are you asking your college student to sign a FERPA waiver?

[Anonymous]

hello. i would appreciate hearing how others are handling this. someone from my office told me get it signed when they heard i have a rising college freshman. when i checked on her university's web site, they state that they will provide grade and schedule information to a parent if the student is claimed as dependent for tax purposes without the need for a signed waiver.

what other pieces of information would the waiver grant? are you asking your college student to sign it?

i don't know much about this, so any and all information is appreciated.

[Anonymous]

My parents required me to sign one for them to pay the bills. They never checked on my grades independently - I always gave that information to them when they asked.

[Anonymous]

We had both children sign the FERPA as a precondition to our paying full freight. We had to use it only once when SN DD was being humiliated by a professor. We took it to Disability Services and advocated for her. Disability Services intervened and spoke to the professor. The professor was in the wrong on a number of points and apologized. SN DD was so shattered by the experience that she wasn’t able to even process what had happened to her, much less advocate. I’m a lawyer familiar with Education issues and know that colleges hide behind FERPA because they don’t want to deal with parents. That’s why you need to have the waiver. If your child is attested or accused of a crime most colleges won’t even notify the parents. Same goes for admittance to a hospital.

[Anonymous]

Is this a question on the common app?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is this a question on the common app?

Yes but that’s for school rec letters, not parent access to grades and schedule and discipline and medical.

[Anonymous]

I did not, but my kids tell me a lot so I feel comfortable. It’s on them now and they know it. We are here to help but we are not driving the train here (although we are paying).

[Anonymous]

My son signed it along with healthcare /financial power of attorney and HIPPARCHUS release when he turned 18.

[Anonymous]

My kid was 17 when they left for school so we didn’t do POA or FERPA yet.

I didn’t know FERPA could help in the way a PP mentioned (with a professor treating a disabled student poorly) and previously thought it was just for checking grades.

[Anonymous]

This is almost worse than the tracking app post. Can parents please cut the cord? Especially about accessing their kids medical records? You’re just asking your kids to sneak around, not use the on campus medical, etc. Where is the trust??

My child is not quite there but I can say after having helicopter boomer parents, getting to college where they didn’t have easy access to my grades was a huge relief.

[Anonymous]

DS is a senior with some learning issues and will get accomodations from the disability office. I will have him sign it IN CASE we need to intervene, but the absolute first line will be him advocating for himself. I do not intend to check grades/log into his account.

I see it like car insurance. I hope I don't need to use it, but if I do, I am sure glad it is there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is almost worse than the tracking app post. Can parents please cut the cord? Especially about accessing their kids medical records? You’re just asking your kids to sneak around, not use the on campus medical, etc. Where is the trust??

My child is not quite there but I can say after having helicopter boomer parents, getting to college where they didn’t have easy access to my grades was a huge relief.

You are missing the point on medical records. If something serious happens to your kid and they did not sign the waiver then the school/hospital can’t tell you lots of needed facts nor can you act as their agent for medical decisions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is almost worse than the tracking app post. Can parents please cut the cord? Especially about accessing their kids medical records? You’re just asking your kids to sneak around, not use the on campus medical, etc. Where is the trust??

My child is not quite there but I can say after having helicopter boomer parents, getting to college where they didn’t have easy access to my grades was a huge relief.

Hopefully you won't be met with a call from your kid's phone that kid is headed to the ER after a car accident, a bon fire accident, found unresponsive .....
I'm not worried about their sneaking beer or pot or birth control. I've also never seen a kid's school grade book (like canvas or blackboard or where you'd see grades) and have never seen a kid's college grades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is almost worse than the tracking app post. Can parents please cut the cord? Especially about accessing their kids medical records? You’re just asking your kids to sneak around, not use the on campus medical, etc. Where is the trust??

My child is not quite there but I can say after having helicopter boomer parents, getting to college where they didn’t have easy access to my grades was a huge relief.

You are missing the point on medical records. If something serious happens to your kid and they did not sign the waiver then the school/hospital can’t tell you lots of needed facts nor can you act as their agent for medical decisions.

Exactly this. Especially if your child attends college several states away. The health/medical form is more important than access to grades. One of ours had an unexpected health emergency and being able to speak to the doctor was key. Our DD was overwhelmed with the info and was grateful we could speak to the doctor then explain things to her and calm her nerves.

[Anonymous]

FERPA is ridiculously unbalanced with respect to student privacy. There needs to be some major reform here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:hello. i would appreciate hearing how others are handling this. someone from my office told me get it signed when they heard i have a rising college freshman. when i checked on her university's web site, they state that they will provide grade and schedule information to a parent if the student is claimed as dependent for tax purposes without the need for a signed waiver.

what other pieces of information would the waiver grant? are you asking your college student to sign it?

i don't know much about this, so any and all information is appreciated.

Did you ask your office mate why they feel the need to access this information? Or when they would stop getting into the detailed weeds of their adult child's life?