What is the primary purpose of FERPA?

The primary purpose of FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is to protect the privacy of student education records. This federal law establishes guidelines for how educational institutions must handle students’ personal information, ensuring that parents and eligible students (those over 18 years of age or attending a postsecondary institution) have the right to access their own education records, request corrections to those records, and control the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the records.

By safeguarding this information, FERPA helps maintain the confidentiality of student records, which is crucial in building trust between students and educational institutions. This privacy protection is vital for students to feel secure in their academic environment, allowing them to focus on their education without fear of unauthorized information being shared.