Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of the United States affords students certain rights with respect to their education records. These rights include:

1. The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the LASPAU receives a request for access.

A student should submit to the Associate Director for Programs, a written request that identifies the record(s) the student wishes to inspect. The Associate Director for Programs will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected.

2. The right to request the amendment of the student's education records that the student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights under FERPA.

A student who wishes to ask LASPAU to amend a record should write the LASPAU official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record the student wants changed, and specify why it should be changed.

If LASPAU decides not to amend the record as requested, LASPAU will notify the student in writing of the decision and the student's right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

3. The right to provide written consent before the University discloses personally identifiable information from the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.

LASPAU discloses education records without a student's prior written consent under the FERPA exception for disclosure to officials with legitimate educational interests. This includes persons employed by LASPAU in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position; and persons or companies with whom LASPAU has contracted as its agent to provide a service; persons serving on the LASPAU Board of Trustees; persons employed by the student's program sponsor and persons or companies with whom the program sponsor has contracted as its agent to provide a service or whom LASPAU is obligated to provide by information to under the provisions of its contract with the program funder; and persons at universities that LASPAU is contacting on behalf of the student. LASPAU has no control over the disclosure of information by the student's program sponsor. "Legitimate educational interests" are activities that allow LASPAU to carry out its role in the student's LASPAU-administered program.

Directory information, which is information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations and individuals under the FERPA exception for disclosure of directory information.

4. The right of a student to withhold "directory Information" by written request to LASPAU's Associate Director for Programs. A signed request is required to block the release of information or remove a block on the release of information. Exercising the right to block the disclosure directory information does not block LASPAU's ability to share information about the student with people who have a legitimate educational interest.

LASPAU considers the following information to be directory information: student name, program name, program sponsor, mailing address, permanent address, telephone number(s), email address, field of study, host institution name, host institution department, degree program, dates of enrollment, anticipated or actual date of graduation, enrollment status, home institution name, country of citizenship.

A student may choose not to allow the above information as it applies to himself or herself to be designated "directory information," in which case LASPAU will omit all the information listed above from records containing "directory information."

5. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by LASPAU to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the Office that administers FERPA is: