College is often a fresh start for students, but some have pasts that follow them. Take, for instance, "S.D.," an 18-year-old man from Pennsylvania who wanted to go to Temple University. When he was 17, he put an image on a file-sharing network that resulted in his being charged in juvenile court with one count of disseminating child pornography.…

A college's graduation rate is such a basic consumer fact for would-be students these days that it's difficult to imagine that the federal government didn't even collect the information as recently as the early 1990s. If not for two former Olympic basketball players who made their way to Congress and wanted college athletes to know about their…

Last month several news organizations reported on the emergence of "fusion centers"--vast data clearinghouses, operated by state law-enforcement agencies, that can instantly call up key personal information on anyone: telephone numbers, insurance records, family ties, and much more. Architects of the fusion centers say they are a…

An extraordinary amount of the national discussion since the shootings at Virginia Tech a year ago has focused on the role that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or Ferpa, the federal statute governing the privacy of student records, played in that tragedy. What that discussion has revealed most notably is that, although colleges have…

New regulations for the Family Rights and Privacy Act (Ferpa), which governs the privacy of student records, become effective this month. Announced by the Department of Education in December 2008, the regulations empower colleges to act appropriately and decisively to protect the health and safety of students and others. They also signify a new…

At least 18 colleges are scrambling to inform tens of thousands of students that they are at risk of having their identities stolen after SunGard, a leading software vendor, reported that a laptop owned by one of its consultants was stolen. The extent of the problem is still unknown, though many of the campuses that have been identified are in…

Patrick A. Grant was stolen in April. A thief walked away with a laptop containing the University of Virginia biochemist's name and Social Security number, as well as those of more than 7,000 other professors, staff members, and students. The machine belonged to a university employee who had taken it off campus--and then it was simply taken. The…

Colleges capture a slew of highly sensitive information on everyone on campus. While chief privacy officer has become a recognized title in the corporate world, higher education seems slow to pick up on the trend--a reluctance that could represent either head-in-the-sand thinking or fiscally prudent avoidance of bureaucratic bloat. This article…

New regulations may expand the thicket of student-privacy law, but the U.S. Department of Education hopes that an in-depth guide will help colleges and universities find their way. Last week the department released new rules on the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (Ferpa), which governs the disclosure of student records. The regulations…

Educators, mental-health officials, and law-enforcement officers often do not share information about troubled students because they are confused by what they can disclose under complex and overlapping privacy laws, according to a report on the Virginia Tech shootings. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and two other Bush cabinet secretaries…

Describes how student activism has prompted a number of colleges to begin phasing out their use of Social Security numbers in databases. (EV)

This article describes the findings of a Florida commission on campus safety that was issued in May 2007. The commission contradicted assertions by officials at Virginia Tech that they could not share information about the gunman in April's fatal shooting rampage because of privacy laws. The commission was assembled by Governor Charlie Crist in…

Describes how as colleges keep more information about students in electronic records, institutions struggle for ways to make sure only the right people gain access. (EV)

More faculty and administrators are seeking access to student files and class rosters and are gaining it through the proliferation of computer terminals on campus, raising the level of responsibility of registrars far above the actual level of control. An institutional approach to records security is recommended. (MSE)

Discusses how, for students seeking to study in the United States from countries around the world, the delays caused by intensified security checks are calling attention to a process that many say was already deeply flawed. (EV)