The U.S. Department of Education proposed new rules on student privacy today that would clarify when colleges can release student information in the interest of health and safety. The proposed changes to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 would also give greater flexibility to college administrators in making such decisions.

The Education Department does not appear to be staking out new policy ground, but rather clarifying its longstanding belief that colleges have flexibility in balancing safety and student privacy. The proposed changes are similar to guidelines the department published in October in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech.

Specifically, the proposed regulations state that educational institutions must be able to articulate a significant threat before releasing student information that is typically protected under Ferpa. And institutions must only disclose information to people who need it in order to respond to the threat.

But the rules say that the department will defer to institutions’ decisions, so long as the institutions have a rational basis for their determinations.

“In short,” the regulations read, “in balancing the interests of safety, privacy, and treatment, the Secretary proposes to revise the regulation to specify legal standards, but to couple those standards with greater flexibility and deference to administrators so they can bring appropriate resources to bear on a circumstance that threatens the health or safety of individuals.” —Elyse Ashburn