Texas A&M University encourages students to exercise all of their rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g). Operating under the premise that the educational process is a cooperative venture between a student and the University, we emphasize the following rights of eligible students:

1. The right to inspect and review, with certain limited exceptions, the student's educational records, including the right to receive explanations and interpretations of the records and to obtain copies of the records when such are needed to allow the student to effectively exercise his/her right of inspection and review;
2. consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, 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 or entity: (a) employed by the university or the university system in an administrative, supervisory, academic or research, or support staff position; (b) serving on a university governing body or duly authorized panel or committee; or (c) employed by or under contract to the university to perform a special task, function, or service for the university.

   A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the information requested is necessary for that official to (a) perform appropriate tasks that are specified in his/her position description or in the performance of regularly assigned duties by a lawful supervisor; (b) fulfill the terms of a contractual agreement; (c) perform a task related to a student's education; (d) perform a task related to the discipline of a student; or (e) provide a service or benefit relating to the student or student's family, such as health care, counseling, financial aid, job placement, or former student-related activities.

   Disclosure to a school official having a legitimate educational interest does not constitute university authorization to transmit, share, or disclose any or all information received to third parties unless such disclosure is permitted or required by law.

3. the right to correct a student's education records when the records are inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of FERPA;
4. the right to report violations of FERPA to the Department of Education;
5. the right to be informed about FERPA rights.

All the rights and protections given students under FERPA belong to the student. However, information in student records may be provided to parents/legal guardians without the written consent of the student if the eligible student is a financial dependent of his or her parents/legal guardians as defined under Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

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 My Record 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. Once parent/guardian Howdy access has been inactivated upon their student becoming a former student, parents/guardians may still contact the Registrar's Office to obtain information on their former student, providing the parent/guardian is able to demonstrate eligibility to receive this information in compliance with FERPA.

For procedures on how to inspect and review or correct education records, please refer to the Texas A&M University Standard Administrative Procedure on Student Records.

If you witness or commit what you believe to be a possible FERPA violation, please notify the Office of the Registrar immediately at 979-845-1145, ferpa@tamu.edu or Help Desk Central at 979-845-8300 (24 hours). The Office of the Registrar will investigate the matter and determine what action, if any, should be taken. If you have any questions about FERPA compliance or the release of student information, please contact Venesa Heidick, Registrar at vheidick@tamu.edu or 979-845-1145.