It is the policy of Princeton University that all student and alumni records are private, confidential documents. Information from them is not to be disclosed (except to authorized University personnel, for internal use) to any person, organization, or agency without the consent of the individual to whom they pertain. This policy shall apply to all such records, wherever they may be lodged. The University Policy originally adopted to implement the foregoing statement has been affected in important ways by The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974.

As an extension of the general policy set forth above, Faculty members are expected to treat with discretion any information concerning a student's political, religious, or social opinions and beliefs as revealed in classroom exchange or discussion, in course essays, conferences or in other contexts of the educational process. This policy is in no way intended to discourage Faculty members from making professional judgments of students' academic capacities or performance in response to reasonable requests, but to safeguard the individual's right to privacy and to protect the student-teacher relationship. Faculty members are invited to cite this document as a statement of official University policy in response to requests for information that appear to infringe upon the principles of academic freedom and individual privacy.