FERPA and Appropriate Use of SSN
FERPA stands for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (sometimes called the Buckley
Amendment), passed by Congress in 1974. FERPA grants students the right to inspect
their educational record and also requires that colleges protect the privacy of student
information, including the Social Security Number or Student Identification Number.
FERPA grants four specific rights to the student:
- the right to see the information that the institution is keeping on the student
- the right to seek amendment to those records and in certain cases append a statement
to the record
- the right to consent to disclosure of his/her records
- the right to file a complaint with the FERPA Office in Washington
Under FERPA guidelines schools MUST have a student's written consent prior to disclosure
of education records and MUST ensure confidentiality of information, including the
student's identification and/or Social Security Number.
To avoid violations of FERPA rules, DO NOT
- at any time use the entire Student ID number of a student in a public posting of grades
- ever link the name of the student with that student's ID number in any public manner
- require that students use their Student ID to sign-in to a class or lab on a roster
that will be viewed by other students
- leave graded tests in a stack for students to pick up sorting through the papers of
all students
- circulate a printed class list with the student name and Student ID number or grades
as an attendance roster
- discuss the progress of any student with anyone other than the student (including
parents) without the consent of the student
- provide anyone with lists of students enrolled in your class for any commercial purpose
- provide anyone with student schedules or assist anyone other than college employees
in finding a student on campus
For more information go to the FERPA web site:
http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/students.html