Dear FERPA Professor,
Due to the high suicide rate amongst medical students, some of our faculty members feel that they should have access to students’ mental health records, especially if the student has a documented history or is currently dealing with depression. As far as FERPA is concerned, don’t mental health records fall under the definition of an educational record? While I understand the faculty member’s desire to obtain the information, I question whether they have a legitimate need-to-know.
Your thoughts on this are truly appreciated,
Gladys Friday
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Dear Gladys,
Medical or treatment records are exempt from the definition of education records so long as those records are only shared with other medical providers. See §99.3(b)(4) “Education Records.”
However, under FERPA, an institution may choose to share those records under one of the §99.31 exceptions to signed consent, such as the school official exception found at §99.31(a)(1). This would cause those shared treatment records to become education records. The decision on whether or not to share such records, and whether the school officials requesting the treatment records had the required legitimate educational interest, would be determined by the institution. The institution would also want to determine whether any state laws existed which would limit such sharing of these records.
You can find the above referenced FERPA citations on pages 154 and 159 of the 2012 AACRAO FERPA Guide. (Purchase the AACRAO FERPA Guide.)
I hope this is helpful in answering your question.
Sincerely,
The FERPA Professor
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