Student Rights

FERPA - Know Your Student's Rights

Do you want to know more about how your student is doing at ESU?

Need information about their housing account balances?

Residence Life & Housing encourages students to keep in touch with their families and friends while they learn about living independently.

What is FERPA?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that affords parents the right to have access to their children's education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records.

When a student turns 18 years old, or enters a postsecondary institution at any age, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student ("eligible student").

The FERPA statute is found at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g and the FERPA regulations are found at 34 CFR Part 99.

How am I informed about my rights under FERPA?

Educational agencies and institutions are required to notify parents and eligible students about their rights under FERPA.

Section 99.7 of the FERPA regulations sets forth the requirements for the notification.

Universities do not have to individually notify parents and eligible students but do have to notify them by any means that are reasonably likely to inform the parents or eligible students of their rights.