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Students’ Access to Their Education Records

A student has the right, upon written request to the Office of the Registrar, to review the student’s own education records. The Office of the Registrar is the designated custodian for education records and will coordinate the inspection and review procedures. Education records covered by FERPA will be made available to the student within 45 days of the request. A student has the right to review all materials that are in the student’s education records, except:

  1. Financial information submitted by the student’s parents;
  2. Confidential letters and recommendations associated with admissions, employment or job placement, or honors, to which the student has waived rights of inspection and review or which were made part of the student’s education records prior to January 1, 1975, provided those letters were collected under established policies of confidentiality and were used only for the purposes for which they were collected;
  3. Education records containing information about more than one student, in which case UT Southwestern will permit access only to that part of the record that pertains to the inquiring student; and
  4. Records that are subject to an attorney-client privilege which belongs to UT Southwestern.

Except where pre-empted by a specific provision of FERPA or where an official copy of a student’s transcript is requested, a student’s right to access and/or request a copy of his or her education records is coextensive with the student’s right to access records under the Texas Public Information Act (TPIA).

  1. Requests by a student for education records that are available to a student under an applicable provision of the TPIA shall be processed by UT Southwestern in accordance with the TPIA.
  2. Records pre-empted from availability under the TPIA by FERPA will be made available by the Office of the Registrar within 45 days of the request.
  3. Official copies of transcripts or other academic records will not be released for students who have a delinquent financial obligation to UT Southwestern or a financial "hold" at the University (e.g., for failure to complete financial aid exit counseling).