What is the purpose of FERPA?

The purpose of FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is fundamentally about protecting the privacy of student education records. This federal law grants parents the right to access their children’s education records, allows them to request amendments to those records, and restricts the disclosure of personally identifiable information without consent. By ensuring these privacy protections, FERPA plays a critical role in fostering a safe educational environment where students' academic information remains confidential.

This focus on privacy contrasts with the other options, which pertain to different aspects of the educational system, such as funding, academic standards, and teacher qualifications. While these areas are important for the overall functioning of educational institutions, they do not align with FERPA's primary goal of protecting the information contained in student records.