What is FERPA?
FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of students. The law assigns the student as the owner of their educational record and provides guidelines on how the educational institution is to use and release protected information. This ensures that information such as the student’s grades, academic standing, and course schedule are not public information and that the student controls who has access to this information. This law also requires the educator to grant the student's access to their personal records.
What Are Student Rights?
FERPA defines basic rights for students.
- The student is required to be notified annually of their FERPA rights
- The student is to be able to review and inspect their records
- The student has the right to request an amendment to their educational record they believe is inaccurate or misleading
- The student must consent to disclosure of non-public educational records (with exceptions)
What is Public Information?
The university is allowed to select some information about a student to make accessible to the public. This information is called "Directory Information." Public Directory Information is student information that is available to the public. Non-Public Directory Information is not available to the public, but is available to any university official or student.
Public Directory Information
- Student name
- Year at the university
- Dates of attendance
- Academic college and major field of study
- Enrollment status (undergraduate or graduate; full-time or part-time)
- Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
- Degrees, honors and awards received
- Most recent educational agency or institution attended
- Hometown
- University email address
Non-Public Directory Information
- Local address
- Permanent address
- Telephone listings
Public Directory information will be available to the public upon request and may be included in student directories published electronically.
What Information is Restricted?
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is restricted to only providing access to student public directory information. All other information (grades, academic standing, course schedule, etc.) are restricted to the student and those to whom the student grants access.