The University of Michigan complies with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the federal law that governs release of and access to student education records.
The Office of the Registrar provides additional information along with a description of Student Rights and Student Records. Please review the information below to learn more about why FERPA compliance is an important part of any ONSF scholarship or fellowship application process.
Why does ONSF need a FERPA form?
When letters of recommendation are sent to ONSF they become part of your educational record. The Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives you the right to inspect your educational record unless you have expressly waived your right to do so. (A FERPA request of this kind is like a FOIA request).
Thus, whenever ONSF receives and files letters as part of a scholarship/fellowship nomination process, we must have a FERPA form on file stating whether or not you waive access to your letters.
Does my letter writer need to sign and submit a FERPA form?
No. The FERPA form informs ONSF whether you have waived the right to access your letters of recommendation. However, your letter writers also need to know your selection before submitting their letter - in other words, the letter writer needs to know whether the letter is confidential or not.
Some scholarships require that the letter writer submit a FERPA form signed by you along with the letter to ensure that this communication has taken place. However, this places an extra burden on the letter writer to receive and attach a separate form. Instead, our online application management system allows you to make a FERPA selection for each of your recommenders. When you send your recommendation requests to your recommenders, they will be informed of your FERPA choice in the automated email.
Why confidential letters?
ONSF does not require that you waive access to your letters of recommendation. However, some letter writers may only agree to write and submit a letter if it is confidential. Why would they require confidentiality? Typically this is not because they will say anything bad about you. You have selected letter writers who think highly of you and have agreed to write in support of your application. However, strong letters of recommendation often contain comparative information that letter writers would not want to be publicly available.
For example, if a letter says that you are the best student in your cohort within a particular department, the letter writer may not want that information to be passed indirectly to other students within the department. On the other hand, a letter writer may think very highly of you and provide a strong recommendation in other respects, but rank you as the second strongest student in your cohort. For this reason, confidential letters are usually considered more candid and official by committees.
If ONSF receives a letter that is negative - especially if it contains evidence of implicit bias or other problematic language - we may reach out directly to the letter writer to initiate a conversation, or may suggest that you seek an alternate letter without revealing specific information that would break the confidentiality of the letter writer. (Note, however, that there are other reasons that we will ask you to seek an alternate letter writer, so don’t assume that this is because the letter writer said something negative about you.)
If you have concerns either about waiving access to your letters in general or about a particular letter, please contact ONSF for an individual conversation.
When should I submit my FERPA form?
You will submit your FERPA form in bottom section of your application in our application management system, which is where you enter the information for your letter writers.
Are there other ONSF policies for applicants that I should know about?
Yes. Prospective and current applicants should review ONSF Policies for Applicants for an overview of expectations and responsibilities.
Please email ONSF at onsf.info@umich.edu with any questions regarding FERPA forms or policies.
