Colleges to parents: you can pay the way, but can’t see the results

NOTE: We shut down for a couple of weeks here at “ONYDST” for summer vacations. Hope you’ve had a chance to enjoy the summer, as well.

“What has changed is the University’s former policy … of sending grade reports … to parents or guardians of dependent students … we are therefore discontinuing these forms of communication.” – from the president of a private, East-coast university

The statement above is from a letter sent to parents of students at this institution of higher learning (and was received by an “ONYDST” staffer). We will not state which institution, in the interest of confidentiality and with the understanding that something similar is probably being received by parents of students at a number of other schools. You may not entirely get the gist of what this letter is saying from the quote above, so here it is: the University will not be sending grades to parents that are footing the bill for their children to attend this school. “Oh no, did they really say that?”

According to the letter, “Upon a student’s matriculation into an undergraduate program … regardless of the student’s age, those rights [access to the child's education records] transfer to the student.” We are certainly in favor of granting a level of responsibility to our children, especially since the large majority of undergraduate students have reached the age of majority – 18 years. However, the idea that parents should be forbidden from viewing their child’s grades, when they are paying for the child’s education, strikes us as being a step too far.

Apparently all of this springs from a federal law, know as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA was enacted by Congress to protect the privacy of student educational records and one key element states that schools must have written permission from the student in order to release any information from a student’s educational record. In general, this is a very good idea and prevents the release of this type of information to unknown parties. However, the Act does not specifically bar parental access to a dependent student’s educational records, but specifies that there be clearly delineated policies and procedures for the disclosure of these records. This is all somewhat technical and lawyerly, so we won’t belabor it. We will say, however, that it seems the onus is on the institutions to come up with policies and procedures that are understood by all; that prevent access to any student records by unauthorized, non-family entities; but that allow access to educational records to dependent students and their parents.

On a side note, an interesting additional quote is this: “This policy reflects the University’s view that students should be treated as responsible adults … [emphasis added by us]” It seems that if the University views their undergraduate students as adults; and if state and federal laws hold these adults responsible for signing contracts, committing criminal acts, and joining the military; then these same adults should be able to responsibly enjoy an alcoholic beverage. But that is a whole other discussion …

So we will send a dual message to the federal lawmakers and bureaucrats who crafted an Act that puts colleges and universities in a legal bind regarding the interaction between students and their parents; and to the institutions who can’t find the ability to create a set of policies and procedures for parents that would allow commen-sense access to the educational records which are paid for with their dollars:

“Oh no you didn’t say that!”