FERPA's prohibition on disclosure of personally identifiable information from an education record of a student applies to any kind of nondirectory information (e.g., performance in class, grades, attitude, motivation, abilities, background) conveyed in writing, in person, or over the telephone to third parties.

Although such information is usually conveyed by faculty members at the informal request of the student and is usually positive, the better practice would be to request a written consent form, meeting the FERPA requirements, before providing the information.