FERPA

Summary of FERPA Rights

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), first enacted in 1974, is a part of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR, title 34, part 99). Its purpose is to set out requirements for the protection of privacy of parents and students by determining how educational institutions collect and disseminate educational information. You may be familiar with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act from your experience in high school. However, under FERPA, the “ownership” of the record changes from the parent to the “eligible student” when the student is over the age of 18 or is enrolled in a post-secondary institution – such as Warren County Community College. Students have the right to inspect and review their educational record; the right to request an amendment to their record; and the right to have control over disclosure of their personally identifiable information (such as grades and class schedule).

Since the student is determined to be the “owner” of their educational record, under the last requirement of the provision, we will not release information to anyone other than the student without a written permission and consent from the student. Correspondence that is mailed will be mailed to your student’s permanent or local address.

Directory Information

Warren County Community College considers the following information as “directory information”:

A.        Student Name

B.        Participation in recognized school activities

C.        Dates of attendance (i.e., semester, year)

D.        Degrees, Certificates, and awards received from WCCC

Warren County Community College may release this directory information on any student unless the student has designated that it should not be released without his/her prior consent. If you do not want your directory information released, then please submit the Non-Disclosure FERPA Hold-Put Hold On form.  Once this hold is placed on your records, the College will not disclose any directory information about you.  Should you want the hold removed, you will need to submit the Non-Disclosure FERPA Hold-Take Hold Off form.

Questions

If you have questions concerning FERPA or the WCCC policies on collection, retention and dissemination of student records, contact the Office of Student Services at 908-835-2300 or e-mail the Registrar at [email protected].