FERPA- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

As you are going off to college this is something that you and your parents should be aware of.

FERPA is a law that is put in place to protect student information. However, when the student reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level these rights transfer completely to the student. Students must sign a waiver to allow anyone other than themselves access to their administrative, academic or financial aid records after the rights have been transferred to them.

This means that if a parent calls the college and requests information about financial aid, grades or attendance this information cannot be disclosed to the parent unless the student has signed the waiver agreement specifically allowing that parent to access the requested information. I spoke with quite a few very irate parents who were not happy that I could not disclose this information to them despite the fact that the parent was paying for the student's education.

If you have any type of agreement with your child/parent when starting college it is best to have a plan for this in place. If there is an agreement about grades that are to be maintained to remain eligible for private scholarships, familial contributions, etc. where a parent needs to independently view the academic information the student must sign a waiver allowing the parent to do so.

So, before heading off to college I encourage you (and your parents or child) to be aware of the FERPA laws that will be in place at the college: http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html