According to FERPA, personally identifiable information in an education record may not be released without prior written consent from the student. Some examples of information that MAY NOT BE RELEASED without prior written consent of the student are:
- Birth date
- Religious affiliation
- Citizenship
- Disciplinary status
- Ethnicity
- Gender
- Grade point average (GPA)
- Marital status
- SSN and student I.D. number
- Grades and exam scores
- Test scores (such as SAT, GRE, etc.)
- Progress reports such as STARS
The university will not release personally identifiable information from a student’s education record without the student’s prior written consent. Even parents are not permitted access to their child’s education records unless the student has provided written authorization permitting the parents’ access. Exceptions are noted in the university’s policy (located in the Office of the General Counsel and in the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs) concerning the privacy of student education records and include: access by school officials the institution has determined to have a legitimate educational interest; access by school officials at other schools where the student seeks to enroll; access for the purpose of awarding financial aid; and subpoenas.
At USC these terms are defined below: “University official” is any person employed by the university in an administrative, supervisory, academic, research or support staff position, a person elected to the Board of Trustees, a student serving on an official university committee, or a person employed by or under contract to the university to perform a specific task. A “university official” has a “legitimate educational interest” whenever they are performing a task specified in their position, description, or by a contract agreement; performing a task related to a student’s education; performing a task related to the discipline of a student; providing a service or benefit relating to the student or student’s family (such as health care, counseling, job placement or financial aid); or disclosure of information in response to a judicial order or legally issued subpoena. Information about faculty and staff in the Department of Medical Education at the Keck School of Medicine with access to student education records can be obtained by contacting the MD Registrar at medkeck@usc.edu. (NOTE: At USC all subpoenas are first reviewed by the Office of General Counsel to determine an appropriate response.)
Faculty members requesting access to a student’s academic records must make a written request to the Registrar. The request will be reviewed and acted upon in consultation with the Vice Dean for Medical Education and FERPA guidelines.
FERPA Tutorial
All faculty and staff, as well as any other agents of the university who request access to student academic records, must complete the FERPA tutorial and submit the acknowledgement once all 20 questions have been answered correctly. Access to student records will be denied until the tutorial has been completed and the acknowledgement is submitted. The tutorial is intended to ensure that anyone accessing student records understands the obligations under FERPA for proper use and protection of student records. All questions in the tutorial are supported by information found in this website. Before you begin the tutorial you should review all of the topics found on the FERPA homepage http://arr.usc.edu/records/ferpa/
Reviewed and Approved November 15, 2023
Medical Education Executive Council