FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) is a federal law in the United States that governs the privacy and security of student education records. Under FERPA, personally identifiable information may not be released from a student’s education records without his or her prior written consent. As the parent of a university student, you may have interest in understanding the opportunities available to you for accessing your student’s record. The latest university policies and procedures on FERPA are detailed in Policies and UPM #21.
In compliance with FERPA, you are required to provide your 4-digit proxy Personal Identification Number (PIN) when requesting information about your student’s academic record from University staff. This applies to contact with the following offices by phone, email, or in person:
Proxy PINs are completely optional for your student to create on your behalf and is separate from the PIN they create for themselves. If they decide to authorize access for you to speak with University staff, they can create your PIN in ConnectCarolina. While creating a PIN they will select which information University staff are permitted to share with you (i.e. grades, financial aid, etc.).
A PIN is required when you are contacting the office to discuss information specific to your student’s record. This includes topics like their grades, class enrollment, and residency status. For example, “Why was my student not eligible for the Dean’s List last semester?” requires a PIN because the answer is determined by review of their GPA, grades, and class schedule for the term. You may receive this answer if your student has authorized the appropriate access for your PIN.
You do not need a PIN when you are contacting the office with a general question that does not require review of your student’s record. This pertains to subjects like policies, procedures, and details on dates from the academic calendar. For example, “What are the requirements to be eligible for the Dean’s List?” does not require a PIN because it is a general question about University policy.
According to federal law, once a student enrolls in an institution of higher education, whether the student is over age 18 or not, the student’s parents no longer have automatic access to the student’s education records. However, if the parents claim the student as a dependent on their federal income tax return, they may have access to the student’s UNC-Chapel Hill education records without the student’s prior written consent. If either parent claims the student, then both parents have access to the student’s education records. Because tax dependency can change from year to year, parents who wish to establish eligibility to receive information from their students’ education records must furnish the following information each year.
Note: having a valid 4-digit proxy PIN does not authorize you to obtain access to your student’s education records in the same manner tax dependency allows. The PIN only permits discussing record details your student has authorized with a University staff member on the phone, over email, or in person.
Fill in & sign the Parent(s) Certification of Student’s Dependent Status for Federal Income Tax Purposes form. All fields requesting you and your student’s information must be entered before our office can accept your request.
Once you have filled out the form, please include a copy of your federal income tax return for the relevant tax year*. For example, if you are submitting a request in October of 2024, you would submit a copy of your 2023 tax return.
*Please contact our office if you do not have your latest tax documents due to an approved extension.
Send your request form and tax return documents to our campus address:
Office of the University Registrar
CB # 2100
UNC-Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-2100
Requests submitted through other delivery methods (i.e. email) will not be accepted.
Upon completion of processing we will mail an unofficial copy of your student’s transcript to you at the address you listed on the request form. The transcript will list all graded enrollment at UNC-Chapel Hill, but please note any courses currently in progress at the time of your request will not appear. You may contact our office after the term has ended to request an updated copy with the respective term’s grades included. A new request form is not required unless the tax documents are no longer valid and should be updated for the current tax year.
Your student is first introduced to FERPA when they attend orientation. However, we encourage their review of the student guide to ensure they understand how their information is protected, shared, and amended.