FERPA and Proxy Access
FERPA
FERPA is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (sometimes called the Buckley Amendment). Passed by Congress in 1974, the Act grants specific rights to the adult student:
- the right to see the information that the institution is keeping on the student
- the right to seek amendment to those records and in certain cases append a statement to the record
- the right to consent to disclosure of his/her records
- the right to limit disclosure of some “directory information”
- the right to file a complaint with the FERPA Office in Washington.
Proxy Access
By granting Proxy Access, students provide parents, guardians, or others access to the elements of their records they select to share. It allows others to see financial aid awards and pay bills on a student’s behalf, for example.
Students must initiate the Proxy Access procedure. It can be updated or removed at any time.