The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPA provides certain rights for parents regarding their children's education records. When a student reaches 18 years of age or attends an institution of postsecondary education at any age, the student becomes an "eligible student," and all rights under FERPA transfer from the parent to…

This paper reports on cases in which colleges have handled confidential assessment reports of students with special learning needs in a manner that violated the students' rights to privacy. Guidelines are suggested for students in order to ensure that information that is shared with postsecondary institutions is used in a way that will enhance…