FERPA Tutorial

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The purpose of this online tutorial is to provide basic FERPA training to Rice University faculty and staff. University members with access to any kind of student information are expected to know and understand the basic governing principles of FERPA, and adhere to them.

University members who wish to request access to a specific group of student records (e.g. residential college, department, major advisees, etc.) must first complete this online FERPA tutorial and brief quiz. At the conclusion of the quiz, you will be presented with a certificate of completion. Please print out a copy of the certificate for your records, and then click the "Submit" button to have verification of completion sent to the Office of the Registrar.

Once you have printed a copy of the certificate for your records, and "submitted" the certificate to the Office of the Registrar, you are finished with the online tutorial.

What you can expect from this tutorial:

• An understanding of why FERPA compliance is important.
• An understanding of how to appropriately handle student records information.
• An understanding of your responsibilities under FERPA.

Tutorial Contents

• What is FERPA?
• Why is FERPA Important?
• 4 Key Concepts of FERPA
• Student Rights Under FERPA
• What is an Education Record?
• What is Directory Information?
• Suppressed Directory Information
• Parents, Spouses, and FERPA
• What is Legitimate Educational Interest?
• Access to Student Records
• Who is Responsible for Protecting Student Privacy?
• Protect Stored Student Data
• Use of your NETID or Your Edgar/WebApps ID
• FERPA Quiz
• Certificate of Completion

Begin Online Tutorial