Dear FERPA Professors,
I’m hoping you can provide some guidance on how FERPA applies to fraternities and sororities. Understanding that chapters may have GPA eligibility and reporting requirements, can my institution provide this information to authorized chapter representatives if students provide written consent (required as a condition of membership), or is it the institution’s role to verify eligibility and share only a yes/no list? If my institution provides GPA information to the chapters, can we limit their use of said data as a condition of access? Can chapters use this for other purposes like room assignments or organizational programming?
Sincerely,
Hellen Iclife
Dear Hellen Iclife,
No, FERPA does not directly apply to fraternities and sororities because they are not educational agencies or institutions receiving federal education funds. However, FERPA absolutely applies to the institution when it discloses student education records (including GPA information) to chapter representatives. The institution must comply with FERPA regardless of who receives the information.
Yes, institutions may disclose GPA information to chapter representatives if students provide proper written consent. The consent must meet FERPA requirements by:
- Specifying the records that may be disclosed (e.g., “semester and cumulative GPA”).
- Stating the purpose of the disclosure (e.g., “to verify academic eligibility for fraternity/sorority membership”).
- Identifying the party to whom disclosure may be made (e.g., “authorized representatives of [Chapter Name]”).
- Being signed and dated by the student.
Using a yes/no eligibility verification instead of disclosing actual GPAs to the chapters would be a recommended best practice, as it minimizes disclosure by only sharing the minimum information necessary (eligibility status) rather than actual grades and reduces institutional risk by limiting what chapters can do with the information. When institutions disclose information to the chapters with student consent, institutions should inform chapters that they may not redisclose or use the information for other purposes without additional consent of the student or authorization by the institution. Institutions may want to consider including use and redisclosure restrictions in written consent forms. I hope this is helpful.
AACRAO members, join the New FERPA Community on the AACRAO Exchange, or send your questions to the FERPA Professor at communications@aacrao.org.
Get the Addendum to the 2012 Guide, “Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Student Privacy Under FERPA: An Addendum to the AACRAO 2012 FERPA Guide,” from the AACRAO Bookstore.
Register for the new webinar series “Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Student Privacy Under FERPA – A Six-Part Webinar Series” running from August 2026 to January 2027.
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