Walters State is obligated under law to protect and honor student's privacy. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. For more information please visit the Protecting Student Privacy U.S. Department of Education website:
Information generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if released, can be disclosed to outside organizations without a student's prior written consent. For more information or to have your information excluded, please visit Student Records:
Due to the Federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Acts (FERPA), the Cashier Office is unable to discuss a student's specific account with anyone except the student. The student may grant the Cashier Office permission to discuss their account with others by completing the release of information form below and submitting it to the Cashier's Office. For questions or concerns, contact the Cashier Office at 423.585.2616.
Authorization for Release of Information
The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) extends you (the student) the
right to inspect and review your financial aid records. When you become a student
attending a post-secondary institution (school beyond the high school level), your
parents are no longer allowed access to your financial records. For your protection,
FERPA limits release of information about your records without your explicit written
consent.
When you visit the Financial Aid office, you may be asked to provide a photo ID to
confirm your identity before we can discuss your financial aid records with you. To
protect your privacy, we may not be able to discuss your account in detail with you
over the phone. Before we discuss anything with you over the phone, you may be asked
to verify certain information (student’s school ID number, birth date, SSN, address,
etc.).
We will not discuss your account with your parents, guardians, or others unless we
have a current, signed FERPA Release Form from you designating with whom we may discuss
your account. You must come to the Financial Aid Office with a photo ID to complete
the FERPA Form for each new academic year. We will not accept FERPA Release forms
via mail, email or fax. This release is for financial aid purposes only. To access
other information such as grades, attendance, etc., please contact Student Affairs
to sign a Partners in Education (PIE) Release.
For additional information on FERPA, visit the U.S. Department of Education