policy
FERPA Defined
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a 1974 federal law protecting the privacy of student educational records. FERPA safeguards student privacy by limiting who may access student records, specifying for what purpose they may access those records, and detailing what rules they must follow when accessing the data.
It also affords students the right to have access to their education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, the right to have some control over the disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information from their education records, and the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the University to comply with the requirements of FERPA.
All educational institutions that receive federal funding, including Cornell University, must comply with FERPA. FERPA protection begins for a Cornell student on the first day of classes/semester or attendance, whichever comes first, and the student continues to be protected by FERPA for their lifetime.
The FERPA statute is found at 20 USC § 1232g (United States Code), and the FERPA regulations are found at 34 CFR Part 99 (Code of Federal Regulations).
FERPA is just one of several laws governing the regulated data Cornell must protect.
Who is Accountable for FERPA Data Use and Protection at Cornell?
The University Registrar is the FERPA Data Steward, as defined in Policy 4.12, Data Stewardship and Custodianship, responsible for partnering with faculty and staff to ensure Cornell implements the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) privacy protections as specified in Cornell Policy 4.5, Access to Student Information.
Anyone in the institution who generates, stores, transmits, or otherwise handles data covered by FERPA is responsible for keeping student data safe, following “reasonable methods” to prevent unauthorized disclosure.
Questions and Suggestions
For FERPA questions or requests, such as for any disclosure of information outside the institution, please contact the University Registrar.
For questions or suggestions about these documents, please submit them using this Service Desk form.
For federal government resources, see the Department of Education website Protecting Student Privacy.
Comments?
To share feedback about this page or request support, log in with your NetID