This article will explore how the influence of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) culture, benefits of inclusionary leadership practices, and organizational structure impact the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) implementation and adherence. The purpose of this article will be to educate and influence…

The University of Iowa (UI) is the state of Iowa's flagship institution; a public research one, division one university in the Big Ten Conference (B1G) with twelve colleges. One hidden gem in the accomplishments of the Office of the Registrar is UI's FERPA Team (UI-FT); a point of pride unknown to many but greatly appreciated by those who know the…

People need access to data. Individual students and job seekers, families, educators, communities, and policymakers must have the information they need to foster successful journeys through education and the workforce. Robust statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDSs) can be designed to prioritize meaningful access to data but must also protect…

State leaders have a responsibility to use their data systems to help students seamlessly navigate transitions from high school into college, workforce training programs, the military, and apprenticeships. Many state leaders are meeting this responsibility by establishing initiatives to make enrolling in postsecondary education and workforce…

The adoption by the African Union of its Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection in 2014 represented a step forward to protect personal data and to ensure that data remain private and secure. This is especially important for students, who often have no autonomy in the educational technology they use. Students cannot choose why…

Student privacy is a critical area of higher education that deserves greater focus, particularly as student data digitalization increases. Many colleges and universities use data literacy as a way to prepare students, sometimes from different disciplines, to work with others' data postgraduation. Data literacy can be an avenue for helping all…

This resource aims to provide parents of K-12 students information to help understand what it means when your school has a data breach, as well as provide tools and best practices to help navigate the sometimes confusing process of protecting your children's data in the event of a breach.

Online program managers (OPMs) are third-party companies that work with colleges and universities to develop, launch, and deliver online learning. The prevalence of OPMs, however, has important implications for higher education program quality and transparency. In the final piece of our four-part series, higher education scholars establish a…

While both individual honors programs and their broader campus communities have implemented new initiatives and intervention strategies to address undergraduate mental health, significant needs remain unmet and concerns unaddressed about the long-term implications for students. This paper provides a framework for understanding the current (2023)…

Based on a review of 48 online program manager (OPM) contracts and 44 chief online learning officer (COLO) interviews, this policy brief highlights potentially problematic contract provisions between colleges and OPMs, raising concerns about their effects on federal compliance, students' learning, and openness about government contracting.…

T. Philip Nichols and Alexander Monea explore the spread of data-driven surveillance (i.e., dataveillance) technologies in schools, which are increasingly used as a strategy for mitigating safety risks. They argue that the sense of security schools derive from these technologies often comes at the cost of students' actual well-being and privacy.…

This brief discusses the effects of domestic violence on children and their education, the connection between domestic violence and homelessness, and federal legislative responses that help ensure that children affected by domestic violence and homelessness have stable and safe school experiences. It discusses helpful policies and practices for…

The surveillance and securitization of schools has transformed over the last decade to include predictive analytics and algorithms. In Florida, for example, the Pasco Sheriff's Office used school record data sets to identify and monitor youth they believed were "destined for a life of crime." Yet the extent of big data policing as a…

The Department of Education's Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) prepared this document to assist school officials working with public health officials in managing public health issues related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), while protecting the privacy of students' education records. Understanding the Family Educational Rights and…

White-label programs in higher education, designed and supported by online program management (OPM) firms, pose unique challenges to current policy. In part this is because OPM firms and services are either exempt from policy or fall into a gray area that policy has not yet considered. Policymakers, however, do not need to develop entirely new…