Kansas State University

The Solomon Amendment is a federal law that allows military recruiters to access some address, biographical, and academic program information on students age 17 and older.

The Department of Education has determined the Solomon Amendment supersedes most elements of FERPA. An institution is therefore obligated to release data included in the list of "student recruiting infor­mation," which may or may not match K-State's FERPA directory information list. Data will not be released to the Military for students with a FERPA Hold. For a list of "student recruiting information" and the procedure to request a release of information to a Military Recruiter please refer to the Solomon Amendment Request page.

As the steward of student data, the Office of the Registrar is tasked with determining whether requests for student data are compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) and thus, whether such data requests shall be fulfilled or not.

The Office of the Registrar will only disclose information from a student's educational record upon receipt of prior written consent of the student or if one of the exceptions to 34CFR99.31 has been invoked.

University officials include academic and research personnel of Kansas State University and research is held to be a legitimate educational interest of the institution, generally sufficient to satisfy the exception to 34CFR99.31, when supported by an approved University Institutional Review Board application.

However, disclosure of student data is still the institutional prerogative and IRB approval does not overrule the decision of the Registrar when the two are in conflict.

In order to request student data for research purposes, it is necessary to complete the Data Request Form - IRB and Research and submit to the Office of the Registrar at registrar@k-state.edu along with a copy of your application and/or approved IRB form. An IRB should be submitted if there is any potential for the research to be submitted for publication, even when the data were originally requested for non-research purposes.

• Under no circumstances will data be released from a student record wherein the student has placed a request for "FERPA Non-disclosure Hold" to create a denial of disclosure of personally identifiable information.
• All publication of findings must assure the anonymity of the data cohort by publishing only aggregate data and not publishing any data derived from a cell size of less than five.
• Personally identifiable data should not be distributed via unencrypted email and must be stored in a manner to ensure its protection and confidentiality.

The Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) is not intended for requesting a copy of your own student record nor is this an acceptable alternative to proper discovery procedures in pending litigation.  The Office of the Registrar provides self-service (KSIS) options to view your academic record, or you can order specific documents such as a duplicate/replacement diploma, official transcripts, etc... depending on your needs. 

Student records are typically not disclosed based on protections granted in the federal student privacy law, FERPA {also see the Student Records Policy}. 

It is important to note that the purposes for which the University may release directory information are: The University may, in its considered discretion, release directory informaton where the release will aid the University in its mission; where a release is made to benefit students; or to University affiliates and partners. 

• • K-State does not list or provide student directory information via an online directory option and generally does not provide electronic or hard copies of such records.