If redaction or segregation of an education record of multiple students can be reasonably accomplished without destroying the meaning of the education record...

can educational agencies and institutions charge parents or eligible students for the costs of the redaction or segregation?

No. FERPA provides parents and eligible students with the right to inspect and review the student’s education records, and nothing in the FERPA statute or regulations permits educational agencies and institutions to charge parents or eligible students for fees or costs associated with exercising that right.

If a school elects to provide a parent or eligible student with a copy of the education records, then the FERPA regulations (34 CFR § 99.11(a)) generally permit (with the exception noted below) the school to charge for the costs required to make the copy. FERPA regulations (34 CFR § 99.11(b)) also provide that the school may not charge a parent or eligible student for the costs to search for or retrieve the education records. We view the costs, if any, to the school of redacting, or segregating, education records of multiple students as being like the costs of search and retrieval that may not be charged to parents or eligible students, rather than like the costs for copies that generally may be charged to parents and eligible students. As noted above, if an educational agency or institution can reasonably redact or segregate out portions of an education record that is directly related to other students, without destroying the meaning of the record, then the educational agency or institution must do so and therefore cannot charge parents or eligible students for the costs associated with exercising their right to inspect and review such education records.

In contrast, parents and eligible students generally may be charged for the costs of making copies of education records precisely because FERPA generally does not require the school to provide them with such copies. Thus, where the redaction or segregation of education records of multiple students can be reasonably accomplished without destroying the meaning of the education records, nothing in FERPA permits educational agencies or institutions to charge parents or eligible students for the costs of making the required redactions or segregation. Please note that the FERPA regulations (34 CFR § 99.11(a)) similarly provide that if a fee for copies effectively prevents a parent or an eligible student from exercising the right to inspect and review his or her education records, an educational agency or institution would be required to provide copies without payment. Such cases would be limited to a parent or an eligible student providing evidence of the inability to pay for the copies due to financial hardship.