Student Privacy

Protecting personal privacy is a priority at Penn. The University takes a proactive approach to protect students, faculty, staff, patients, and others in our community. 

The Office of Audit, Compliance and Privacy 

This central office oversees privacy compliance at the University. Their website has a number of resources on how to maintain the privacy of your important information while at Penn. We suggest carefully reviewing the information they share to ensure you are taking appropriate steps to protect yourself.  

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. 
 
FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to whom the rights have transferred are "eligible students." 

For more information on FERPA, go to the U.S. Department of Education website.  

Sharing Academic and Financial Information

 

Student academic and financial information ordinarily will not be shared with parents and others unless the student consents to that sharing. Students often wish to share this information with parents, for example, so that parents may be informed of their grades and to facilitate paying student bursar bills.

Students are encouraged to self-manage consent to share academic and financial information. To do so, please log into Path@Penn (https://path.at.upenn.edu/) and under the My Profile section click on Share Academic/Financial Info.