The College notifies students each semester of their rights under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the federal law that governs release of and access to student educational records. These rights include:

1. 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 registrar, dean, or head of the academic department a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The College official will make arrangements for access and notify the student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. If the records are not maintained by the College official to whom the request was submitted, that official shall advise the student of the correct official to whom the request should be addressed.
2. The right to request the amendment of the student's education record that the student believes is inaccurate or misleading. Students may ask the College to amend a record that they believe is inaccurate or misleading. They should write to the College official responsible for the record, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading. If the College 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.
3. The right to 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 defined as a person employed by the College in an administrative, supervisory, academic, or support staff position (including law enforcement unit 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 assisting another school official in performing his or her tasks. A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review an educational record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
4. The right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the 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, S.W., Washington, DC 20202.

Release of student record information is generally not done at Penn College without the consent of the student.  There are however, some exceptions.

For example, directory information includes the following, and may be released without the student's consent: name, home address, local address, e-mail address, home telephone number, local telephone number, day and month of birth, major, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams, dates of attendance, enrollment status, grade level (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior or graduate), date of graduation, degrees received, honors received, awards received and previously attended educational institutions.

Please note that you have the right to withhold the release of directory information.  To do so, you must complete an "Authorization to Withhold Directory Information" form, which is available in the Registrar's Office.

More details about FERPA are available at https://www.pct.edu/students/registrar/ferpa.

Questions concerning FERPA should be referred to the Registrar's Office.