About FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of education records. The same laws that give families and students access to and control over a child’s educational records during elementary and high school transfer ownership of the records to the student at the college level.
According to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, also known as the Buckley Amendment), college students are considered responsible adults and are allowed to determine who will receive information about them. Under this law, families who want to receive a copy of their student’s academic or financial records can do so if their child signs a release form. FERPA, along with the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, forms the backdrop for the Regents Policy on Access to Student Records. For more information about University policy related to access to student records, see the One Stop website.
The U.S. Department of Education is responsible for overseeing FERPA. See their website for additional information.
Student Records
FERPA requires that access to a college student’s records must be granted by approval of the student. Families can, however, receive information about their student’s records if the student agrees to provide access. Students can give "view only" access to parents/guardians by going online at the One Stop website and linking to Parent/Guest Access. They can follow the instructions on that page to give their parents/guardians or other guests access to one or more of the following areas of the student's record:
- Enrollment summary
- Financial aid status
- Grades
- Holds
- Student account (online billing and payments)
- View financial aid awards
- Housing contract, assignment, and billing
- Student conduct in on-campus housing
- Meal plans, Dining Dollars, and Gopher GOLD™ value
Students can also sign a release form to give parents/guardians access to protected information. The Student Information Release Authorization (PDF) form is available from the One Stop site.
Families also can receive information about their student’s record if they submit proof that the student is a dependent. Proof is considered to be a copy of the most recent year’s federal tax form showing that the parent/guardian claims the student as a dependent.
Having a release form on file does not mean that information will automatically be mailed to parents or other authorized designees; information will be made available upon request from the authorized third party.