FERPA
Elon University is legally and ethically obligated to protect the confidentiality of students’ records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The Office of the Registrar provides several resources to help students, parents, faculty, and staff learn about student privacy rights and responsibilities.
Students may grant access to their education records to parents or other third parties. To do so, the student must submit a FERPA Release Form granting the third party access.
What is FERPA?
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. These include the right to:
- Inspect and review their records.
- Request an amendment of their education record that the student believes is inaccurate or misleading.
- Consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information covered under FERPA.
- File a complaint with the United States Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Elon University to comply with the requirements of FERPA.
What is Directory Information?
Directory information is data that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. The items below can be disclosed at the discretion of Elon University unless the student requests the information be withheld:
- Name, address, telephone number, dates of attendance, class, and electronic e-mail address.
- Previous institution(s) attended, major field of study, awards, honors (including Dean’s list), degree(s) conferred (including dates).
- Past and present participation in officially recognized sports and activities, physical factors (height, weight of athletes), date and place of birth.
According to FERPA, a student can request an institution to withhold all Directory Information. Currently enrolled Elon students may complete the Request to Withhold Directory Information Form and send the completed Form from your Elon email account to registrar@elon.edu.
Students who wish to restrict directory information should realize that their names will not appear in the commencement bulletin and other university publications. Also, employers, credit card companies, loan agencies, scholarship committees and the like will be denied any of the student’s directory information and will be informed that we have no information available about the “persons” attendance at Elon University.
How do I grant the release of my education records?
Students may submit a FERPA Release Form to give consent for another individual to request the student’s education records. The Form must clearly state who is given authorization and what academic information is being released. If an inquiry is made regarding a topic that isn’t expressly written on the form, it cannot be released. Only the person authorized on the Form may access the information being released.
FERPA For Parents
If a student is attending a postsecondary institution – at any age – the rights under FERPA have transferred to the student. Parents must have consent from the student for Elon University to release their education records. A FERPA Release Form must be completed by the student on behalf of the parent. Please keep in mind, the student must clearly state to whom, and exactly what information is being released. If an inquiry is made regarding a topic that isn’t expressly written on the form, it cannot be released.
A student has submitted a FERPA Release on my behalf, how do I request their educational records?
For requests regarding course schedules or grades, please email the Registrar’s Office at registrar@elon.edu using the email address that was specified on the FERPA Release Form. In the email, please specify the student and the educational records you are requesting. If you request records that are not explicitly included by the student on their Release Form, we cannot provide information.
I have questions for the student's advisor/faculty member. How should I contact them?
The student must authorize discussions with professors/advisors on their FERPA Release Form. If it is authorized, you may contact the university official using the email or phone number specified on the FERPA Release Form. Please note that a FERPA Release does not compel university officials to disclose all information about the student. It is at the discretion of the university official to assess whether the information is relevant to your request.