Straight Talk for College-Bound Students and Their Parents

Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) My child is attending college and I am paying the bills and when I call the campus, no one will talk to me about my child. Well, I will be happy to tell you why…..FERPA. This is the conversation that college administrators don’t want to have with parents. But I did. At each freshman student orientation, I spoke with the parents separately from the students and I shared with them information that would calm them down about leaving their student’s behind in college, but how to be in the know about their student once they return home. First, let me inform you of what FERPA is. The Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act came about in 1974. The long and short of this ACT is that the student must give proper consent for disclosure of their record or academic information and will not be released to any one unless that proper consent is given. And that includes YOU! Students are considered “adults” once they enter college at eighteen, even though you and I know better than that. So, if you call the institution to talk with Financial Aid about the financial status, or the registrar’s office about grades, you will be told that that information cannot be discussed with you. Even if you try contacting an instructor, you will receive the same results. And that normally sends parents into a “tail spend”. Well, I have good news for you. There is a simple way around this. Each college or university has a form titled “student release of information” or “student consent to release information”, or something along those lines. Each school will call it something different. But they will know exactly what you are talking about, and surprised that you know about this form. The catch is, you cannot request this form, because it does not require “your” signature. So, what you will do is take your student aside and send them to the “registrar’s office” to request and sign that form. You cannot go and request this form, because your student is an adult now, right? Your student has so much going on at this time, they will sign and do anything to begin their new college life. It’s good to handle this when you bring your student to orientation, along with all the other business that you are taking care of. It will give you such a a great sense of piece. These forms are filed in the Office of the Registrar, so that when a parent phones the institution, you can say my student has a student release form filed, giving you the right to information. They will check to see and then you are good. Now, one other thing. Sometimes this form is good for only one semester and your student may need to sign another one in the future. But now you know the secret!