Military Recruiter & Institutions of Higher Education Notice

What is a Military Recruiter & Institutions of Higher Education Notice?

A Military Recruiter & Institutions of Higher Education Notice is a notice provided to parents or eligible students informing them of their right to opt out of giving the name, address, and telephone number of a student to military recruiters or institutions of higher education. Schools are only required to give this notice to parents if the school has students who are in 11th grade (or its equivalent) or 17 years of age or older.

Instructions & Requirements

NOTE: You only need to provide a Military Recruiter & Institution of Higher Education Notice to parents if you have 11th or 12th-grade students in your LEA.

NOTE: Even if you already have a Directory Information Notice, you should still check to make sure it contains all the necessary information. Many Directory Information Notices already state something about military recruiters, but not higher education recruiters. If higher education recruiters are missing from your Directory Information Notice, you'll need to add that to your notice. For recommended wording, see our recently updated model document at the bottom of the Directory Information Notice page in this module.

Follow the instructions below to add or update a military recruiter and institutions of higher education notice to your Directory Information Notice.

Design a method for allowing parents to opt-out.

Here are some things to keep in mind:

Many schools deliver their opt-outs in the form of a list in which they can check separate boxes for different disclosures. This might include opting out of certain directory information elements like address, phone number, and email. This would be a good way to allow them to opt-out of the Military Recruiter and Institutions of Higher Education disclosure. Have a line for each of these disclosures to allow them to opt-out. You may want a separate form altogether for these options.
LEAs are not allowed to implement an opt-in process or any other process other than the written consent of a parent (opt-out only).
If the Military and Higher Education Recruiters Notice is included in your Directory Information Notice and a parent opts out of directory information, it does not necessarily opt the student out of the Military Recruiter and Higher Education disclosure. You need to have an opt-out procedure that allows them to do this separately from the directory information opt-out.

Design a method for keeping track of which parents have opted out.

Remember that opting out of sharing information with military and higher education recruiters is different from opting out of sharing directory information in general, so you'll need to keep track of both types of opt-outs separately.

Create or update your LEA’s Directory Information Notice or Limited Directory Information Notice to include a Military Recruiter & Institution of Higher Education Notice

IMPORTANT: Even if you already have a Directory Information Notice, you should still check to make sure it contains all the necessary information. Many Directory Information Notices already state something about military recruiters, but not higher education recruiters. If higher education recruiters are missing from your Directory Information Notice, you'll need to add that into your notice.
For recommended wording, check out our recently updated model document under the resource tab of the Directory Information Notice page in this module, or see the example sentence below:
- - "In addition, two federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs) receiving assistance under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended (ESEA) to provide military and higher education recruiters, upon request, with the following information – names, addresses, and telephone listings – unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not want their student’s information disclosed without their prior written consent. [Note: These laws are Section 9528 of the ESEA (20 U.S.C. § 7908) and 10 U.S.C. § 503(c).] "

Post the Directory Information Notice (which includes the Military Recruiter & Institution of Higher Education Notice) on your LEA website (optional)

Provide parents with notice and an opportunity to opt-out

There is no specific timeframe in which to deliver this notice or prescriptive means of delivering it to parents. If the student attends your secondary school then parents need to know of their ability to opt out at the very least when they register for the school.

2024-25 Privacy Compliance Review

Will our LEA need to submit a Military Recruiter & Institutions of Higher Education Notice in the 2024-2025 Privacy Compliance Review?

It depends. We encourage you to review your agency's Military Recruiter & Institutions of Higher Education Notice, to ensure information is current and accurate.

If your LEA does have students in grades 11 or 12, you must submit this notice.
- We ask that you provide a link to your notice, or you can upload the document you distribute to parents if it is not linked on your website.

Are the 2024-2025 Military Recruiter & Institutions of Higher Education Notice requirements the same as last year's requirements?

Yes, the requirements are the same as last year.

How and when will the Military Recruiter & Institutions of Higher Education Notice be submitted?

If your LEA is required to submit your military recruiter & institutions of higher education notice, your LEA's primary data manager will submit your Directory Information Notice in the Privacy Compliance Survey.** (You will submit the Directory Information Notice because the military recruiter & institutions of higher education notice is included in the Directory Information Notice.) A link to the survey will be sent to the primary data manager of each LEA in October 2024.

If your LEA has a stand-alone Directory Information Notice, then in the survey the data manager you should either:

paste a link to your Directory Information Notice, OR
upload a copy of the Directory Information notice.

If your Directory Information Notice is contained within your Annual Notice of FERPA Rights, then in the survey the data manager you should either:

paste a link to your Annual Notice of FERPA Rights, OR
upload a copy of the Annual Notice of FERPA Rights.

*You can see your 2023-24 status for this requirement on your most recent Privacy Compliance Report. Contact John Lyman, or Nicole Sanchez if you need a new copy of your report.

**See the Annual Privacy Compliance Review page for more information about the Privacy Compliance Survey.