Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

[Title 20, Chapter 31, Subchapter III, Part 4, Section 1232g; a.k.a. "Buckley Amendment"]

FERPA is a Federal law that protects students, giving them the right to:

• Inspect and review education records.


• Request the amendment of education records.


• Consent to the disclosure of personally identifiable information in a student's education record.


• Obtain a copy of the school's Student Records policy.


• File a FERPA complaint with the U.S. Department of Education.

According to FERPA, students must have access to their educational records at all times. FERPA prohibits any person connected with the institution--including administrators and faculty--from improperly disclosing personally identifiable student information.

Directory information can be released without written consent of the student, but students can request that this information not be released. To do this, the student must:

• Contact the Registrar's Office for release of information for the printed campus directory information, according to the Student Affairs Handbook, Section IV.

  See also the TechSIS site. Click on Access Your Student Records. You will have to log-on with your eRaider username and password.

  An alternate route is to go to Raiderlink, log-in, and click the TechSIS tab. Click Information Release Restrictions under Personal Information. Make your selections from the list provided.

• Go to the eRaider Web site for release of information for the on-line campus directory.

Students may authorize the release of their educational records (non-directory information), but only the student has the exclusive right to decide whether or not to authorize the release. Exceptions to this rule occur in cases when information is requested by the following individuals/agencies:

• Officials or faculty of the Texas Tech University System who have a legitimate educational interest in the student and need the information to fulfill official responsibilities.
• Officials of other schools or school systems in which the student wishes to enroll.
• Certain federal and state educational authorities, which include the Comptroller General of the U.S., the Secretary of Education, U.S. Attorney General, and state educational authorities (or authorized representatives of same).
• Institutions from which the student has received or applied to for financial aid.
• Accrediting and university-approved testing agencies.
• Parents of dependent students (requires signed statement from parent claiming that student is dependent as defined in Title 26, Section 152).
• Appropriate parties in connection with an emergency when the immediate health or safety of the student is threatened.
• Persons presenting an officially related judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, including a federal grand jury subpoena.
• Dean of Students Office; see Student Affairs Handbook, Section IV.

The U.S. Department of Education is charged with enforcing FERPA, and it has created a detailed complaint procedure for those who feel an institution has violated their FERPA rights. It is important for anyone with access to students' educational records to use care when sharing such records.

Full text of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 can be viewed or downloaded from this site: text of FERPA