FERPA Compliance in Educational AI: What Institutions Need to Know

When students interact with AI tutoring systems, they generate educational records. Questions about coursework, academic struggles, and learning patterns all constitute protected information under FERPA. Institutions deploying AI tutors must ensure these systems meet federal privacy requirements.

Understanding FERPA Scope

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protects education records that contain information directly related to a student and maintained by an educational institution. AI tutoring interactions typically fall within this scope because they reveal academic performance indicators and learning behaviors tied to individual students.

This means AI tutoring vendors are generally considered "school officials" under FERPA when they handle student data on behalf of institutions. The institution remains responsible for ensuring the vendor uses data appropriately and maintains required security controls.

Key Compliance Requirements

Vendor Agreement Essentials

Institutions should ensure AI tutoring vendor agreements include specific FERPA provisions. The vendor should acknowledge its role as a school official, agree to use data only for contracted purposes, and commit to maintaining appropriate security measures. Data ownership should remain with the institution.

Pay particular attention to subprocessor arrangements. If the AI vendor uses third-party cloud services or model providers, those relationships must also comply with FERPA requirements. The primary vendor should accept responsibility for subprocessor compliance.

How TUEL Addresses FERPA

TUEL was built with FERPA compliance as a foundational requirement, not an afterthought. Student data remains on institutional infrastructure where possible. All interactions are logged with timestamps and user identifiers for audit purposes. Role-based access controls ensure only authorized faculty and administrators can view student interaction history.