<p>"mini...don't you need the grades for insurance???? We get a "good student" discount if we mail in the college grades so D sends us a copy and we forward on to insurance company."</p>
<p>Nope. But if we did, I'd have her send them directly, unless she chose otherwise.</p>
<p>So far as the law is concerned, it would be illegal for the schools to provide any information to a parent or anyone else unless a specific approval or waiver was filed by the student in question. Once a child turns 18 they legally become an independent adult and parents lose their 'rights of oversight' regarding most records in the child's name. </p>
<p>However, I agree with the others in saying that the law really shouldn't have to come into play here and children should volunteer the information if they have a good relationship with their parents. If the law has to come into play then there are likely much bigger problems at issue than just the grades...</p>
<p>
[quote]
Midmo--I'm quite surprised that a school can legally require a person to waive a legal right in order to matriculate there.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I may have to back off a bit. The situation is this: I was never given anything to sign, I was never asked if I wanted access. I was surprised to hear at a parent's gathering that I would be receiving grades automatically. When I asked my son why that was the case, he said he had no idea, because he didn't remember dealing with the issue either. Hence, my assumption that simply enrolling somehow waives the standard-issue regulation.</p>
<p>Also, I remember laughing, back when my son thought he would be attending U Chicago, that he had chosen a school that stated clearly in some publication or other that parents always receive grade reports. Again, my conclusion that there isn't a choice.</p>
<p>Perhaps if a family or student insisted on NOT granting parental review, the schools do not really require it. Perhaps it is just that the default status is a waiver included in the acceptance package in small print?</p>
<p>My d's school will send transcripts if the parent requests it in writing. I don't have a problem with that. Why is it that the only thing I'm legally allowed to see is the bill??</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, a private university can make anything they want a condition of enrollment, including waiver of legal rights.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>Why is it that the only thing I'm legally allowed to see is the bill??<<</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>Amen! Too bad turning 18 doesn't make a kid financially independent as well as legally independent.</p>
<p>I required both my children to give me access to their online accounts at their university (well, S won't be there until this fall) so I can check end of semester grades, as well as conduct financial business.</p>
<p>D has shared her grades with us, and I have not abused the access privilege (there are lots of other things out there that I COULD look at, but I wouldn't think of doing so).</p>
<p>I believe in taking a proactive approach; I have just seen way too many parents whose college aged kids tell them they're doing "fine" in school, only to discover that Junior has handsomely flunked out at the end of the year!! We are not spending precious financial resources for that.</p>
<p>As an aside, H and I happen to have very open and honest relationships with our kids (who are fantastic, but I AM a bit biased!).</p>
<p>Judicial records, under FERPA, are considered part of the student's educational record and are subject to the same protection as grades. There is an exception to that rule for matters involving substance abuse. College have the option of copying parents on any disciplinary matters regarding alcohol or drugs, though some schools do it, some don't, and some do it, but not on the first offense.</p>
<p>From the Virginia website:</p>
<hr>
<p>FERPA permits, but does not obligate, the University to disclose information from an education record without the consent of the student to the following individuals or organizations; however, the University may be obligated to disclose education record information under one of these provisions based on other applicable state or federal law: </p>
<p>g. Parents of a dependent student as defined in section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954. </p>
<hr>
<p>It would seem that either UVa does not know what they are doing, or the govt website is misleadingly oversimplified.</p>
<p>In fact, on further reading, on another portion of the govt website.</p>
<hr>
<p>A school MAY disclose education records without consent when: </p>
<p>....
The disclosure is to the parents of a student who is a dependent for income tax purposes;
.....</p>
<p>Interesting - - I wondered whether there were schools where waiver was the defalut position. </p>
<p>I'm also certain that, as I'dad stated in post #5, that most colleges encourage students to seek parental assistance/advice, when problems arise. It would certainly be a shame for a student to be paralized with fear or steeped in denial that s/he ended up on academic probation (or lose merit$) - - or made precipitous decisions without the benefit of parental counsel and advice.</p>
<p>I asked/directed D to sign the waiver and she did, with only a prefunctory protest. She regularly volunteers grades - - mostly the good one - - and reports the others, if asked. She also had a near-disastrous experiene with course selection (ended up completely re-arranging her schedule late in the game, ultimately dropped one courese late in the semester and will have to make it up during the summer) which she could not have negotiated at all successfuilly without parental assistance.</p>
<p>One of D's friends had a similar experience. After having struggled w/ languages throughout hs, she registered for Arabic, failed the course and ended up on academic probation. The advisor didn't know the girl's weakness in this area and the girl (age 18) thought Arabic sounded like fun.</p>
<p>I understand that at 18, D and her peers are young adults, but they are not equally prepared for adult responsibility. And if a parent knows his/her S/D really needs a bit more oversight, it would be foolish not to insist on seeing the grades or other reasonable support/oversight the parent finds necessary for a good outcome.</p>
<p>I made the mistake of not asking to see my son's grades when he went off to college... he told me he was doing "fine" when in fact he had botched things enough that there was no way he could ever have graduated on schedule from an expensive, private LAC -- though ironically he was not on academic probation because of his rather unique combination of A's & D's, and the fact that the "incomplete" on his record didn't factor into GPA. </p>
<p>So I made it clear to my D. that I expected to see her grades as a condition of the "mommy scholarship", and I've got the login to her college portal. (As with others, that is also the entry point for financial/bursar info, so she's happy). Of course the second irony is that she's got about a 3.9 GPA... so there's nothing for her to worry about. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, son went back to college on his own dime, had straight A's his first semester, and was disappointed when I didn't ask. But I told him that since he is paying his own way, I didn't think it was any of my business unless he wanted to share. </p>
<p>But I do think that if parents are paying, they should see the grades - however it comes to them. A kid who runs into trouble academically will usually feel embarrassed and afraid, and many will try to hide that from their parents. The problem is that they can end up digging a deeper hole for themselves, at the same time running through the parent's money.</p>
<p>Hillsdale College mails the grades to parents, and even has parent/prof conferences!</p>
<p>"But I do think that if parents are paying, they should see the grades - however it comes to them."</p>
<p>I don't get the "should" here. They might want to see them and, as you note in your situation, would have a good reason to. But I would have no good reason to - and their grades are far less interesting or important to me than what they are learning. (What would be unsettling to me would be to see all "A"s, which would suggest to me that they weren't really challenging themselves or stretching their vistas widely enough for my tastes.)</p>
<p>But then we homeschooled.</p>
<p>I'm with the "scholarship of mom" folks. I look forward (with great longing) to the day when my kids are financially independent and in charge of their own lives. However, right now, I am paying a LOT of their freight. They accept my access to their grades and records without complaint. </p>
<p>If I hadn't had that access when one of my sons took a nose-dive, he would probably have flunked out, because he was so oblivious he didn't realize how bad things were.</p>
<p>If I were to "mind my own business" I'd be driving a nice car and going on a lot more cruises. I am minding their business, in a very literal way (rent, tuition, doctors, insurance, etc., etc.).</p>
<p>I too am of the "scholarship of mom" school and agree of mom2three. If the parents are paying then there is a vested interest in keeping on eye on things. If the government says the buck stops with the parents then they need the ability and authority to influence the situation. My S1 didn't question it when I asked for access, in fact his fall grades came in while he was at home for Christmas and he told me he was going to look them up and did I want to look over his shoulder and he's "self reporting" to us fairly consistently. I imagine this could be a problem in some families (the kids aren't as open with the parents) He does go to a school that sends a note to freshman parents simply telling them if their progress is "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory" so I figured he was doing OK. If my kids were paying their own way - I'd never give "knowing their grades" a thought because the buck would stop with them. My S has a scholarship contingent on a certain GPA, but the office that administers those told me that they would haul my son in and give him a "talking to" if he was in a position of loosing it and also told me they would certainly give parents a heads up if their child were in danger of loosing a merit scholarship...but it's a small school so they can "do" those sorts of touchy, feely things I think. I think some of this "your an adult, but not really - you're responsible, but oops not really" legal stuff is utterly ridiculous and sometimes I wonder what drugs our lawmakers are on.</p>
<p>I guess maybe I trust my kids more than most, and I've never had them disappoint me. But I don't think a "should" belongs in this discussion.</p>
<p>It depends on the school. At DS's school, unless students specifically indicate that they do NOT want their grades mailed home...they get mailed "to the parents of___." We got them for eight semesters. At DD's school EVERYTHING goes to the student...including the bills. However we politely told DD that as long as we were paying the bills, we needed to have her sign the release to deal with the school on all issues. She had NO interest in dealing with the bills...So we do have access to her grades too.</p>
<p>However, both of my kids have been very good about emailing me their grades. DS is a grad student, and he has sent us his grades quarterly with a note saying "I'm sure the school will be sending these too." I don't have the heart to tell him that the school is NOT sending us anything...</p>
<p>Youre right, yayverily. I misread the FERFA document. I knew, though, that we were allowed to get the grades no matter what, because an excerpt from an article in the NewYorkTimes said:</p>
<p>"The proposal also clarifies, but does not change, the often misunderstood rules on parents access to their childrens college grades and other records. The privacy law lets universities give parents the education records of students claimed as dependents on their tax returns."</p>
<p>Thanks, dadx, for pointing this out.</p>
<p>Our D willingly signed the paper that allowed the school to send us grades. She went on a downward spiral of grades due to mental illness. Money wasn't an issue because she had full tuition covered by scholarship/tuition remission, and college funds were in her name that covered other expenses. We weren't able to convince her to get help and she is not attending that school anymore. But knowing the grades showed us that all was far from well with her. That was something, at least.</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>The privacy law lets universities give parents the education records of students claimed as dependents on their tax returns>></p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>This is exactly what they told us at orientation at DS's university.</p>
<p>College students have the best of both worlds, it is the perfect transition into true adulthood. "I am independent" my butt, I still pay for your room, board, car and health insurance etc.. I, too, believe that as long as I am paying $43,000 a year for your education that I have a right to see your progress. I do trust my child, she has never disappointed me. She did sign the waiver but tells me her grades due to her pride in accomplishments. I guess I wanted her to know that if she starts "socializing" too much and grades fall there will be consequences. I know she plays hard but she also works hard, I have no problem with that.</p>
<p>This is her first year and we have dealt with major medical issues. She is 400+ miles away and hates the privacy laws - her favorite saying lately is "being 18 sucks", glad she realizes that being an adult is not all it is cracked up to be.</p>
<p>The link to NY Times article doesn't work for me.</p>
<p>Here's what they say on the MIT web site regarding parents' rights to access student records:</p>
<p>"Although parents normally are not entitled to review students’ education records without the students’ consent, appropriate MIT representatives may consult with parents and others in emergencies when health and safety issues so require."</p>
<p>Grades aside, one of the unintended consequences of FERPA is that complete privacy for the student can sometimes result in parents being completely unaware that their child is at risk of harming himself or others. It's reassuring to see that MIT will contact parents in "emergency" situations.</p>
<p>Note that violating FERPA does not have serious consequences for the school--last time I checked into this, they can't be sued by the student, and only run the risk of having their federal funding interrupted if they show a pattern of willful disregard for the provisions of FERPA and ignore letters from FERPA warning them to be more careful.</p>
<p>Here's what is covered by FERPA: "Under FERPA, education records include most tangible materials, including computer records, maintained by MIT that relate directly to an identifiable student currently or formerly enrolled at MIT. These include admissions records, grades, most course work, exams, UROP records, disciplinary records, and financial aid records, as well as gender, nationality, race, ethnicity, and identification photographs. Education records do not include Directory Information, as described below, or those records of Institute faculty and staff members that are made for, and restricted to, their personal use. Other kinds of information, such as medical and law enforcement records, are also excluded from the definition of education records. These are sometimes governed by other laws and/or policies."</p>