How Do You Stay FERPA Compliant? A Cybersecurity Guide for IT Leaders

**Executive Summary:** This guidance explains FERPA's applicability to digital student records and why cybersecurity is essential for compliance in 2025, summarizes common breach scenarios (e.g., misconfigured cloud storage, phishing, over‑permissioned accounts, vendor issues), and recommends controls such as role-based access, MFA, encryption, logging, vendor management, staff training, and incident response planning to reduce risk and protect student data.