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Solomon Amendment

Effective October 23, 1998, all Colleges and Universities are required to comply with the final regulations of the Solomon Amendment. Failure to comply may result in the loss of various forms of federal funding including various forms of Federal Student Aid. The purpose of this document is to explain the procedures at The Pennsylvania State University regarding compliance with the Solomon Amendment.

The Solomon Amendment supercedes FERPA. Solomon is based on the definition of "Student Recruitment Information." FERPA is based on the definition of "Directory Information." At Penn State, all items defined by Solomon are included in our FERPA release definition.

Definition - Student Recruitment Information

  1. Name
  2. Address (local, permanent)
  3. Telephone number (local, permanent)
  4. Age
  5. Major
  6. Class Level (Freshman, Sophmore)
  7. Degree awarded
  • Information released is limited to the current semester or the previous semester. If the request is received between semesters, the requestor must specify previous semester or upcoming semester.
  • Students must be in an enrolled status (incomplete and complete registration status).
  • If a student requests that their directory information be withheld under FERPA, this protection will be honored under Solomon; the student's records will not be released.
  • Sub-population definition under Solomon are limited to the data elements included in the definition of "Student Recruitment Information." Sub-population definitions according to veteran status, academic performance, ethnicity, and gender are specifically excluded under Solomon. At Penn State, we will provide sub-population definition according to:

    1. Age
    2. Undergraduate/graduate students
    3. Degree awarded
    4. Campus

  • Information released is limited to military recruiting purposes only. The request for information must be in writing on letterhead that clearly identifies the military recruiting organization. Military recruiters must be from one of the following military organizations:

    Air Force
    Air Force Reserve
    Air Force National Guard
    Army
    Army Reserve
    Army National Guard
    Coast Guard
    Coast Guard Reserve
    Navy
    Navy Reserve
    Marine Corps
    Marine Corps Reserve

Requesting Recruitment Information

All responses to Solomon Amendment requests for information will be processed centrally. Military Recruiters are to submit their Solomon requests to User Support Department, 112 Shields Building, University Park, PA 16802. Any requests sent directly to Campus Registrars should be immediately forwarded to the User Support Department.

Military Recruiters are required:

  1. To submit their request in writing, on letterhead that clearly identifies their military recruiting organization.
  2. To complete a "Solomon Amendment Request for Information" order form.

Requested information will be provided in either printed report form, or an Excel file (compressed/self-extracting file, fixed length records) on a 3.5" disk, CD or as an e-mail attachment.