A comparative study of the policies, procedures, training and enforcement of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) at public and private colleges and universities in four Carnegie classifications of institutions of higher education in the

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) guides policies and procedures regarding the privacy of students' educational records. The first purpose of the study was to determine if there were statistically significant differences among institutions in four Carnegie Classifications of Institutions of Higher Education on FERPA policies, on FERPA procedures, on FERPA training and on FERPA enforcement. The second purpose of the study was to determine if there were statistically significant differences among postsecondary institutions' affiliation on FERPA policies, on FERPA procedures, on FERPA training and on FERPA enforcement. The four Carnegie Classifications were: (1) Doctoral/Research Universities - Extensive; (2) Doctoral/Research Universities - Intensive; (3) Master's Colleges and Universities I; (4) Master's Colleges and Universities II (The Carnegie Foundation, 2001). Postsecondary institution affiliation was public or private.; Via a stratified random sample, 400 postsecondary institutions (N = 850) were selected. The distribution of postsecondary institutions selected for the sample correlated to the distribution of the postsecondary institutions in the population. After two pilot tests, a survey designed by the researcher was mailed to 400 University Registrars.; Two hundred and forty-seven useable surveys were returned. The response rate for the study was 61.8%. A chi-square test determined that the percentages of returns from respondents in each Carnegie Classification were proportional to the percentages of surveys sent to each Carnegie Classification. A chi-square test also determined that the percentages of returns for institution affiliation were proportional to the percentages of surveys sent to respondents at public postsecondary institutions and private postsecondary institutions.; There were statistically significant differences among Doctoral/Research Universities - Extensive institutions and Master's Colleges and Universities II institutions on FERPA policies and on FERPA procedures. There were also statistically significant differences among Master's Colleges and Universities I institutions and Master's Colleges and Universities II institutions on FERPA policies and on FERPA procedures. On FERPA enforcement, there were statistically significant differences among public postsecondary institutions and private postsecondary institutions.