Can college professors/instructors look at a student's transcripts?

Question

As students, we can look at our instructors' grade distributions, or we can go to Rate My Professor.com and see students' reviews of their professors....so can the instructors look at our past grades and biographical information?

Answer 1

You bet they can.  I recently thought about doing a Masters at the school I got my undergrad from.  Went down to talk to a professor about it and they bought up all my grades and just about anything else you can imagine from nearly 30 years ago in a flash.

Thanks

Bill

Answer 2

No. That would be against the Family Rights and Education Privacy Act (FERPA). Registrar's are not allowed to release transcript information to any one other than the student and other individuals specified by the act.  

Answer 3

We do have access to lots of student data, but we are not allowed to discuss it with others, including with your parents.  I have access to my students' names, DOB, address, college assigned e-mail.  I also have access to any state exam scores you took in high school pertaining to my course so I can determine course placement.  I do not have access to your grades from other courses.