Rights to Access, Review, and Correction
FERPA gives students the right to access and review most records within 45 days of a request and the right to seek correction of inaccurate, misleading, or privacy-violating records, with a hearing if a correction is denied.
The institution must provide access within 45 days of a request and respond to reasonable requests for explanations. It must verify the requesting student's identity. Students cannot inspect their parents' financial records, confidential recommendation letters they waived the right to see, treatment records, attorney-client-privileged information, or records excluded from the education-record definition. Where a record covers more than one student, the requester sees only their own portion.
A student may request correction of records they believe inaccurate, misleading, or violative of privacy. If denied, the student may request a hearing conducted by a party without a direct interest, with a full and fair opportunity to present the case. If the request is still denied, the institution must let the student place a written statement in the file, which must be maintained and disclosed with any release of the contested record.