FERPA – Right to Privacy

What is FERPA? FERPA stands for the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. This federal legislation protects the privacy of your student records and regulates how information is used. Release of student records at Oregon State University is bound by FERPA, the Oregon Revised Statutes, and by the Oregon Administrative Rules.

Important Note: Students' FERPA rights begin when they are considered a student at OSU. The institutional definition of a student is when an individual has registered for START or has registered for classes, whichever comes first. This applies to all students, regardless of age or degree status.

To learn more about FERPA, please review these sources:

Student Consent to Release Information (formerly known as Joint Consent Form)

Student Consent to Release Information: This form is used by the Office of the Registrar, Office of Financial Aid, Office of Business Affairs, Office of Admissions, and Academic Advising for sharing information with designated third parties. Filling out this form does not initiate any action to send information; third parties will need to request information from the relevant department(s).

Confidentiality

NO information may be released about students who have established confidentiality of their records.

Students may restrict the release of their student information by completing a Confidentiality Request form. The Confidentiality Restriction prevents employees of OSU from providing any information, directory or confidential, to anyone who does not have a legitimate educational interest. When a confidentiality restriction is in place we can only discuss a student’s record with the student if they are present in person with picture identification or via live video chat. For students who have a confidentiality restriction in place but are unable to visit the office in person, the student may communicate with OSU offices via their OSU-issued email address (ONID name @ oregonstate.edu). Confidentiality does not mean anonymity in classes at OSU. 

CORE Reports on FERPA Training

Two CORE reports help in identifying if an employee (including student employees) has taken and passed their FERPA training.

BIC2910: searches all employees in a selected organization

BIC2911: search by ID numbers to see who has taken and passed their FERPA training.

Note: Results do not display immediately. Please allow up to 48 hours after the passing of one's training for information to appear in CORE.

Using Secure Credentials at OSU

OSU provides all employees and students with oregonstate.edu email accounts that have been vetted for appropriate security measures to protect data. These oregonstate.edu email accounts link to a verifiable identity established with the University and meet the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act for authentication. Third-party, personal accounts are not able to be verified as linked to a particular individual and, therefore, should not be used in discussing any student record information.

Guidelines for Release of Information

If you receive a request for information follow these guidelines to determine what, if any, information can be released.

Data Security

The Office of Information Security provides comprehensive education on securely storing and transmitting data.

Retention & Statistics

This provides information about record retention requirements and statistical information available for the university.

Power of Attorney

The OSU Office of the Registrar does not accept Power of Attorney documents as a substitute for a consent to release information. If a student is unable to conduct their required interactions with the University for a particular reason, the student or student's representative should contact the Office of Student Life.