Valdosta Technical College adheres to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) as amended. In summary, the act entitles parents of dependent students the right to inspect and review the student’s educational records. Parents of dependent students or eligible students have the right to contest inaccurate or misleading information contained in the records. The college must have written permission from the student before it will release information from a student record.

The college will abide by the following guidelines concerning student records:

• Inform parents of students and students of their rights concerning records kept by VTC;
• Allow parents and spouses of students who have the written permission of their children or spouses access to the educational records of their children/spouses;
• Non disclosure of personally identifiable information from the educational record of a student without the prior written consent of the student; and
• Maintain a record of disclosure to outside agencies of personally identifiable information from the educational records of the student.

As a general rule, the following information will be kept by the Registrar or Student Services and will remain in the student’s academic file:

• The official academic transcript;
• The original application for admission;
• Secondary and post-secondary official transcripts;
• Application for graduation and/or degree;
• Official notice of admission;
• Evaluation of transfer credits; and
• Memoranda or correspondence pertaining to:
  • registration form;
  • grades, grade changes, explanations, and special course descriptions;
  • drop/Add, official withdrawals; and
  • special honors or special problems.

As a general rule, all academic files are kept for five years after graduation, withdrawal, or suspension of the student, with the exception of the official transcript, which is kept indefinitely. (As technology and governing regulations allow, certain of these documents and files may be stored electronically and in off-campus locations.)