FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)

For those parents of young adults age 18 and older, going off to college basically means the students have the rights to say who does or doesn't have access to their educational records.   The school doesn't have to share any information about a student to anyone if the student doesn't authorize it, even to "dear old mom and dad."   If there's an emergency situation the school might contact the parents regardless, but as it was explained at my son's college orientation, the school isn't required to do so. 

The best situation is obviously one where the student still maintains open communication with his/her family, and signs the FERPA form to allow parents to converse with the school if needbe. It's important that people know there is another way for parents to access their child's files and speak to school personnel, even if the student  doesn't want to sign the form...So long as your child, even over age 18, is still claimed as a dependent on your annual IRS tax forms, you can provide a copy of the front sheet of the most current 1040 form to the college, along with a letter stating that as your dependent, you want access to all of his/her records, and that takes precedence.   

Some situations where this could come in handy include things like wanting to talk to the Bursar's office to be sure your child's payments are up-to-date, or verify that your child is still enrolled in enough full-time class hours to qualify for health insurance, etc. More involved situations might include where you want to contact your student's advisor to discuss something, like a change of major, etc. With the FERPA form or proof of dependency on file, you can do it.  Otherwise, they don't even have to acknowledge to you that your child is a student at the school. (If the student has requested to keep directory information private.)