Written by Mia Pollard.
NC State students’ academic records are considered confidential under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. Under FERPA, schools are required to obtain written consent from students before disclosing any confidential information regarding their account.
Staff in the University Cashier’s Office must check for Parent/Guardian Access and confirm all relevant details (email, address, PIN, etc.) before relaying any information regarding student accounts. Students may set up parent access by completing the consent form found in the MyPack Portal using the following navigation: Student Self Service > Campus Personal Info > Parent/Guardian. Students are able to choose which, if any, records parents are given access to, so it is important to ensure the parent has access to relevant records in your department before releasing information.
Generally, only the student and authorized parents can be given confidential information, but there are exceptions to this rule. Some instances when education records can be shared without consent include:
- School officials within the school request information in which they have a legitimate educational interest, like a department reaching out about a sponsor payment on a student account
- Student has applied for financial aid and information is needed to make determinations for eligibility, amount of aid or enforcement of terms of aid
- Accreditation organizations require education records for purposes of conducting accreditation procedures
- In times of health or safety emergency
- Student “directory information” can be disclosed without consent. At NCSU, this information consists of a student’s name, preferred email address, enrollment status, grade level, major, dates of attendance, honors, degrees and awards received, weight and height of student athletes, participation in officially recognized activities and sports and most recent educational institution attended. For students residing in University-owned or leased housing facilities, the University may also designate as “directory information” a student’s local and permanent addresses and age for the limited purpose of responding to requests from the United States Census Bureau as part of census data collection.
Please note that this list is not exhaustive. We recommend reviewing NC State Regulation 11.00.01 on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Violating FERPA proposes penalties for the entire University, up to a complete loss of federal funding. Please ensure you are well-versed in FERPA restrictions and allowances and always keep up-to-date on best practices regarding student account information.
Together, we can ensure the safety and security of the student records we are trusted with.