Steve Farmer is the admissions director at UNC. He says he’s seen a significant increase in the number of students requesting access to their admissions files.

“We’ve never had a request in the admissions office under FERPA in the time that I’ve been here, at least as I can recall,” says Farmer. “We’ve had about 25 requests this year for students to review the contents of their admissions files.”

Students are making their requests under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known as FERPA. It grants students the right to see their educational records and protects those records from disclosure to others.

An anonymous newsletter from Stanford University called the Fountain Hopper was published in January outlining the steps necessary for students to request their files. Since then, college students across the nation have taken advantage of the law.

Farmer says the admissions files UNC students receive will likely contain application materials, transcripts, and notes from university personnel, but not letters of recommendation.

“Generally when students apply for admission, they waive the right to see confidential letters of recommendation and other supporting materials that are submitted by the student’s school on behalf of the student,” explains Farmer. “Because the students waive their FERPA rights and because those recommendations were submitted with the expectation of confidentiality, those generally can’t be accessed by students.”

Farmer says one of the most surprising documents might be the student’s own words.

“For some students, seeing what they submitted when they were 17 or 18 years old might be reassuring or it might be a bit of a shock, depending on how much time has passed,” says Farmer.

Currently, UNC admissions department staffers are working on the logistics of filling those requests.

“What we want to make sure we’re doing is that we’re complying fully with the law and that we’re honoring students’ rights to see their records. The mechanics of it are a little complicated,” says Farmer. “It’s also been a little complicated figuring out what exactly in the file is confidential and what’s not. We’re making good progress and I think we’ll be done soon.”

The university has 45 days to comply under the federal law.

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