What does the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulate?

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law designed to protect the privacy of student education records. It grants parents certain rights regarding their children's education records, including the right to inspect and review them, the right to request the correction of records they believe are inaccurate, and the right to control the disclosure of personally identifiable information from these records. This regulation is crucial as it ensures that student information is kept confidential and secure, fostering trust and promoting the integrity of educational institutions.

Understanding the specific focus of FERPA helps delineate its role from other areas of education such as funding, classroom sizes, or teacher qualifications, which are governed by different sets of legislation and regulations. FERPA's primary intention is to safeguard student records from unauthorized access and ensure that parents and eligible students have ownership over that information.