public-service · FERPA education record definition
What Makes a Record an "Education Record" Under FERPA
FERPA's federal regulation defines "education record" with a two-part test and several specific carve-outs. Here is exactly what the rule says.
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What matters now
- FERPA's regulatory definition uses a two-part test: directly related to a student, and maintained by the school or a party acting for it.
- Personal notes kept solely by their maker, used only as a memory aid, and not shared with anyone else (except a temporary substitute) fall outside the definition.
- Records held by a school's law enforcement unit are excluded from this definition and are instead governed separately under § 99.8.
- Most employment records of a school employee are excluded — unless that person is employed specifically because they are a student, in which case those records remain education records.
- The regulation itself does not apply this test to any specific document or school; that determination is made institution by institution.
Under the federal FERPA regulation at 34 CFR § 99.3, an “education record” is directly related to a student and maintained by an educational agency or institution, or by a party acting for it. The regulation also lists specific categories outside that definition, including sole-possession notes, law-enforcement-unit records, and most employment records, with an exception for student-employees.
This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.
Key points
- FERPA’s regulatory definition uses two conditions: directly related to a student and maintained by the school or a party acting for it (34 CFR § 99.3).
- Sole-possession notes used only as a personal memory aid and not shared except with a temporary substitute are listed outside the definition (34 CFR § 99.3).
- Records of a school’s law-enforcement unit are listed subject to § 99.8 (34 CFR § 99.3).
- The regulation states that records for a person employed because of student status are education records and are not excepted under the employment-record exclusion (34 CFR § 99.3).
The two-part test
The regulation defines “education record” directly:
“The term means those records that are: (1) Directly related to a student; and (2) Maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution.” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/section-99.3)
Both parts of this test must be satisfied for a record to be an education record under the federal definition. A record that is directly related to a student but not maintained by the school or someone acting on the school’s behalf does not meet the test as written — and neither does a record maintained by the school that is not directly related to a student.
Carve-out: sole-possession personal memory aids
The regulation excludes certain personal notes from the definition:
“Records that are kept in the sole possession of the maker, are used only as a personal memory aid, and are not accessible or revealed to any other person except a temporary substitute for the maker of the record.” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/section-99.3)
This exclusion is narrow on its face: the record must be in the sole possession of its maker, used only as a personal memory aid, and inaccessible to anyone else except a temporary substitute for that maker.
Carve-out: law enforcement unit records
The regulation also excludes records created and held by a school’s law enforcement unit from this definition, directing them to a separate regulatory provision instead:
“Records of the law enforcement unit of an educational agency or institution, subject to the provisions of § 99.8.” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/section-99.3)
That means law enforcement unit records are not governed by the “education record” definition at all — they are addressed under § 99.8’s own separate provisions.
Employment record exception
FERPA’s regulation excludes most employment records of a school employee, but it draws a specific line back for people employed specifically because of their student status:
“Records relating to an individual in attendance at the agency or institution who is employed as a result of his or her status as a student are education records and not excepted under paragraph (b)(3)(i) of this definition.” (https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/section-99.3)
In other words, the general employment-records exclusion does not apply to someone who is employed by the school specifically because they are a student there; for that person, the employment-related records remain education records under the regulation.
What this article does not answer
This article explains what the regulation’s own text says the “education record” definition requires and excludes. It does not determine whether a specific document meets the definition or one of the listed exclusions.