Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA)

Student Education Records

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides certain rights with respect to education records. These rights include:

  1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the College receives a request for access. A student should submit to the Registrar a written request that identifies the record(s) to be inspected. The registrar will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place during regular business hours where the records may be inspected. A Wabash official will be present during the inspection.
  2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA. A student who wishes to ask the College to amend a record should write the College official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the requester wants changed, specify why it should be changed, and send a copy of the letter to the Registrar as well. If the College decides not to amend the record as requested, the College will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student’s right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.
  3. The right to provide written consent before the College discloses personally identifiable information from the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent. FERPA permits the College to release education records to the parents of a dependent student without the student’s prior written consent. A parent must submit sufficient proof of identity and student dependency before he or she will be permitted to receive an education record under this exception. The College may also disclose education records without a student’s prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including security personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the College has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of using College employees or officials (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or any person (including a student) engaged by the College to provide clerical or other support services to another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for the College. Upon request, the College also discloses education records without the student’s written consent to officials of another school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. FERPA also permits the College to disclose without a student’s prior written consent appropriately designated “directory information,” which includes the Wabash student’s name; local college, home, and cell phone numbers; local college and home address; e-mail or other electronic messaging address; age; major and minor fields of study; full-time or part-time status; participation in officially recognized activities and sports; class standing; weight and height of members of athletic teams; honors and awards received; photographs; dates of attendance; degree received; post-graduate plans; and most recent previous educational agency or institution attended. A request that directory information not be released without prior written consent may be filed in writing with the Registrar two weeks prior to enrollment. The foregoing list of FERPA exceptions is illustrative and not exclusive; there are additional FERPA exceptions from the prior written consent requirement. In addition, the Solomon Amendment requires the College to grant military recruiters access to campus and to provide them with student recruitment information, which includes student name, local address, Wabash e-mail address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, level of education or degrees received, most recent educational institution attended, and current major(s).
  4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the College to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is:

Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-5920

Solomon Amendment

In accordance with the Solomon Amendment, Wabash College is required to allow military recruiters access to the campus and to provide them with student recruitment information. This includes the following: name, local address, Wabash e-mail address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, level of education or degrees received, most recent educational institution attended, and current major(s).