Seatoir and FERPA

What data Seatoir uses

Seatoir analyzes enrollment exports that contain section-level aggregates. The data fields used include:

• Section identifier (e.g. course number and section number)
• Enrollment capacity
• Current enrolled count
• Waitlist count
• Department
• Course name or title
• Room capacity (optional, for supporting analysis)
• Term label (e.g. Fall 2026)

All of these fields are institutional operational data at the section level. None constitute education records as defined under FERPA.

What data Seatoir does not collect

Seatoir does not collect, store, process, or have access to:

• Student names
• Student ID numbers
• Grades or academic performance data
• Student contact information
• Student schedules or course registrations
• Financial aid or billing information
• Disability or accommodation records
• Any data that identifies or could identify an individual student

Why this matters for your institution

Because Seatoir operates exclusively on section-level aggregate data, it does not handle “education records” as defined under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA, 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99). This means:

• No FERPA disclosure review is required to use Seatoir
• No data-sharing agreement for student records is needed
• No “school official” exception determination is necessary
• Procurement and adoption can proceed without FERPA compliance review cycles

This is by design. Seatoir was built to provide meaningful enrollment analysis and seat optimization insights without ever requiring access to student-level data.