FERPA Compliance
FERPA protects the privacy interests of students in their education
records. It generally prohibits the disclosure of a student's personally
identifiable information from education records without the consent of the
parent or eligible student. An eligible student is one who reaches the age
of 18 years old and/or attends a postsecondary educational institution, in
which case the rights of the parent transfer to the student.
Under StudentTracker for High Schools, districts disclose personally
identifiable information about their high school students to the National Student
Clearinghouse. They do so in compliance with FERPA, as there are several
circumstances under which the general prohibition against nonconsensual
release of information does not apply.
As part of their StudentTracker for High Schools service, districts transmit the
names, dates of birth and graduation dates of their former students to
the Clearinghouse.
The Clearinghouse compares the data to the postsecondary student
records of its more than 3,300 participating colleges and universities. It
transmits to districts aggregate reports and detailed records of the
college enrollment of their high school alumni, identifying colleges
where they enrolled, attendance dates, degrees earned, etc.
The U.S. Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO)
has the responsibility to enforce FERPA and interpret its applicability.
FPCO has issued legal opinions concerning the FERPA compliance of StudentTracker activities.
FERPA Compliance of the StudentTracker Service
On August 2, 1999, FPCO issued the Clearinghouse a letter stating, "…the
StudentTracker program complies with the requirements of FERPA regarding
the release or disclosure of personally identifiable information from
education records on a nonconsensual basis." The letter can be viewed
and downloaded from FPCO's Web
site.
The crux of FPCO's opinion is that high schools may release data to the
Clearinghouse without obtaining written consent, when the information
released is "directory information." Directory information is
defined as information about students that is generally not considered
harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed, such as:
"The student's name, address, telephone listing, date and place
of birth, major field of study, participation in officially recognized
activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams,
dates of attendance, degrees and awards received and the most recent
education agency or institution attended by the student. 20 U.S.C.
§1232g(a)(5)(A).
The data elements that high schools release to the Clearinghouse under
the StudentTracker service (i.e. student names, dates of birth, graduation
dates) are all within the permissible directory information parameters.
Schools must designate the kinds of information they want to include in
their definition of directory information, and they must publicly notify
parents and students about their definition and their right to block the
release of such information without their consent. By following these
practices, high schools can utilize StudentTracker in a FERPA compliant
manner.
