The History of FERPA in American Higher Education

By gfonseca

  • FERPA Passes the House

    The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 is a United States federal law that governs the access of American citizens' educational information and records. According to EPIC.org, FERPA protects the confidentiality of student educational records. The Act applies to any public or private elementary, secondary, or post-secondary school and any state or local education agency that receives federal funds. All public schools and virtually all private schools are covered by FERPA becau

  • FERPA Passes the Senate

    After almost a year, FERPA was presented to the United States Senate floor and passed. After the passaged of both Houses, the law went to the President of the United States for enaction.

  • President Ford makes FERPA a law

    Onced it passed Congress, according to the law, then-President Gerald Ford had to make a choice. On this date, President Ford signed FERPA into law, and the US Department of Education was responsible for enforcing this law. FERPA can be found in the US Code as 20 U.S. Code § 1232g

  • The First Major FERPA Amendments

    Immediately following the enactment of FERPA, higher education officials became alarmed by the Act's possible implications for colleges and universities. They voiced concern about what to do with existing records, such as letters of recommendation for college admissions, which were written under assurances of confidentiality, but open to student inspection under FERPA. (EPIC.org). EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • FERPA Amended Again

    Congress clarified that FERPA does not prohibit state and local educational officials from having access to student or other records that might be necessary in connection with the audit or evaluation of any federal- or state-supported education program (EPIC.org). EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security and FERPA

    In effort to protect students, Congress passed an amendment that would allow post-secondary institutions to disclose to the alleged victim of a violent crime the results of any disciplinary proceeding (EPIC.org). EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • FERPA and the Law Enforcement

    FERPA was amended to exempt records created for law enforcement purposes and maintained by law enforcement units of educational institutions from the definition of education records. This means that law enforcement records, such as police crime logs, are not protected from disclosure by FERPA (EPIC.org). EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • FERPA and Improving School's Act

    Congress again passed amendments to extend the right to inspect and review education records maintained by state educational agencies that are not otherwise subject to FERPA (EPIC.org). EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • FERPA and Higher Education

    Congress amended FERPA to clarify that schools may disclose to the public the final results of any disciplinary proceeding in which a student has been found responsible for a crime of violence or nonforcible sex offense (EPIC.org). The law continues to be helpful to protect students and their academic records. EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • Congress clarifies FERPA and Sex Offenders

    Congress added an amendment clarifying that FERPA does not prohibit educational institutions from disclosing information about registered sex offenders on their campuses (EPIC.org). EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • FERPA and Authorized Representatives

    At this time, the Education Department issued regulations amending FERPA. Among other changes, the regulations reinterpreted the statutory terms "authorized representative," "education program," and "directory information." Under FERPA, authorized representatives have access to "student or other records which may be necessary in connection with the audit and evaluation of Federally-supported education programs (EPIC.org) EPIC.org. Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

  • FERPA in the Future

    As we see FERPA continue to develop and educational insitiutions continue to work within the parameters of FERPA, we can project that not many changes will happen to FERPA. According to EPIC, Congress has only changed (or added amendments) to FERPA a tota of nine times since it was first enacted. However, those changes did not really change anything. Instead, those amendments simply clarified certain areas of the law.