FERPA Overview The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a federal law that establishes the rights of students with regard to certain education records, and ensures students of the rights of privacy and confidentiality with respect to those records.   Subject to several exceptions, FERPA prohibits Glendale Community College (the College) from providing student education records to a third party without prior authorization.

For instance, under one of the exceptions, FERPA permits school officials to release directory information at their discretion without your prior authorization.  At the College, directory information includes one or more of the following items: student name, email address, major field of study, dates of attendance, degrees, honors and awards received, and most recent previous institution attended. The College will not release your directory information if you provide written notification to the College’s Office of Admissions and Records that you do not wish the College to release such information, as outlined in the College’s FERPA Policy, Board Policy 5040.  

Please visit this link for a comprehensive overview of your rights under FERPA. Board Policy 5040 is available at https://www.glendale.edu/home/showdocument?id=25813

FERPA Release Form

 

Certain categories of student information are considered “open” or directory information. The college policy on the sharing of directory information to outside agencies and individuals (including parents and spouses of enrolled students) is limited to: name, e-mail address; major field of study; dates of attendance; degrees, honors and awards received; and the most recent previous institution attended. A student may request that directory information not be released by signing a request form at the Office of Admissions and Records. The request form must be received by the last day of the second week of instruction for a fall or spring semester or by the last day of the first week of instruction for a winter or summer session. In that case, this information will not be disclosed except with the consent of the student or as otherwise allowed by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). BP 5040.

Student Right-to-Know refers to the Student Right-to-Know and Campus Security Act of 1990, which requires colleges and universities participating in Federal financial aid programs to disclose information about graduation and completion rates to prospective students.

The California community colleges have a centralized website for disclosing Student Right-to-Know data. Click on the link below to access this information for any California community college: