The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) was designated to protect the privacy of educational records and to provide guidelines for the correction of inaccurate or misleading data through informal and formal hearings. (This does not, however, include challenging the fairness of a grade.) The law also provides the student with the right to inspect and review all information in his/her educational record.

GBC does not generally release information to parents of students without prior written consent of the student.

Under the provisions of FERPA, institutions may disclose, without consent, "directory information" to individuals upon request. At GBC, directory information is defined as name, address, dates of attendance, full-time/part-time status, degree awarded, major declared, and date of graduation.

You may request that GBC not release directory information about you for commercial and/or non-commercial purposes, by completing the Directory Opt-Out Form* and submitting it per instructions on the form. The Academic Calendar published each term announces the deadline for form submission.

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