FERPA Rules for Student Recommendations

Only a student may request release of their education record. A signature is normally required to guarantee that the requestor is the student in question. In order to include any grade or other personally identifiable information from a student’s academic record, a person writing a recommendation must have written verification that the student has agreed to that information being included. A written verification/request DOES NOT mean that the student will have access to see the actual recommendation if the student has waived their rights to view the letter.

Faculty or any other persons are free to write letters that include their personal observations, since those observations are their own. No information that is maintained as part of the student’s record can be included without permission. This would include their grade info, but also any information kept in a student file in the DOS, Registrar or other offices on campus (ie: academic or disciplinary sanctions, advising notes, etc).

To protect themselves and the institution, faculty should require a written request for a recommendation from a student/alum that includes the items in the sample below. If the student does not indicate that the faculty member may include items from the education record, then the faculty member can write a letter or refuse to do so if they feel they can not write an accurate recommendation without that information.  The same would apply for the waiver, if a student does not indicate whether they waive their rights to see the letter, the faculty member should assume that the student has NOT waived their rights, and then write or not write the letter based on this assumption.

Below is the AACRAO (American Association of Collegiate Registrar’s and Admissions Officers) Guidelines for dealing with this particular issue in FERPA. Also see a sample Letter of Recommendation Permission Letter.

From the AACRAO 2001 FERPA Guide

5.17 Letters of Recommendation

Statements made by a person making a recommendation that are made from that person’s personal observation or knowledge do not require a written release from the student who is the subject of the recommendation.  However, if personally identifiable information is obtained from a student’s education record is included in a letter of recommendation (grades, GPA, etc.), the writer is required to obtain a signed release from the student which

1. specifies the records that may be disclosed,
2. states the purpose of the disclosure, and
3. identifies the party or class of parties to whom the disclosure can be made.

If kept on file by the person writing the recommendation, it would be part of the student’s education record and the student has the right to read it unless he or she has waived the right of access.