Financial Assistance

Simpson College FERPA Policy

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Educational records include admission records, academic records, financial records, financial aid records, and disciplinary records. The college officials who keep these records are the Director of Admissions, the Registrar, the Controller, the Director of Financial Assistance, and the Dean of Students respectively. FERPA grants:

The Right to inspect and review the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the college receives a request for access.

Students should submit to the appropriate college official written requests that identify the records they wish to inspect.

The college official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the record may be inspected. If the record requested is not maintained by the college official receiving the request, the official will advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.

The right to request the amendment of a student’s education records that the student believes are inaccurate or misleading.

Students may ask a college official to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write the official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want to be amended, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading.

If the college official decides not to amend the record as requested by the student, the college will notify the student of the decision and advise the student of his or her right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment.  Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the student when notified of the right to a hearing.

The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s educational record, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.  One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the college in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit personnel and health staff); a person or company with whom the college has contracted (such as an attorney, auditor, or collection agent); a person serving on the Board of Trustees; or a student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing school tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an education record in order to fulfill a professional responsibility. Another exception is release of grade reports to supporting parents of dependent students during the first two years of college. Another exception is directory information. Directory information at Simpson College is available to any person making inquiry. Directory information at Simpson includes the following:

name, permanent address, date of birth, campus box and campus phone (if current), class, dates enrolled, major or interest, date of graduation, or lack of a graduation date.

Release of any other information to a student or to any third party is subject to written request signed by the student, except in the case of properly executed legal summons or subpoena. In the case of a subpoena or summons, the student will be notified of the court order prior to the time of compliance with the order.

An annual student directory, Password, contains name, campus address, home address and local phone number. A student who wants this information omitted from the annual student directory must notify the Dean of Students’ Office in writing by August 15 of each year.

The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by Simpson College 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. 20202-4605
Last Updated: 1/22/09