FERPA for Parents
We recognize that parents provide a great deal of financial and emotional support to their student during their time at St. Lawrence University. However, we must balance this recognition with the fact that St. Lawrence students are legally adults and their legal rights must be fully respected, particularly with concern to their privacy rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
FERPA gives certain rights to parents regarding their children’s educational records. These rights transfer to the student when student reaches the age of 18, or when student attends a school beyond the secondary level.
Disclosure of Education Records
- FERPA regulations state that a school must:
- Have a student's consent prior to the disclosure of education records;
- Ensure that the consent is signed and dated and states the purpose of the disclosure.
- St. Lawrence University may disclose grades to parents:
- without a student's consent when the disclosure is to the parents of a student who is a dependent for income tax purposes.
Parents must provide proof of dependency by faxing or mailing the the dependents section of the previous year's tax return. This enables parents to access their student's records only until the following tax year when a new tax return must be submitted. Each request for information must be submitted in writing with the signature of the parent listed on the said tax return.
- without a student's consent when the disclosure is to the parents of a student who is a dependent for income tax purposes.
The FERPA main page may be viewed here.