Dear FERPA Professor,
Our Office of the Registrar has received a request from a former student who wants to place a directory information hold on their student record. If the student is no longer in attendance with my institution, do I have to honor this request?
Signed,
A Prior Student Predicament
Dear Prior,
Students who are no longer in attendance at your institution, whether through non-attendance or graduation, have many of the same FERPA rights as students currently in attendance, including the right to: inspect their records, request a hearing to amend records, and have their education record privacy protected by the institution. While former students may request a non-disclosure of directory information, it is up to the institution’s discretion to decide if it will honor the request. However, if the student requests the non-disclosure at any point during their period of attendance, the request must be honored until such time as the student revokes it.
I hope this is helpful in answering your question. You may reference “Former Students’ Rights” on page 30, of the 2012 AACRAO FERPA Guide.
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AACRAO members, send your questions to the FERPA Professor at communications@aacrao.org.
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