FERPA Signed, Establishing Student Privacy Rights in Education Records

President Ford signed the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act on August 21, 1974, prohibiting federally funded educational institutions from disclosing student records to third parties without consent. The law gave students and parents the right to inspect and correct their own records. FERPA became the primary federal privacy protection for college applicants and students, later invoked as a barrier against mandatory disclosure of admissions data to the executive branch.