ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


October 1 9 9 3 / 5 2 7

D e p artm e n t of
Education clarifies
access to theses
Earlier this year, the Depart­
ment of Education was asked 
by one institution for a writ­
ten opinion as to w hether the 
Family E d ucational Rights 
and Privacy Act (FERPA, also 
k n o w n  as th e  B u c k le y  
Amendment) applied to un­
d e rg ra d u a te  a n d  g rad u a te  
theses, and w hether theses 
could be made publicly avail­
able in academic libraries for 
research purposes. The written response indi­
cated that student theses w ould ordinarily be 
considered education records under FERPA and 
generally could not be released without prior 
written consent by the student. This response 
was apparently distributed through electronic 
mail to institutions around the country and was 
picked up by the media.

The regulations implementing 
FERPA require . . . written con­
sent before releasing a student’s 
education records or disclosing 
personally identifiable informa­
tion from  such records.

The regulations implementing FERPA require 
an educational institution to obtain written con­
sent before releasing a stu d e n t’s educatio n  
records or disclosing personally identifiable 
information from such records. In general, e d u ­
cation records are defined as those directly re­
lated to a student and m aintained by an educa­
tional agency or institution.

Since press reports on this issue surfaced 
this summer, the ALA W ashington Office has 
been in touch with the D epartm ent’s Family 
Policy Compliance Office, w hich administers 
FERPA, to seek clarification. ALA learned that 
no com plaints have been  m ade against any 
postsecondary institution by any student alleg­
ing that a thesis was improperly disclosed. De­
partm ent officials said they did not before and 
do not now  see a problem  with the way schools 
normally treat theses that are written for publi­

W a sh in g to n
H o tlin e

Carol C. Henderson

cation, and generally do not 
see the need for schools to 
change th e w ay they are 
doing business.

A l e t t e r  i n t e n d e d  to  
clarify the D epartm ent of 
E d u c a tio n ’s p o sitio n  was 
se n t on S e p tem b e r 1 by 
LeRoy S. Rooker, Director 
of the Family Policy Com­
p l ia n c e  O ffic e , to  ALA 
W ashington Office Director 
Eileen Cooke. Rooker noted 
th at “in ordinary circum ­
stances FERPA prevents an 

institution from  disclosing or pu b lish in g  a 
student’s written examination or pap er with­
out prior written consent,” except for certain 
specified exceptions. Nevertheless, Rooker saw 
the special nature of student theses, and stated: 

H ow ever, w hile these docum ents are 
clearly “education records,” as noted in our 
May 11, 1993, letter on this subject, w e rec­
ognize that u n d erg rad u ate and graduate 
“theses” often differ in nature from typical 
student research papers and other educa­
tion records, such as written examinations, 
in that they are published or otherwise made 
available as research sources for the aca­
dem ic community through the institution’s 
library. It remains our understanding that 
in these circumstances an educational insti­
tution w ould ordinarily have obtained the 
student’s permission to make his or her work 
available publicly before doing so, perhaps 
in connection with notifying the student of 
specific course or program  requirements.

Consequently, an institution need not ob ­
tain a student’s signed and dated specific 
written consent to disclose or publish a the­
sis in the library or elsewhere at the institu­
tion. Neither the statute, the legislative his­
tory, n o r the FERPA regulations require 
institutions to depart from established prac­
tices regarding the placem ent or disclosure 
of student theses so long as students have 
been advised in advance that a particular 
undergraduate or graduate thesis will be 
m ade publicly available as part of the cur­
riculum requirem ents. ■

Carol C. Henderson is deputy executive director o f  
A L A ’s Washington Office; bitnet: cch@alawasb.org

mailto:cch@alawasb.org