Under FERPA the rights transfer from the parents to the student once they turn 18 years old or enter a postsecondary institution at any age. Although the rights under FERPA have now transferred to a student, a school may disclose information from an “eligible student’s” education records to parents, without consent, if the parent claims the student as a dependent for tax purposes in the last tax year. Neither the age of the student nor the parent’s status as a custodial parent is relevant.
Given that we cannot authenticate the identity of someone over the phone, the Registrar’s Office would relay to parents (who have met the above criteria) the information asked for in a face-to-face meeting, preferably in the student’s presence as well as a member of the Registrar’s Office professional staff.