Student Privacy

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) Disclosure Statement

FERPA is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA gives eligible students certain rights pertaining to their education records. FERPA defines “eligible students” as students who are the age of 18 or above or attend a school beyond the high school level.

FERPA gives eligible students the following rights:

  1. The right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day DRBU receives their request for access. (Contact the Registrar at registrar@drbu.edu)
  2. The right to request the amendment of the student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading.  (Contact the Registrar at registrar@drbu.edu)
  3. The right to consent to disclosure of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
  4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failure by DRBU to comply with the requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is:
    Family Policy Compliance Office
    U.S. Department of Education
    400 Maryland Avenue, SW
    Washington, D.C. 20202-8520

If the requested information does not fit under any of the categories described above, student consent must be obtained prior to its disclosure.

DRBU may not generally disclose personally identifiable information from an eligible student’s education records to a third party unless the eligible student has provided written consent.

DRBU may disclose information without prior consent of eligible students as follows:

  • School officials* with legitimate educational interests;
  • Other schools to which a student is transferring.
  • Specified officials* for audit or evaluation purposes;
  • Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student;
  • Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the school;
  • Accrediting organizations;
  • To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena;
  • Appropriate officials* in cases of health and safety emergencies;
  • State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law; and
  • Conditions in which prior consent is NOT required to disclose information (§99.30)

DRBU may disclose, without consent, directory information. FERPA defines “directory information” as information contained in an education record of a student that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. Directory information includes, but is not limited to:

  • Student’s name
  • Address
  • Telephone number
  • Electronic mailing address
  • Photograph
  • Major field of study
  • Grade level
  • Enrollment status (e.g., undergraduate or graduate, full-time or part-time)
  • Dates of attendance
  • Participation in officially recognized activities and sports
  • Degrees, honors, and awards received
  • The most recent educational agency or institution attended
  • Graduation dates and anticipated dates of graduation

Examples of information that is not directory information and may not be released without written consent include: race, religion, social security number, student identification number, GPA, grades, test scores, class schedule, citizenship, and ethnicity.

Eligible students will be notified ahead of time and given a reasonable amount of time to request that DRBU not disclose directory information. The student may request that all or a portion of directory information not be released by filling out and filing the “Request to Restrict Access of Directory Information” form.

*A school official typically includes a person employed by DRBU in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person serving on the board of trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee. A school official also may include a volunteer or contractor outside of DRBU who performs an institutional service or function for which the school would otherwise use its own employees and who is under the direct control of the school with respect to the use and maintenance of PII from education records, such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent or a student volunteering to assist another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official typically has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibilities for DRBU.