Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, known also as the Buckley Amendment, affords students certain rights with respect to their educational records. Under the Act, the primary rights of students include the right to inspect and review education records, the right to seek to amend education records, and the right to have some control over the disclosure of information from education records. The Act applies to all institutions that receive funds under any program administered by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Students also have the right to file complaints with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act Office (FERPA) concerning alleged failures by the institution to comply with the Act.

Institutions may disclose information to third parties without violating FERPA through what is known as “directory information”. At Southern New Hampshire University, directory information includes:

• Name and address
• Dates of attendance
• Degrees and awards received
• Major field of study
• Full-time/part-time status
• Class (year in college/university)
• Participation in officially recognized activities and sports (including height and weight of team members)
• Most recent previous educational institution attended
• Expected graduation date

Under the provisions of FERPA, students have the right to request that directory information be withheld from disclosure. Students who do not want information released to non-institutional individuals or organizations, must complete an Authorization to Prevent Disclosure of Directory Information Form (PDF 65 kb) and submit it to the Office of the Registrar.

The Act specifies that a student’s social security number, citizenship, gender, social or political views, religious preference, grades and GPA can never be considered directory information.

Related Forms:

• Authorization to Prevent Disclosure of Directory Information (PDF 65 kb)

• Authorization for Disclosure of Non-Directory Information 

• Authorization to Resume Disclosure of Directory Information