For information on FERPA Proxy, see the Faculty and Staff Resources page.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is the federal law that protects the privacy of students' education records. All institutions receiving federal aid administered by the Secretary of Education must adhere to FERPA regulations.
Back to the topThe primary student rights protected under FERPA are:
Education records are all records maintained by UTSA about individual students. These records can be in any medium (handwritten, email, print, microfilm, or other formats) maintained by the University.
Public Records...
In accordance with FERPA, UTSA has designated the following categories of information about individual students as public or directory information. This information will be routinely released to any inquirer, unless the student has specifically requested that all or part of the following list be withheld:
Students wishing to restrict access to some or all public information in their education record must file a Restrict Student Directory Information Request form available on the One Stop Enrollment website: https://onestop.utsa.edu/forms/registrar/.
Research Papers and Theses
The University may disclose research papers and theses authored by the student to interested members of the public.
Private Records...
The following categories of information are considered private, or protected, by UTSA:
Private Records may be released only to the following parties:
The University must obtain prior written consent from students before disclosing any personally identifiable information from their education records.
The prior written consent must:
Under FERPA, prior written consent must be obtained before a student's education record may be disclosed to a third party, unless they are exempted from this provision. Some instances in which prior written consent is not required are:
For a complete list of groups or individuals to whom information will be released without prior written consent, refer to UTSA Student Policies.
Eligible students must be given access to review and inspect their education records. Requests to access their education records must be made in writing and submitted to the appropriate office. For details on how students can request access to their records, refer to UTSA Student Policies.
Dos
Dont's
Letters of Recommendation
Statements made from personal observation or knowledge do not require a written release from the student. However, if personally identifiable information obtained from a student's education record is included in a letter of recommendation (e.g., grades, GPA, etc.), you are required to obtain a signed release from the student.
The Family Policy Compliance Office of the U.S. Department of Education reviews and investigates complaints of violations of FERPA. Violations may result in sanctions as severe as the withholding of federal funding, including grants and financial aid.
For more information, visit the U.S. Department of Education Web site at http://www2.ed.gov/ferpa/.