“A bill to establish a postsecondary student data system.”
No CRS summary available for this bill.
This section establishes a secure, privacy-protected postsecondary student-level data system to be developed and maintained by the Commissioner for the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) not later than four years after enactment of the College Transparency Act. (As background, NCES collects aggregate postsecondary data through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS); this student-level system is to evaluate enrollment patterns, progression, completion, postcollegiate outcomes, costs, and financial aid; support transparency, institutional improvement, and Federal aid analysis; inform students and families; and reduce reporting burdens, with data from the system satisfying duplicative requirements under other provisions.) In developing the system, the Commissioner must prioritize user and reporter needs; follow specified design guidelines and modern privacy/security technologies consistent with NIST frameworks (15 U.S.C. 272(c)); adhere to Federal data minimization standards; and provide students notice of included data and uses. The section further requires the Commissioner, not later than two years after enactment, to establish a Postsecondary Student Data System Advisory Committee—in compliance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act—that includes representatives from the Department of Education's privacy and security officers, diverse institutions of higher education, state agencies, students, Federal agencies, data experts, and other stakeholders to determine required and additional data elements for the system not later than four years after enactment.
This section revises a requirement in the program participation agreement for institutions of higher education to participate in federal student aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965. Specifically, it requires the institution or its assigned agent to collect and submit data to the Commissioner for Education Statistics in accordance with section 132(l), nonstudent-related surveys within the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), or any other federal higher education data collection effort designated by the Secretary, in a timely manner and to the Secretary's satisfaction. The amendment takes effect 4 years after the date of enactment.
This section directs the Secretary of Education and the Commissioner for Education Statistics to develop and maintain the new postsecondary student data system required under section 132(l) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (as added by section 2 of this Act) in a manner that reduces the reporting burden for entities that previously reported data to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). (IPEDS is the primary federal system for collecting institution-level data on postsecondary enrollment, completion, pricing, and finances from approximately 7,000 U.S. colleges and universities.)