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FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY
ACT OF 1974 (FERPA)
Annually, Texas A&M University informs students of
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.
This Act, with which the university intends to comply
fully, is intended to protect the privacy of education
records, to establish the rights of students to inspect
and review their education records and to provide guidelines
for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data
through informal and formal hearings. Students also
have the right to file complaints with the Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act Office of the Department of Education
in Washington, D.C. concerning alleged failures by the
University to comply with the Act.
Local policy explains in detail the procedures to be
used by the University for compliance with the provisions
of the Act. Copies of the complete policy may be obtained
at the Office of the Registrar.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974
(FERPA) is a federal law which provides minimum standards
for the management of student education records for
universities receiving funds made available under any
federal program administered by the U.S. Commissioner
of Education. The Act provides, among other things,
that an institution will maintain the confidentiality
of student education records and that students will
have the right to inspect most education records an
institution maintains on them. FERPA also requires that
the institution adopt a written institutional policy
in which it sets out details concerning its handling
of student education records.
This policy and the procedures included within it are
designed to meet the FERPA provisions. Texas A&M University
is committed to the good faith implementation of this
policy. A copy of this policy will be made available
to any student upon request to the Office of the Registrar.
In case a student, the parent of a student or any other
individual has a complaint that an official of the University
is violating the FERPA, and the complaint cannot be
satisfactorily resolved within the University, that
person has the right to file a complaint with the Department
of Education by contacting:
Family Policy Compliance Office
U.S. Department of Education
600 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20202-4605
(202) 260-3887
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