The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a federal law enacted by congress in 1974, gives rights to the student concerning the privacy of, and access to, their educational records.

University of West Georgia students can now grant access to their student education records through the Family Portal electronically! The Family Portal offers a FERPA authorization option that will create a virtual dashboard for parents and families to easily view academic and financial information for their student. The virtual dashboard can grant on demand access to information regarding credit hours and schedule information, GPAs, student classification information, holds, financial aid offers and requirements, and account balances.

Parents and family members simply sign up using the UWG Family Portal and then submit a connection request by entering their UWG student’s email address. The student will be prompted to approve access for the records they’d like to share and will also have the ability to edit access levels at any time. Once access is approved by the student, records will update in the portal overnight.

If the student's parent or third party does not wish to complete the electronic FERPA, they can fill out the paper FERPA document can be found here. The student would complete the form themselves and submit the form to the Momentum Center along with a copy of their photo ID. Please note this means your parent or any third party you are giving access to would not have on demand options to view student information electronically, but they can still receive information over the phone or in person.

For additional information about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, you can visit the U.S. Department of Education website. As well, UWG has numerous resources created specifically for students, parents, and faculty/staff members that can be found here.