COLLEGES CAN TELL PARENTS ABOUT STUDENTS' ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE,
EDUCATION DEPT. SAYS

Colleges get broad latitude to reveal the results of disciplinary
proceedings against students accused of violent crimes, and to notify
parents if a student younger than 21 is caught drinking or using
illegal drugs, under regulations the U.S. Education Department issued
Thursday on federal student-privacy laws.

The rules, published in the Federal Register, carry out changes made
by Congress in 1998 to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act,
as part of its review of the Higher Education Act.

The privacy law generally prohibits colleges from releasing students'
educational records. Congress, however, enacted exemptions to these
privacy protections to try to crack down on underage drinking and
illegal-drug use at colleges, and on other student crimes.

Previously, for instance, colleges could not inform parents of a
student's alcohol violation if he or she was 18 or older, unless the
institution could prove that the student was financially dependent on
a parent. Under the new rules, colleges can notify the parents of any
student younger than 21.

The department's rules make clear that colleges do not have to hold
disciplinary hearings before alerting parents that their children have
been caught drinking or using illegal drugs. Instead, colleges can
establish their own procedures for deciding when to contact parents.

Colleges are not required to alert students when parents have been
notified. Colleges must, however, keep a record of the disclosure and
provide it, upon request, to students who wish to know if their
parents have been notified.

The new rules also:

Allow colleges to disclose the results of their disciplinary
proceedings against students who have committed violent crimes.

Permit a college to release a student's education records to a court,
without the consent of the student or parents, if the student or
parents have sued the college.