We know that many parents and families are concerned about how to find basic information about their students' academic life. While we understand it's important to respect student's privacy and support them in the best way possible, it's also the law!
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) is a law that ensures students' records are private and protected. According to the U.S. Department of Education, when a student enrolls in any postsecondary education institution, their rights under FERPA are transferred from the parent or guardian to the student, giving them full access and responsibility over their educational records.
The U.S. Department of Education defines education records as “records that are directly related to a student and that are maintained by an educational agency or institution or a party acting for or on behalf of the agency or institution." They can include a student's transcripts, discipline files, class lists, grades, or financial information. If the student believes any records are misleading or inaccurate, they can request to have them amended.
Students are solely responsible for granting their parents or guardians access to their education records. Through Campus Connect, students have the ability to set their FERPA release preferences and if comfortable, can manually grant the university the ability to share their education records with you. Students can also visit the DePaul Central offices in both the Loop and Lincoln Park to request a “FERPA release" form. Once signed and processed, the university will be permitted to share the student's information.
The FERPA law also includes a "health and safety emergency exception", which allows the university to disclose education record information to appropriate parties without consent. This can only be invoked if the university deems it essential and necessary to preserve the safety of the student or other individuals.
DePaul strongly suggests that students include an emergency contact in their Campus Connect accounts.
To learn more about FERPA, call 312.362.8610 or email DePaul Central.