"Privacy in Education: Understanding FERPA’s Framework and Future"

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By: Srishti Mulgund
Collierville, Tennessee

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Introduction:

         School records contain critical personal information, such as addresses, health records, academic transcripts, and other data. School records contain critical personal information: addresses, health records, academic transcripts, and other data. etc. When shared, it is important that students and their families are notified to maintain privacy, ensure security, and protect themselves from misuse of their information. safeguard their data and maintain their security.

         This led to the passing of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was passed in 1974. FERPA is a federal law passed in 1974 It that safeguards the privacy of children’s education records and clearly gives parents the rights to “have access to their children’s education records, the right to seek the records amended, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the education records” (U.S Department of Education, n.d). Once a student becomes 18 years old or moves on to onto a postsecondary institution at any age, FERPA rights transfer from the parents to the students. This law values privacy, consent, and the transfer rights of a student’s personal data. which are crucial to remain private for the student and their families. In this piece, we will explore what FERPA is and its core rights, the pros and cons of this law, and future directions. Through analyzing FERPA, the core rights it protects, and its advantages and disadvantages, we can understand its future implications and directions. 

FERPA’s Framework and Core Rights:

         FERPA’s primary purpose is to protect the privacy of student education records and ensure their accuracy. To first understand how FERPA works, one must first define what a “student” is under the law. It is critical to understand what a “student” is in these terms. A student is someone “who has reached 18 years of age or is attending a postsecondary institution” (U.S Department of Education, 2024). In secondary levels of education, parents or legal guardians’ parents/guardians hold the rights of control. FERPA requires that “federally funded institutions, under programs administered by the U.S Department of Education comply with certain procedures” in terms of disclosing student information and educational records (George C. Hlavac, Esq., and Jared J. Hanna, Esq., 2024, para.1).

         The key ideas of this act are consent for information disclosure, transfer of rights, amending, and inspection. When sharing information, schools must obtain written consent before sharing distributing any personally identifiable information. Personally identifiable information is “any information connects [connected] to a specific individual that can be used to uncover or steal that individual’s identity” (IBM, 2022). Examples include Social Security numbers, full names, email addresses, phone numbers, health records, and more. etc. Exceptions exist, such as school officials with legitimate interest or school transfers exist. In that case, schools must comply with FERPA’s requirements.

         When a student turns 18 or enrolls in begins to attend a postsecondary institution, the rights of FERPA then transfers to the student. Until that point, the rights belong to the parents. Rights belong to the parents until that time. Additionally, parents and/or students can also request to amend records that they believe contain errors, are misleading, or are in violation. They can also inspect and review the student’s education records “within a reasonable period of time, but not more than 45 days after receipt of a request.” (U.S Department of Education, 2025). Schools and institutions that fail to comply with FERPA may risk losing federal funding.

Advantages of FERPA:

         FERPA brings various advantages to the table, both for families, teachers, and schools.

These benefits Some of these include privacy protection, increased credibility in admissions, information control and feelings of stability and security. FERPA ensures that student education records are only accessible to authorized individuals, which protects sensitive data. Personally identifiable information, such as academic transcripts, grades, attendance grades attendance records, health data, and disciplinary actions are all available on school records. Thus, keeping these details private safeguards children from data leaks and potential malicious activity in their name or account.

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         Information control is one of the biggest aspects of FERPA since it allows parents and later, the students, when old enough, to control what academic data is shared and increasing feelings of security and stability among learners because they know their information is protected. FERPA “keeps students safe. FERPA protects student information” (Gorham, T., n.d, para.2) allowing full autonomy for the learner. Additionally, as an additional benefit, with FERPA heightens credibility, credibility is heightened in college admissions because colleges often view recommendations with a signed FERPA waiver as more trustworthy.

Limitations of FERPA:

         While FERPA brings a multitude of positive contributors to the table, there are some limitations that are important to recognize and discuss. When students turn 18 years old and/or move on to higher level education, the rights of FERPA get transferred to them, causing parents to lose access to student records. This prevents preventing them form from monitoring their child’s progress, changes to the record, and what data is shared. For example, students can restrict parents from accessing academic records, and disciplinary records, health records, schedules, and financial aid documents without written consent.

         Additionally, many administrators misinterpret FERPA or use it as an excuse or justification for not to avoid sharing embarrassing or defaming information. In 2016, a school in Georgia claimed that “FERPA forbade them from releasing a surveillance video of the incident” (Lomonte, F. D., 2018, para.6). In such these types of situations, schools use “student privacy” as a way of covering up their unpreparedness and giving them more authority. Furthermore, there are various financial and administrative burdens accompanied with this law. If a FERPA violation occurs, there is a violation of FERPA, the school is investigated and risks losing federal funding. This can also lead to over-compliance to avoid accountability or prevent disclosing information, making it challenging during emergencies as well.

Future Directions and Conclusion:

         With these limitations and advantages being examined closely by legislators and lawmakers, updates to FERPA are“primarily focused on modernizing the regulations to address current technological advancements and the evolving educational environment,.” (Holloway, J., 2024, para.10). Some of these modernizations include virtual learning – extending rights to online and remote education spaces.which now extends rights to virtual environments. More cybersecurity protocols, and an emphasis on encryption, and multifactor authentication are also being added. Advocates are pushing for stricter and more distinct regulations to maintain and track vendor sharing data. There have also been various recommendations that require requiring transparency and maintain clear communication.

         Essentially, FERPA opens doors for a more credible and secure academic environment. However, it also comes with burdens of administrative work and control. It establishes clear guidelines for a student’s privacy and empowers families to value their access and consent. As educational environments change, the evolution of this law is essential to ensure the security of students and their rights.

Bibliography:​​

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