Carnegie Mellon University

Student Privacy & FERPA

One of the most significant changes a parent or guardian experiences in sending a student to college is the difference in privacy standards for educational records. Carnegie Mellon values the student's right to privacy. The university adheres to a federal law called the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (also called FERPA or the Buckley Amendment) that sets privacy standards for student educational records and requires institutions to publish a compliance statement, including a statement of related institutional policies. For more detailed information, see our brochure (pdf).

With certain exceptions, Carnegie Mellon officials will not disclose personally identifiable information from a student's education records without the student's prior written consent. If a student would like to give consent to a parent or family member to have access to some or all of his or her educational records, the student must complete a Consent to Release Information (pdf) form and return it to The HUB.

My Plaid Student & Student Privacy

My Plaid Student (MPS) is a secure website that gives authorized individuals access to certain information about a student. The HUB and Enrollment Services staff are permitted to discuss student account and other financial-related information with parents or other family members, as long as those individuals have been granted access to that information in MPS by the student. On the contrary, staff are not permitted to discuss academic-related information (such as grades, QPA, course schedules, etc.) with parents or other family members even if those individuals have been granted access to that information in MPS by the student. In order to allow a HUB or Enrollment Services staff member to have academic-related discussions with a parent or family member, the student must complete a Consent to Release Information (pdf) form and submit it to The HUB. 

Directory Information

"Directory Information" will be disclosed without the student's prior written consent unless the student has notified us within the first 15 class days of the semester in a given academic year to restrict release of that information. The student must complete a Directory Information Restriction (pdf) form and return it to The HUB.

When a student requests to have any or all directory information restricted, a private flag is set on the student record. No information should be released regarding that student's record, including his student ID number.

Carnegie Mellon University has designated directory information to be:

  • Student's full name, campus electronic mail address, campus/local address, local telephone number, class, department, college of enrollment, dates of attendance, date(s) of graduation, degree(s) awarded, and sorority or fraternity affiliation.
  • For those students participating in intercollegiate athletic events, personally identifiable information included as directory information is the sport of participation, height and weight.

Parent name, address, and telephone number are not considered directory information.