Schools generate and maintain numerous student records, including grades, standardized test scores, disciplinary accounts, contact information, mental health records, and more. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which applies to educational agencies and institutions that receive certain types of financial assistance from the…

This chapter outlines the varying threats that IR professionals face when securely storing and managing data, as well as the regulatory structure in place to control data management. Advice is offered on how best to structure and manage student data.

The administration of college admissions examinations by SEAs [state education agencies] and LEAs [local education agencies] raises potential legal issues under FERPA [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974], IDEA [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act], PPRA [Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment], and state privacy laws, and…

Students suffer extreme hardship when their postsecondary education is interrupted or significantly devalued by school closure or misconduct. Private postsecondary education in particular can cost tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, fees, equipment, and required materials. These considerable expenses constitute only part of the economic harm…

For $800 Muscovites buy blank diplomas from established universities, bearing official stamps, with desired major and date of graduation; another $50 buys blank transcripts. Professors often require students to take courses outside the core curriculum in order to pass exams for which they demand cash payments or goods. Admission is often based…

Since federal law prohibits school systems from releasing disciplinary information contained in a student's school record, administrators are often vilified and left defenseless against angry charges lobbed by students and parents. A North Carolina district leveled the playing field by asking disgruntled parents to sign a waiver allowing school…

The complex issues of promoting student mental health, privacy and public safety, and the balance among them, weigh on the minds of institutional leaders, educational policymakers, and local, state and federal officials. American campuses have a proud history of intellectual freedom, openness and public accessibility to their communities. However,…

Summarizes federal regulations concerning academic advising, including defamation, negligence, privacy, disabilities, civil rights, duty to report crimes, and privilege. Relevant state laws, interpretations, hypothetical situations, and the possible institutional and personal penalties, both civil and criminal, of not following current laws are…

In response to a request by the Presidential Task Force on Regulatory Relief, this report offers specific recommendations for reform of federal regulations. A cover letter explains the constraints imposed by the recommended format: that the report is unable to address adequately the area of federal regulatory activity generating the most adverse…