The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known as FERPA or the Buckley Amendment, protects the privacy of student education records. Trident Technical College restricts the disclosure of information from student education records to third parties and provides students the right to review their education records.

1. CONTENTS OF STUDENT EDUCATION RECORDS
   The education records of students and formerly enrolled students consist of admissions documents and academic transcripts. The Admissions and Records office maintains admissions documents, including electronic records, in accordance with the General Records Retention Schedule for the state of South Carolina.
   
   
2. EXCLUSIONS
   Under FERPA regulations, the following records are not considered to be "education records" and not available for student inspection:
   
   
   1. Private notes of faculty and staff;
      
   2. Campus law enforcement records;
      
   3. Student's medical or psychiatric records;
      
   4. Student's employment records;
      
   5. Parents' financial statements submitted for financial aid;
      
   6. Records obtained after the student is no longer enrolled.
      
      
3. DESIGNATED OFFICIAL
   The Registrar is responsible for controlling access and disclosure of student education records.
   
   
4. THIRD-PARTY ACCESS
   TTC accords all the rights under this act to students who are declared independent. Parents of independent students have no access to student education records. Parents or guardians of dependent students may access dependent student records by completing a request form and providing appropriate documentation to verify the dependent status of the student to the office of the Vice President for Student Services
   
   No one outside the institution will have access to, nor will the institution disclose any information from, student education records without written consent of students, except to personnel with the institution, to officials of other institutions in which student seeks to enroll, to persons or organizations providing financial aid, to accrediting agencies carrying out their accreditation function, to person in compliance with a judicial order, to persons responding to health or safety emergency, or to other persons as allowed under this Act. These exceptions are permitted under the Act.
   
   
5. FACULTY AND STAFF RESTRICTIONS
   The Registrar permits faculty and employees of TTC who have a "legitimate educational interest" in the student education records access to computerized permanent student education records on the Student Information System. The Registrar based on the employee’s need to know for advising and counseling purposes determines the level of viewing access. Except as noted above, no faculty member or employee outside the Admissions and Records office is authorized to view student education record documents without the prior consent of the Dean of Enrollment Services. Violations of security will be reported to the Assistant Vice President for Student Services for appropriate action or referral to other college authorities.
   
   
6. RIGHT TO VIEW STUDENT EDUCATION RECORDS
   The law provides students with the right to inspect and review information contained in their education record. Students may request to review their education records by contacting the Registrar, who will verify the requestor and, if appropriate, provide access to the file.
   
   
7. CHALLENGE OF THE CONTENTS OF STUDENT EDUCATION RECORDS
   The law provides students with the right to challenge the contents of their education records, to have a hearing if the outcome of the challenge is unsatisfactory, and to submit explanatory statements for inclusion in their files if the decisions of the hearing panels are unacceptable.
   
   Students may challenge the contents of their education records that they consider inaccurate, misleading or otherwise in violation of their privacy or other rights. The Registrar will receive challenge requests and determine within a reasonable period of time whether or not corrective action consistent with the student's request will be taken. The Registrar will notify students who make challenge requests of the decision(s) the Registrar has reached.
   
   If decisions reached are in accordance with the student's request, the appropriate records must be corrected, amended, or deleted. When students disagree with the decision, they have the right to appeal to the Dean of Enrollment Services. When students are in disagreement with the Dean's decision, they may appeal to the Vice President for Student Services, whose decision is final. When the final decision is unsatisfactory to the students, they have the opportunity to place a statement commenting on the information in the education record. The statement is to be maintained as part of the student's education record for as long as the record is held by TTC.
   
   
8. NOTICE TO STUDENTS
   Students, parents, and guardians are informed annually in TTC's Catalog/Student Handbook of the right to access and review their education records.