Can future schools find out about my past education?

October 27, 2012 9:52 PM

Can future schools find out about my past education?

I spent a brief amount of time (one semester) doing a masters in one subject. I left to pursue other interests. Can future schools find out about this if I completely leave it out of my resume/application?

posted by telsa to Education (8 answers total)

As far as I know, they can't. Federal law prohibits the sharing of any academic or enrollment information without your explicit consent.

FERPA
posted by frizz at 9:54 PM on October 27, 2012

Actually, they can. I've had schools request transcripts from schools left off my application. Others don't care. It really depends on the school.
posted by Autumn at 9:55 PM on October 27, 2012

To be safe, I'd call the institution where you did your semester and ask them to place a "confidentiality" flag on your account. Most schools, in addition to being aware of and adhering to FERPA guidelines, have additional privacy controls. This will also prevent you yourself from calling up and getting info. about your student information. You'd have to conduct your requests in person with a confidentiality flag.
posted by loquat at 10:01 PM on October 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

From frizz's link:
However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions (34 CFR § 99.31):
...
Other schools to which a student is transferring

Plus odds are that the application will contain a sentence specifically granting the school your explicit consent to get every educational record you've had everywhere ever.
posted by Etrigan at 10:08 PM on October 27, 2012 [2 favorites]

Yes they can, through the National Student Clearinghouse which has a list of every school your SSN has attended (not sure if they include grad school, but I don't see why not). I don't think schools verify the information of all their applicants, but it is very very cheap for them to do so. I do believe it's possible to place a FERPA block on your information but they don't make it very easy.
posted by acidic at 10:08 PM on October 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

Did you have a financial aid package? I seem to recollect that when I went to graduate school - and had a financial aid package - the school had access to my undergraduate financial aid information. I suppose I released this information in some fine print of something I signed.
posted by anitanita at 10:15 PM on October 27, 2012

Usually when you apply to a school you are asking to disclose ALL previous schools attended. I wouldn't take the risk of non-disclosure.
posted by bquarters at 4:20 AM on October 28, 2012

My grad school applications all explicitly required that I list absolutely every school I was matriculated into, degree earned or not, along with a signed affidavit that the information in my entire application was complete and correct. They also generally give you an opportunity to address any unique situations in your transcripts, though.
posted by smirkette at 11:21 AM on October 28, 2012