public-service · school directory information opt-out
FERPA Directory Information: Notice and Opt-Out Rules
The federal notice requirements for directory information, the categories excluded from it, and the listed opt-out limits.
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Updated: Sources: 1
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What matters now
- The directory-information provision requires public notice of designated categories, the right to refuse, and an opt-out period.
- The definition excludes a Social Security number and generally excludes a student ID number, subject to the regulation's stated exception.
- The regulation lists class-related name, identifier, and email disclosure and student-ID requirements as limits on an opt-out.
- For former students, the regulation preserves a valid opt-out made while the student was in attendance unless it is rescinded.
34 CFR § 99.37 sets out public-notice conditions for directory-information disclosure. It also describes opt-out limits. The definition in § 99.3 identifies information that cannot be designated as directory information and a stated exception for certain student ID numbers.
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
- The provision calls for public notice of designated categories, the right to refuse designation, and the opt-out period (34 CFR Part 99).
- The definition excludes a Social Security number and generally excludes a student ID number, subject to the regulation’s paragraph (c) exception (34 CFR Part 99).
- The regulation specifies class-related disclosure and student-ID requirements that an opt-out does not prevent (34 CFR Part 99).
- It also states how a valid opt-out made while a student was in attendance applies after the student leaves (34 CFR Part 99).
Required public notice
The directory-information provision requires public notice of:
“(1) The types of personally identifiable information that the agency or institution has designated as directory information; (2) A parent’s or eligible student’s right to refuse to let the agency or institution designate any or all of those types of information about the student as directory information; and (3) The period of time within which a parent or eligible student has to notify the agency or institution in writing that he or she does not want any or all of those types of information… designated as directory information.” — 34 CFR Part 99
These are the three notice elements stated in § 99.37.
Categories the definition excludes
Regardless of what a school designates, the regulation places a hard limit on the category. Directory information:
“does not include a student’s — (1) Social security number; or (2) Student identification (ID) number, except as provided in paragraph (c)” — 34 CFR Part 99
The definition excludes a Social Security number. It also excludes a student ID number except as paragraph (c) provides.
Limits listed for an opt-out
The regulation also specifies actions that a valid opt-out does not prevent. It does not prevent an institution from:
“disclosing or requiring a student to disclose the student’s name, identifier, or institutional email address in a class in which the student is enrolled” — 34 CFR Part 99
Nor does an opt-out:
“Prevent an educational agency or institution from requiring a student to wear, to display publicly, or to disclose a student ID card” — 34 CFR Part 99
These are two limits expressly listed in § 99.37.
Former students
For a former student, the regulation addresses both its notice requirement and an opt-out already on file:
“the agency or institution must continue to honor any valid request to opt out… made while a student was in attendance unless the student rescinds” — 34 CFR Part 99
An opt-out made while the student was in attendance remains subject to this rule unless the student rescinds it.
What This Article Does Not Answer
This article reports only the federal text in §§ 99.3 and 99.37. It does not identify the categories a particular school has designated or determine whether a particular disclosure complied with that school’s notice.