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<p>Actually, your son’s undergraduate professors had the legal right to discuss his academic progress with you as long as he qualified to be claimed as your dependent on your tax return, according to the terms of FERPA (Family Educational Privacy and Rights Act.) This would be true even if he did not sign a waiver and regardless of his age.</p>
<p>As noted above, the rights under FERPA transfer from the parents to the student, once the student turns 18 years old or enters a postsecondary institution at any age. However, although the rights under FERPA have now transferred to the student, **a school may disclose information from an “eligible student’s” education records to the parents of the student, without the student’s consent, if the student is a dependent for tax purposes. Neither the age of the student nor the parent’s status as a custodial parent is relevant. **If a student is claimed as a dependent by either parent for tax purposes, then either parent may have access under this provision. (34 CFR § 99.31(a)(8).)</p>
<p>Source: [FPCO</a> Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/faq.html#q5]FPCO”>http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/faq.html#q5)</p>
<p>Many people do not realize this, but if parents claim children as their dependents on their tax returns, colleges do have the right (but not the obligation) to share information about their children’s academic records with them.</p>