The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, FERPA, was designed to protect the privacy of educational records and to establish the right of students to inspect and review their non-privileged educational records. FERPA, a Federal law, requires that postsecondary schools, with certain exceptions, obtain a student’s written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information from that student’s education records. FERPA Annual Notification of Student Rights for Wiregrass Georgia Technical College students.
However, schools may disclose appropriately designated “Public Directory Information” without written consent unless the student has advised the school to the contrary. 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 without the student’s prior written consent.
If a student does not want to disclose directory information from his or her student education records without prior written consent, the student must notify the school where he or she is enrolled in writing by the first day of the semester at the registrar’s office. A student need only file this notification once during his or her enrollment, and the form is only valid for that school.
Wiregrass Georgia Technical College defines public directory information as follows:
- Full name of student
- City of residence
- County of residence
- Major and field(s) of study
- Enrollment Status (full time, part-time, etc.)
- Degrees and awards and date received
- Dates of attendance
- Participation in official sports and activities
- Height and weight of athletic team members
Click to download the Objection to Release of Directory Information form.
If you would like to give permission for a specific individual(s) to have access to your educational records, click to fill out the Waiver of Confidentiality form.
