What Is FERPA Compliance?
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a U.S. federal law enacted in 1974 that regulates access to education records as well as sensitive data around public entities such as employers, educational institutions, and foreign governments. FERPA applies to all schools that receive federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education.
FERPA’s objective is to safeguard the privacy of students and their parents. In addition to protecting student privacy, it was also intended to assure that students and their parents can access student education records and challenge the release of their student data to third parties.
FERPA requires that federally funded educational agencies, as well as secondary and postsecondary institutions, comply with certain protocols regarding handling and disclosure of student information to third-party vendors and other entities.