During a student's academic tenure at Carnegie Mellon, parents are bound to have questions and concerns regarding their child's progress. We embrace our responsibility as faithful stewards of this journey, but we also respect the limitations that restrict our ability to keep parents informed along the way.

This is in reference to the federal law that protects students' privacy concerning educational records while in college: the Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974. According to FERPA, students who are either 18 years old or enrolled in a postsecondary institution become the sole owners of their school records. Therefore, any correspondence pertaining to financial aid, student accounts, grades, or disciplinary action is sent directly to the student.

We rarely contact parents, unless we fear for the student's safety or the student requests that we waive his/her privacy rights. As administrators, we are not intentionally trying to exclude parents from receiving information, but rather simply following the law established by FERPA. We hope that this law would encourage an open and active dialogue to exist between student and parent(s) during the college years.

For further information on Carnegie Mellon's policies regarding student privacy, please refer to the Enrollment Services Students Right to Privacy Information and the Department of Education's FERPA Guide.

If you have additional questions regarding FERPA, contact the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies, College of Engineering, at 412-268-2479.

For you may call the U.S. Department of Education at (202) 260-3887. Individuals who use TDD may call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339.