Does an Arizona community college have to sign federal civil rights and FERPA assurances that the U.S. Department of Education sent to State Educational Agencies and Local Education Agencies?

Plain-English summary

In spring 2025, the U.S. Department of Education sent two letters to State Educational Agencies (SEAs). The March 28 letter asked SEAs to certify, on their own behalf and on behalf of their Local Education Agencies (LEAs), compliance with FERPA and PPRA. The April 3 letter asked SEAs and LEAs to certify compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, with federal funding tied to the certification.

The Arizona Department of Education then forwarded a form to all Arizona educational institutions, including community colleges, demanding the same assurances and tying access to federal grant funds to compliance by April 30, 2025. Pima Community College (PCCCD) asked, through outside counsel, whether it had to sign.

The AG's answer: no. SEA is defined in federal regulation as the state agency primarily responsible for supervising public elementary and secondary schools. LEA is defined as a public board of education for elementary and secondary schools. PCCCD, a community college, is neither. The federal letters say what they say: they ask SEAs and LEAs for assurances. They don't ask post-secondary institutions for anything. ADE's pass-through form to community colleges had no support in the cited federal authorities (20 U.S.C. § 1232g(f), 34 C.F.R. §§ 99.60 and 99.62), which only authorize USDOE's privacy office to investigate FERPA complaints and require reports from "educational agencies or institutions" subject to FERPA, but those authorities don't authorize ADE to deputize itself as a collector of assurances from post-secondary institutions.

What this means for you

For Arizona community colleges and universities

You can decline to sign assurance forms that purport to bind your institution to compliance certifications addressed to SEAs and LEAs, on the grounds the AG identified: you are neither. If ADE or another pass-through state agency conditions federal grant funds on those signed assurances, push back with this opinion. The AG opinion does not, however, eliminate your independent obligations under FERPA (20 U.S.C. § 1232g) or Title VI (42 U.S.C. § 2000d) where they apply directly to your institution as a recipient of federal funds. Those obligations are real; what's not real is the SEA's ability to gather assurances on USDOE's behalf from a post-secondary institution.

For state agencies passing through federal funds

If a federal agency sends your state agency a request that is by its terms directed at SEAs and LEAs, your authority to forward the request and bind sub-grantees ends at the agencies the federal request actually covers. Forwarding the demand to community colleges or universities, with funding consequences, exposes your agency to a state-AG opinion saying you exceeded your authority. Either negotiate clarifying language with the federal sender or limit the pass-through to actual SEA/LEA recipients.

For K-12 school districts

Nothing in this opinion changes anything for you. You are an LEA. The federal letters and the ADE form apply to you, and your assurances are required under their terms.

For higher-education compliance and general counsel offices nationwide

The reasoning in this opinion is portable. The defined terms "SEA" and "LEA" in 34 C.F.R. § 303.36(a) and § 303.23(a) are unambiguous K-12 terms. Federal letters that use those terms cannot be repurposed to bind post-secondary institutions through a state pass-through. If your institution gets a similar demand, the AG's analysis here gives you a template.

Common questions

What's a State Educational Agency vs a Local Education Agency?

SEA is the state agency primarily responsible for supervising public elementary and secondary schools (in Arizona, that's the Department of Education). LEA is the public board of education for a school district. Neither term covers community colleges, universities, or other post-secondary institutions.

The opinion says PCCCD is "neither" an SEA nor an LEA. Was that ever in doubt?

No, not really. The opinion is mostly a careful read of the federal letters and the underlying authorities. The AG documented that the federal letters by their terms are addressed to SEAs and LEAs, and the cited statutory authorities (FERPA enforcement at 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(f) and 34 C.F.R. §§ 99.60-62) don't extend the request to post-secondary institutions. The legal conclusion follows from the terms.

Could ADE still demand assurances from PCCCD on a different legal basis?

Maybe, but the AG declined to address that. The opinion just notes that "neither the ADE Form nor the March 28 Letter cite any authority supporting that proposition." If ADE wanted to require post-secondary compliance certifications, it would need to point to a separate statute or grant condition.

Does this affect Title VI compliance for community colleges?

No. PCCCD still has to comply with Title VI as a federal-funding recipient. What it doesn't have to do is sign ADE's pass-through assurance form addressed to SEAs and LEAs. Title VI compliance is a separate question with its own enforcement architecture.

Did USDOE eventually clarify the scope of the letters?

The opinion does not say. It rests on a textual read of the letters as they stood in spring 2025.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion's procedural posture is § 15-1448(H), the AG's review of community college counsel opinions. PCCCD's outside counsel concluded the letters didn't reach PCCCD; the AG affirmed.

Substantively, FERPA enforcement runs through USDOE's Office of the Chief Privacy Officer. 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(f) gives the Secretary of USDOE authority to enforce FERPA, but only by "appropriate actions," with termination of assistance available "only if the Secretary finds there has been a failure to comply ... and ... that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means." 34 C.F.R. § 99.60 assigns the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer the role of investigating FERPA complaints and providing technical assistance. 34 C.F.R. § 99.62 lets that office require "an educational agency or institution" to submit reports, policies, training materials, and so on to carry out USDOE's enforcement responsibilities. None of that authorizes a state SEA to collect assurances from post-secondary institutions on USDOE's behalf.

The April 3 letter is structurally similar: it says "each [SEA]" must file a single set of assurances "as part of its consolidated State plan or application under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act." The ESEA covers K-12. The AG reads the letter according to its terms.

Citations

• A.R.S. § 15-1448(H) (community college counsel opinion review)
• 20 U.S.C. § 1232g (FERPA)
• 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(f) (FERPA enforcement authority)
• 34 C.F.R. § 99.60 (Office of the Chief Privacy Officer responsibilities)
• 34 C.F.R. § 99.62 (FERPA report and information collection authority)
• 34 C.F.R. § 303.23(a) (LEA definition)
• 34 C.F.R. § 303.36(a) (SEA definition)
• USDOE March 28, 2025 Letter to SEAs (FERPA/PPRA assurances)
• USDOE April 3, 2025 Letter to SEAs/LEAs (Title VI certification)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.azag.gov/opinions/i25-002-r25-007
• Original PDF: https://www.azag.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/I25-002.pdf

Original opinion text

To:

Susan Segal, Gust Rosenfeld, on behalf of the Pima County Community College District

Pursuant to A.R.S. § 15-1448(H), this opinion affirms in part and declines to review in part the opinion prepared for the Pima County Community College District ("PCCCD") regarding a certification request from the Arizona Department of Education ("ADE"). That opinion is attached as Appendix A.

Background

The United States Department of Education ("USDOE") recently sent two letters to ADE in its capacity as a State Educational Agency ("SEA"), as defined by federal regulation. 34 C.F.R. § 303.36(a) (defining SEA as "the State board of education or other agency or officer primarily responsible for the State supervision of public elementary schools and secondary schools"). Both USDOE letters purport to require certain "assurances" from SEAs and Local Education Agencies ("LEAs"), which are defined in federal regulation as "a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State for either administrative control or direction of … public elementary schools or secondary schools …." 34 C.F.R. § 303.23(a).

The first USDOE letter, dated March 28, 2025 (the "March 28 Letter"), purports to require that SEAs provide "assurance that the SEA and their respective LEAs are complying with" the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ("FERPA") and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment ("PPRA"). App. A at 12. The second USDOE letter, dated April 3, 2025 (the "April 3 Letter"), purports to require LEAs and SEAs to certify compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Id. at 16.

In response to the March 28 Letter, ADE sent a form to all Arizona educational institutions, including PCCCD and other institutions of higher education (the "ADE Form"). Id. at 14. The ADE Form states that ADE "is required to collect information and these assurances from all of its federal grant subrecipients," and that "[y]our organization's continued access to federal grant funds for which ADE is the pass through agency is contingent upon you agreeing to these 4 assurances and providing the required information by April 30, 2025." Id.

The underlying opinion notes that ADE "forwarded" the April 3 Letter to PCCCD.

Analysis

The March 28 Letter requests that "each SEA … provide assurance that the SEA and their respective LEAs are complying with the provisions of FERPA and PPRA." App. A at 12. PCCCD is neither an SEA nor an LEA. See 34 C.F.R. § 303.36(a); 34 C.F.R. § 303.23(a). The March 28 Letter therefore does not, on its face, request or require anything of PCCCD.

To the extent ADE reads the March 28 Letter as requiring it or authorizing it to collect assurances from PCCCD or other post-secondary educational institutions, neither the ADE Form nor the March 28 Letter cite any authority supporting that proposition. The March 28 Letter cites to part of FERPA and its implementing regulations—20 U.S.C. § 1232g(f) and 34 C.F.R. §§ 99.60 and 99.62—as the basis for its request that SEAs "provide assurance that the SEA and their respective LEAs" are complying with FERPA and PPRA. Those authorities do not appear to require or authorize ADE to collect assurances from post-secondary educational institutions regarding compliance with FERPA or PPRA. See 20 U.S.C. § 1232g(f) (provides that the Secretary of USDOE "shall take appropriate actions to enforce [FERPA] and to deal with violations of [FERPA] … except that action to terminate assistance may be taken only if the Secretary finds there has been a failure to comply with [FERPA], and he has determined that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means"); 34 C.F.R. § 99.60 (assigning USDOE's "Office of the Chief Privacy Officer" the responsibility to investigate complaints of FERPA violations and "[p]rovide technical assistance to ensure compliance with [FERPA]" and its implementing regulations); 34 C.F.R. § 99.62 (stating that the Office of the Chief Privacy Officer "may require an educational agency or institution … to submit reports, information on policies and procedures, annual notifications, training materials, or other information necessary to carry out [USDOE]'s enforcement responsibilities").

The April 3 Letter is also directed at SEAs and LEAs. See App. A at 16 (directing certification request at "SEA/LEA"); 17 (purporting to require "each [SEA] to file a single set of assurances with [USDOE] as part of its consolidated State plan or application under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act" that "include the SEA's commitment to comply with all Federal statutes regarding nondiscrimination, including, but not limited to, Title VI"). Again, PCCCD is neither, so the April 3 Letter does not, on its face, purport to request or require anything of PCCCD or any other post-secondary educational institution.

Given this conclusion, it is unnecessary to review any other portions of the underlying opinion, and I decline to do so.

Conclusion

The March 28 and April 3 Letters are not directed at post-secondary educational institutions, such as PCCCD, because such institutions are neither SEAs nor LEAs. See 34 C.F.R. § 303.36(a); 34 C.F.R. § 303.23(a).

Kris Mayes

Attorney General

Appendix A.pdf