Under provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), students enrolled in post-secondary educational institutions are deemed to "own" their educational records. Institutions may, but are not required to, grant access to certain non-directory information in a student's educational record if the student is carried as a dependent on the parent's/guardian's federal income tax return. Under no circumstances will non-directory information be released to a parent or guardian unless a Certification of Dependency Form completed and signed by both the parent(s) and the student is submitted to the Office of the Registrar, Records Section, General Services Complex, 750 Agronomy Road, Suite 1501 College Station, TX 77843.

Current students may authorize parent/guardian access to view certain non-directory information (e.g., grades) within Howdy. In order for parents/guardians to gain access to this information in Howdy, the student must request it via the MyRecord tab in Howdy. Once a student is no longer enrolled at Texas A&M University, a parent's/guardian's Howdy account will be inactivated. If a student re-enrolls at Texas A&M University, the student may re-activate the parent/guardian Howdy accounts by following the aforementioned steps to authorize the parent/guardian access. Once parental/Guardian Howdy access has been inactivated upon their student becoming a former student, parents/guardians may still contact the Registrar's Office if they want to obtain information on their former student providing the parent/guardian is able to demonstrate eligibility to receive this information in compliance with FERPA guidelines.