The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA" - 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a federal law that protects the privacy of students and limits third-party access to their education records. Education Records are generally defined as records directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution. When a student reaches 18 years of age or attends an institution of postsecondary education at any age, the student becomes an “eligible student,” and all rights under FERPA transfer from the parent to the student.

• Please refer to the section on Definitions and Key Constructs to review those records that fall under the definition of Educational Record.
• Please refer to the section on Definitions and Key Constructs to understand the categories of records exempted from the Definition of Education Record.

FERPA Policy Statement

The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art follows student records privacy guidelines set forth by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, FERPA (also referred to as the “Buckley Amendment”). It is the policy of The Cooper Union to comply with all provisions of FERPA, including the rights of eligible students to inspect and review, amend, and limit disclosure of information from their education records. Students will be notified each year of their rights under FERPA through the annual edition of the College Course Catalog (published online) and through the Office of the Registrar webpage.

This policy extends and applies to parents who request access and disclosure of their child’s educational records. In accordance with FERPA, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art requires that every student who chooses to have the College release copies of grades, transcripts, or any other data pertaining to academic performance to either parents, guardians, spouse, life partners, bill-payers, prospective employers, or governmental agencies must authorize the College to do so. Therefore, all requests to release such information must be accompanied by a written or electronic authorization signed by the student. Without such authorization, the College will not release information.

There are exemptions to FERPA’s general consent requirement. An eligible student’s record is never released without written or electronic consent, except to college faculty and staff who have demonstrated clear “need to know and legitimate educational interest”. Other exceptions include compliance with a judicial order, the Solomon Amendment to respond to a military recruiter request, subpoena or to respond to an emergency involving the health or safety of a student, or another person on the campus-at-large.

Student Rights under FERPA

The rights provided by FERPA to an eligible student are detailed below.

A: Right of Inspection and Review
Current and former students have the right to inspect and review their Education Records within 45 days of the date that the University receives a request for access.
 
A request that identifies the Education Record(s) to be reviewed or inspected must be submitted, by the student, to a School Official such as a Dean, department chair, or advisor they are advising to notify the Registrar’s office and ensure that the records are not maintained by the School Official to whom the request was made, that School Official shall advise the student of the correct individual to whom the request should be made. The Registrar will make arrangements for access to the records and will notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. Should a request be made to a School Official such as a Dean, department Chair or advisor, the School Official will coordinate with the Registrar’s office to pro- vide the student the ability to inspect and review their record within 45 days of their request.
 

• Please refer to the section on Keywords and Definitions to understand the categories of records exempted from the Definition of Education Record.
   

For instance, the student has the right to review and inspect all the documents in his/her record EXCEPT:

• Confidential evaluations and letters of recommendation filed before January 1, 1975;
• Evaluations and recommendation after that date if the student has waived their right to see them;
• Financial records and statements of the student’s parents or guardians submitted to assess eligibility for financial aid; and,
• Those documents are classified by the law as non-educational. These include personal and procedural notes maintained by Faculty such as grade books, classroom notes, etc.
   

A student may challenge possible inaccuracies or misleading items in his/her record during such an inspection.
 
The request for access to Educational Records can be found here. The student may secure a copy of every document in the record which is open to them. These copies will be made by the Registrar or other designated officer under the same terms, conditions, and charges as for a copy of an official transcript at $5.00 for each request. Copies will be ready within ten (10) working days of the request.
 
B: Right to Request Amendment of Education Record
Cooper Union provides a student with the opportunity to request amendment(s) to the contents of an Education Record which they consider to be inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights. Such a request for amendment to the record must be made in writing and although Cooper Union is not required to amend the record, any such request will be considered. A copy of the request must be forwarded to the Registrar for inclusion in the student’s academic file.
The School Official who receives such a request will coordinate with Cooper Union’s Registrar and decide within a reasonable time whether corrective action consistent with the student’s request will be taken.
 
The student will be notified of the decision. If the decision is in agreement with the student's request, the appropriate record(s) will be amended by the Registrar. If the request is denied, the student will be advised of their right to a hearing on the matter. The student should first advance an appeal to the “school official” responsible for the recorded notation. If dissatisfied with the outcome of the appeal, the student may request a hearing. A committee comprised of the VPAA, VPEM, VPIE and/or Dean of Students, such that no conflict exists, to review the case against prevailing standards. If as a result of the hearing Cooper Union determines not to amend the education record(s), the student has the right to insert a statement in the record commenting on the contested information, stating why they disagree with the determination or both. This statement will remain with the education record as long as the record is maintained and will be included whenever the contested part of the record is disclosed.
 
This right is limited. Cooper Union is not obligated by FERPA to afford a student the right to seek to change substantive decisions made by School Officials, including decisions made in the context of awarding grades; other evaluations of student performance, or disciplinary decisions. The fairness of grading by any Faculty member may NOT be challenged under FERPA.
 
C: Right to Consent to Disclosure of Education Records
 

1. General Consent Requirement
Under FERPA, a school generally may not disclose personally identifiable information from an eligible student’s education records to a third party unless the eligible student has provided prior written consent. For example, schools can’t release certain information such as Social Security number, Birthdate, Grades and exam scores, GPA, Current class schedule, Parent name and address, and Race and ethnicity without the student’s consent. If a student wants to provide ongoing access to their Education Records to an individual such as a parent or family member and has filed, the FERPA Waiver Form to facilitate Cooper Union's ability to release education record information to the designated individual.
 
Even with the prior written consent of an eligible student, a school is not required by FERPA to disclose personally identifiable information from education records to third parties.
 
Please refer to the section on Keywords and Definitions to understand what constitutes personally identifiable information. 

Accordingly, under FERPA, a school may have a policy of not disclosing personally identifiable information from education records to third parties if the eligible student owes money to the school.

2. Exemptions to General Consent
There are several exemptions to FERPA’ general consent requirement. The following are exceptions in which Cooper Union can disclose personally identifiable information without the student's written consent. 

Directory Information
FERPA regulations define “directory information” as information in a student’s education record that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. FERPA per- mits Cooper Union to disclose personally identifiable information from an eligible student’s educa- tion records, without consent, when such information has been appropriately designated as “direc- tory information,” and the student has not opted out of the disclosure of such designated information.
 
Directory Information may be made available to anyone who makes a request for such information, without first notifying the student, unless a Request for Non-Disclosure of Directory Information Form is completed by a student while they are enrolled, and the form is submitted to the Office of the Registrar.
 
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art designates the following categories of student information as public or “Directory Information”. If you are specifically requested by the student within ten (10) days of the beginning of each semester to withhold disclosure of this information, such information may be disclosed by the institution for any purpose, at its discretion.

•  Category 1: Name, dates of attendance, classification, major/degree program.
• Category II: Previous institution(s) attended, awards, honors, degree(s) conferred, including dates.
• Category III: Past and present participation in officially recognized activities. 

School Official with Legitimate Educational Interest
The disclosure is to School Officials, including faculty and staff, that are in the process of carrying out their assigned educational or administrative responsibilities and have a Legitimate Educational Interest. The determination as to whether a Legitimate Educational Interest exists will be made by the College Registrar, who serves as the FERPA Officer for the College. The criteria for determining who is a School Official and what is considered a legitimate educational interest is communicated in the annual notification of FERPA rights. Typically, a school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill their professional responsibility.
 
Under this exception, Cooper Union is also permitted to disclose personally identifiable information from education records to contractors such as software/application vendors or lawyers, consultants, volunteers (including student volunteers) or other third parties to whom Cooper Union have outsourced institutional services or functions provided that the third party.

• Performs an institutional service or function for which the school would otherwise use employees;
• Is under the direct control of the school with respect to use and maintenance of educational records
• Is subject to the requirements in FERPA that personally identifiable information from education records may be used only for the purposes for which the disclosure was made, and which govern the redisclosure of personally identifiable information from education records; and
• Meets the criteria specified in the school’s annual notification of FERPA rights for being a school official with a legitimate educational interest in the education records.

Enrollment at Another School
Personally identifiable information can be disclosed by Cooper Union without consent, to another school in which the student seeks or intends to enroll or is already enrolled as long as the purpose of the disclosure is enrollment or transfer. Nonetheless Cooper Union will make a reasonable attempt to notify the eligible student of the disclosure, unless the disclosure is initiated by the student, or notification that Cooper Union will forward educational record information to other schools that have requested such is included in the annual notification of rights under FERPA. These disclosures are specifically regarding enrollment or transfer. When such disclosures are made, students will have the right to request a copy of the records disclosed. And, they have the right to request an opportunity for a hearing to amend records that were disclosed (See Right to Amend their Record).
 
Under this exception, Cooper Union has the discretion to disclose academic, disciplinary, or any other personally identifiable information from the student’s education records to the new school. Further, a student does not, under FERPA, have the right to prevent Cooper Union from disclosing such personally identifiable information from the student’s education records, or from communicating information about a student more generally to the school in which the student seeks or intends to enroll.
 
Dependent Students
Cooper Union may, but is not required to, disclose any and all personally identifiable information from education records to parents, without the consent of the eligible student, if the student is a “dependent student,” as that term is defined in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code. Generally, if either parent has claimed the student as dependent on the parent’s most recent income tax return, a school may disclose the student’s education records to either parent, without the eligible student’s consent.
 
This exception also permits institutions of postsecondary education to share, without the prior written consent of an eligible student, personally identifiable information from education records of students who are enrolled in both a high school and the college or university (dually enrolled) with the parents of such dually enrolled students. The student will retain the rights over the education records maintained by the college or university
 
Other

• The disclosure is to authorize federal, state and local education representatives for audit or evaluation of federal or state supported education programs or enforcement or compliance with federal legal requirements.
• The disclosure is to accrediting organizations carrying out their accrediting functions.
• The disclosure complies with a judicial order to a lawfully issued subpoena, if Cooper Union makes a reasonable attempt to notify the student in advance of compliance. If a contractor receives a subpoena for a student's information, the contractor is required to provide the appropriate notice. The College is not required to notify the student if a federal grand jury subpoena or any other subpoena issued for a law enforcement purpose orders the institution not to disclose the existence or contents of the subpoena. In addition, the College is not required to notify the student if disclosure is necessary to comply with an ex-parte court order obtained by the U.S. Attorney General or an Assistant Attorney General concerning certain criminal investigations and prosecutions.
• The disclosure is in connection with financial aid for which a student has applied or received, if the information is necessary for the determination of eligibility, amount a condition of aid or to enforce the terms and condition of aid.
• The disclosure is to provide a service or benefit relating to the student or student's family, such as health care, counseling, job placement, or financial aid.
• The disclosure is to organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions to develop, validate, and administer predictive tests, to administer student aid programs or to improve instruction, provided that the individual identity of students is not made and that the disclosure is restricted to the representatives of the organization that have a legitimate interest in the information. Information may only be disclosed per a written agreement between Cooper Union and the organization conducting the study on the Cooper's behalf that:
  • Identifies the purpose, scope, and duration of the study;
  • Requires the organization to use personally identifiable information from education records only to meet the purpose of the study as noted in the agreement;
  • Requires that the organization conduct the study in a manner that does not permit personal identification of parents and students by anyone other than representatives of the organization with legitimate interests; and
  • Requires the organization to destroy or return the personally identifiable information to the Cooper Union when the information is no longer needed and specifies the time period in which the destruction or return must occur.
• The disclosure is made to the victim of an alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense, or to the next of kin (if the victim dies as a result of the crime or offense) concerning the final results of a disciplinary hearing conducted by Cooper Union against the alleged perpetrator of such crime or offense with respect to the alleged crime or offense;
• The disclosure is to any third party, the final results, as described in FERPA regulations, of a disciplinary proceeding conducted by an institution of postsecondary education against a student who is the alleged perpetrator of a crime of violence or non-forcible sex offense if the student is found by the institution to have violated its rules or policies as a result of the disciplinary proceeding, as long as the disclosure does not include the name of any other student, including a victim or witness, without the written consent of that other student.
• The disclosure is to a parent of a Cooper Union student regarding the student’s violation of any Federal, State, or local law, or of any rule or policy of the institution, governing the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance, where the institution determines that the student has committed a disciplinary violation with respect to that use or possession, and the student is under 21 years of age at the time of the disclosure to the parent.
• The disclosure is related to a student registered sex offender and is information that was provided to the Cooper Union pursuant to the Wetterling Act and other applicable federal guidelines. In addition, Cooper Union may make available to the campus community additional information about a student who is also a registered sex offender where the information is relevant to protecting the public.
• The disclosure is to maintain the health or safety of the student, as in connection with a health or safety emergency, or others on or off campus. When the Cooper Union discloses personally identifiable information under the health or safety emergency exception, the College must record the significant threat to the health or safety of a student or other individuals and the parties to whom the information was disclosed. This documentation must be done within a reasonable period after (but not necessarily prior to) the disclosure and must be maintained with the student's education records. This documentation should identify the underlying facts the University relied upon in determining there was a defined and significant threat. 

3. Right to File a Complaint
 
Students have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education. Eligible students who believe that their FERPA rights may have been violated may file a complaint with Student Privacy Policy Office, SPPO at https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/file-a-complaint.
 
SPPO will review the complaint to ensure that the complaint: is filed, in writing, by an eligible student who maintains FERPA rights over the education records that are the subject of the complaint; is submitted to SPPO within 180 days of the date of the alleged violation or of the date that the eligible student knew or reasonably should have known of the alleged violation; and contains specific allegations of fact giving reasonable cause to believe that a violation of FERPA has occurred. The nd address of the office that ad- ministers FERPA is:

• Student Privacy Policy Office
  U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue
  SW Washington, DC 20202-5920
   

Definitions and Key Constructs

Directory Information: According to FERPA guidance, directory information may include the following: student’s name, address, telephone number, email address, photograph, date and place of birth, major field of study, grade level, enrollment status (e.g., undergraduate or graduate, full-time or part-time), dates of attendance (i.e., the period of time during which the student attends or attended the school), participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, degrees, honors and awards received, and the most recent school attended.
 
Because Directory Information does not infringe on privacy, Cooper Union may, without consent, disclose directory information as long as it has given notice as to the types of personally identifiable information that it has designated as directory information and the process and timing to opt out of directory information disclosures. Cooper Union’s policy establishes what the School has determined to be directory information.
 
Education Records: Education Record means any record (1) directly related to a student and (2) maintained by the University or a party acting for the University. Type and Location of Education Records; Officers Responsible

The principal education record for every current student and for graduates of Cooper Union is kept in the Office of the Registrar. The Register and their representative are responsible for these records. For the purpose of defining an education record, the College also recognizes the following types of administrative records as educational and, hence, protected by the provisions of FERPA.
 

• Student Financial Records (Officers responsible: VP for Finance and Administration and Senior Director of Student Financial Services)
• Admission Records [prior to transmitting files to the Registrar’s Office] (Officer responsible: Vice President for Enrollment)
• Financial Aid Records (Officer responsible: Senior Director of Student Financial Services)
• Student Health Records (Officer responsible: Dean of Students). Health records and HIPAA policy may apply here as well.
• Cumulative Academic Records [former students; permanent transcript] (Officer responsible: Registrar)
• Disciplinary Records [Academic] (Officer responsible: Vice President for Academic Affairs)
• Disciplinary Records [Non-Academic and those records which are not “law enforcement unit records”] (Officer responsible: Dean of Students)
• Records Pertaining to Student Academic Advisement (Officer responsible: Deans for the Schools of Architecture, Art, and Engineering)
• Learning Assistance Center Student Records (Officer responsible: Director for the Center for Writing and Learning).

There are several important categories of records that are specifically exempted from the definition of an Education Record:

• Records of instructional, supervisory, administrative, and certain educational personnel which are in the sole possession of the maker of the records, and are not accessible or revealed to any other individual except a substitute who performs on a temporary basis the duties of the individual who made the records,
• Records maintained by a law enforcement unit of the Cooper Union that were created by that law enforcement unit for the purpose of law enforcement,
• Records relating to individuals who are employed by Cooper Union, which are made and main- tained in the normal course of business, relate exclusively to individuals in their capacity as em- ployees, and are not available for use for any other purpose,
• Records relating to a student which are: (1) created or maintained by a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, or other recognized professional or paraprofessional, acting in their professional ca- pacity or assisting in a paraprofessional capacity; (2) used solely in connection with the provision of treatment to the student; and (3) not disclosed to anyone other than individuals providing such treatment.
• Records that only contain information about an individual after they are no longer a student at the University. 

Legitimate Educational Interest: means an interest that a School Official has in the protected records when the School Official is performing a task that is:

• Specified in their position description or contract agreement;
• Related to a student's education; or
• Related to the discipline of a student

Personally Identifiable Information means, but is not limited to:

• The student's name
• The name of the student's parent or other family member
• The address of the student or student's family
• A personal identifier, such as the student's social security number, student number, or biometric record
• Other indirect identifiers, such as the student's date of birth, place of birth, and mother's maiden name
• Other information that, alone or in combination, is linked or linkable to a specific student that would allow a reasonable person in the school community, who does not have personal knowledge of the relevant circumstances, to identify the student with reasonable certainty
• Information requested by a person who the educational agency or institution reasonably believes knows the identity of the student to whom the education record relates.

School Official: a person employed by The Cooper Union in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position including health staff; a trustee, public safety officer, or outside contractor such as an attorney or auditor acting as an agent for the School; a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee or who is assisting another School Official in performing their tasks; and any contractors, consultants, volunteers or other party to whom to whom The Cooper Union has outsourced institutional services or functions as long as the individual: (1) performs a service for which an institution would otherwise have to use its own employees; (2) is under the direct control of the University with respect to the use and maintenance of the education record; and (3) is subject to the same conditions on use and re-disclosure of education records that apply to other School Officials.
 

Forms

• FERPA Release Form
• Request for Non-Disclosure of Personally Identifiable Information 
   

Additional Policies

 Last Updated<April 4, 2025>