Release of Student Information

Privacy and Release of Student Record Information

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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (otherwise known as FERPA), sets forth requirements regarding the privacy of student records.  FERPA governs release of records maintained by an educational institution and access to those records.  This notice explains the rights of students with respect to their educational records, and outlines the University's procedures to comply with the FERPA.

Copies of the Act and any University policies related to the Act are available from the Student Service Center or your college office.  Questions concerning FERPA should be referred to the Office of the University Registrar, your college/extended campus office, or the office that maintains the student record in question.

Release of Student Record Information is generally not done by The Ohio State University without the expressed, written consent of the student.  There are, however, some exceptions:

Directory Information includes the following and may be released without the student's consent: name, local address, home address, local telephone number, home telephone number, college of enrollment, major, campus attended, status (including current enrollment, dates of attendance, full-time/part-time, etc), participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletic teams.

Students have the right to withhold the release of Directory Information.  To do so, a student must complete a Change of Information Form, available from the Office of the University Registrar or the student's college/extended campus office.  It should be noted that if a student asks for Directory Information to be withheld, it will be withheld from a variety of sources, including: you - the student, friends, relatives, prospective employers, honor societies, and the news media.  Each student is advised to carefully consider the consequences of a decision to withhold Directory Information.

The following information is always considered releasable: e-mail address, previous dates of attendance, degrees and awards received (to include honors, majors, minors and specializations), previous educational agencies or institutions attended.

Each Autumn Quarter, the University publishes the Student Directory which is made public.  The Directory contains the name, college, campus of enrollment, home and local addresses, and the local telephone number for all students enrolled.  In order not to have your name appear in the Student Directory, a student must submit a Change of Information Form, as noted above, no later than the first Friday of Autumn Quarter.  This will also prevent the release of any other Directory Information, as noted above.

Examples of Other Exceptions include emergency situations, lawfully issued subpoenas, to parents of a dependent student, and an educational "need to know" by appropriate faculty or staff of Ohio State.

For more details please review our Privacy and Release of Student Education Records.  Release of Information Authorization forms are available at the Student Service Center, 1st floor Student Academic Services Building, 281 W. Lane Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210.

Students desiring to withhold release of Directory Information will be asked to sign the following statement of understanding regarding the implications of a "no release":

I, _________________________, understand that by requesting to exercise my right to withhold the release of my directory information, NO information will be released by telephone (other than degree verification for students with a prior OSU degree and first/last dates of previous enrollment) to myself, my friends, my relatives, prospective employers, honor societies, the news media, etc.  I understand it is possible that some, if not all, University offices may not even acknowledge my existence in order to protect my privacy.  I understand that callers will generally be advised that, "we (meaning OSU) do not have any record of the student in question in the student database."  I understand that if the caller asks what that means, they will be told, "This could be for one of two reasons.  Either the person has never attended OSU or they have placed a privacy hold on their records."  I understand that I will need to appear, in person, with a picture identification card when requiring service from the University.  Lastly, I understand and am prepared to tolerate the inconvenience to myself this decision may create in order to protect my privacy.

Right to Review Records is effective once a student is enrolled.  They have the right to review their educational records, except for those excluded by law, such as: records kept by a campus health professional, parents' financial records, and confidential letters of reference.

Educational records are not maintained at The Ohio State University in any one central office, but are kept in the respective colleges and schools, the Graduate School, graduate departments, extended campus offices, the Office of the University Registrar, the Office of Student Financial Aid, the office of Admissions, Office of Student Affairs etc.  For a complete list of offices which maintain education records, please contact your college/extended campus office or the Office of the University Registrar.

Questions regarding the review of individual student records should be directed to the specific location and custodian of the records for that unit.  If a student encounters any difficulty in reviewing the appropriate educational record, the questions should be referred to the Office of the University Registrar or to the Student Advocacy Center.

A student may challenge the content or the right to review a student record by notifying the Office of the University Registrar in writing.  The University Registrar will promptly review any such allegations.