FERPA, or the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,  is a Federal law which protects a student's privacy. A full explanation may be found in the College Catalog.

The Northwest College FERPA policy says that "The College may not release or disclose any personally identifiable information to any individual (including parents, spouse, or other students or organization) except as follows . . . ." The exceptions are people who work at the college, official government agencies, and so forth.

So, what does this mean? Well, if a parent calls an instructor to find out whether a student has been attending class or not, the instructor can't give out any information - unless the student has signed a Release of Information form which names specific people to whom the College can release information. Faculty don't automatically get this information and need to contact the Registrar's Office to insure permission has been granted.

If a friend calls the College to find out a student's class schedule, the College can't release that information.

The big exception here is something called Directory Information. The College can disclose directory information - name, address, telephone number, e-mail, photo, participation in sports and activities, and so forth - unless the student specifically request the registrar not to release your directory information.