FERPA - For Parents
- What access do I have to my child's education records?
- How are grades distributed?
- How do I obtain access to my child's Bursar bill?
- What happens during crisis situations and emergencies?
- Questions or Concerns
- FERPA Home
What access do I have to my child's education record?
When your child was in elementary and high school, the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gave you and your child rights to access and control your child’s educational records. Now that your child is in college, FERPA transfers ownership of the records directly to your son or daughter.
According to FERPA, college students (regardless of their age) are considered responsible adults and are allowed to determine who will receive information about them. While parents understandably have an interest in a student’s academic progress, they are not automatically granted access to a student’s records without written consent of the student. Information regarding education records is best obtained by direct communication between the parent and the student. If desired, students may grant view-only record access to parents or other third parties using the Proxy tab in Self-Service. See the Proxy Access website for more information. Students may also allow parental access to Bursar billing information by setting up a guest login at the website: https://bursar.okstate.edu.
Your child may give permission for a third party to access his/her records by filing a One-Time Authorization to Release Educational Record Information.
If the parent has provided to the Registrar’s Office evidence that they declare the student as a dependent on their most recent Federal Income Tax form (Form 1040), then access to education records may be allowed.
In addition, parent(s) may be notified if a student under 21 years of age is found responsible for a violation involving use or possession of alcohol and drugs. FERPA regulations allow, but do not require, higher education institutions to provide notice to parents when a student violates federal, state, or local laws related to alcohol or drugs.
Final course grades (and six-week grades for some courses) are available to students through Self-Service (my.okstate.edu).
How do I obtain access to my child's Bursar bill?
A student may provide parental access to his/her Bursar bill by adding them as an Authorized User to their OSU billing information. See the Bursar website (https://bursar.okstate.edu/).
What happens during crisis situations and emergencies?
If non-directory information is needed to resolve a crisis or emergency situation, an education institution may release that information if the institution determines that the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the student or other individuals. Factors considered in making this assessment are: the severity of the threat to the health or safety of those involved; the need for the information; the time required to deal with the emergency; and the ability of the parties to whom the information is to be given to deal with the emergency.
General questions may be directed to the Office of the Registrar or any other office that serves as an official custodian of student records. Comments or suggestions about this website should be addressed to the Office of the Registrar, 322 Student Union, Stillwater, OK 74078, 405-744-6876 or email: registrar@okstate.edu.