FERPA and Parent Access to Student Education Records

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of students and prohibits institutions of higher education from disclosing any student information, including financial information, without the explicit authorization of the student. When a student reaches the age of 18 or begins attending a postsecondary institution at any age, FERPA rights transfer from the parent to the student.

What does this mean?

Simply stated, parents/guardians no longer have the same access to their student’s record once they are in college as they did in K–12. In order to talk to many areas of campus regarding specifics for your student, your student will need to give you proxy access.

How can I see my student’s grades?

While a student and the professor are the only individuals capable of viewing grades throughout the semester, students can grant parents, legal guardians, or other trusted parties access to view certain pieces of their student information online. This is called granting proxy access, and the person who is granted this authorization is called a myPurdue proxy. The student controls the entire process, and can add anyone with a valid email address as a proxy. Steps for students to do this can be found at purdue. edu/registrar/currentStudents/students/ myPurdueProxy.html.

Can I see my student’s billing information?

Similar to the proxy access, students can assign their parents/guardian as an Authorized User which gives parents/guardian access to secured billing information, and gives the Bursar permission to speak to you about specific information pertaining to your student. purdue.edu/bursar/pdf/tutorials/ authorizedUser.pdf