College Transparency Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 800 To establish a postsecondary student data system. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 14, 2019 Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. ERNST, Mr. KAINE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. JONES, Mr. GARDNER, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. ROBERTS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. BROWN, and Mr. PERDUE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To establish a postsecondary student data system. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Transparency 4 Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA SYSTEM. 6 Section 132 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 7 U.S.C. 1015a) is amended— 8 (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection 9 (m); and 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 800 IS (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(l) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA SYSTEM.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 4 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—The 5 Commissioner of the National Center for Edu- 6 cation Statistics (referred to in this subsection 7 as the ‘Commissioner’) shall develop and main- 8 tain a secure, privacy-protected postsecondary 9 student-level data system in order to— 10 ‘‘(i) accurately evaluate student en- 11 rollment patterns, progression, completion, 12 and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher 13 education costs and financial aid; 14 ‘‘(ii) assist with transparency, institu- 15 tional improvement, and analysis of Fed- 16 eral aid programs; 17 ‘‘(iii) provide more accurate, complete, 18 and customizable information for students 19 and families making decisions about post- 20 secondary education; and 21 ‘‘(iv) reduce the reporting burden on 22 institutions of higher education, in accord- 23 ance with section 5(b) of the College 24 Transparency Act. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 800 IS ‘‘(B) AVOIDING DUPLICATED REPORT- 1 ING.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 2 this section, to the extent that another provi- 3 sion of this section requires the same reporting 4 or collection of data that is required under this 5 subsection, a postsecondary institution, or the 6 Secretary or Commissioner, may use the report- 7 ing or data required for the postsecondary stu- 8 dent data system under this subsection to sat- 9 isfy both requirements. 10 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—In devel- 11 oping the postsecondary student data system 12 described in this subsection, the Commissioner 13 shall— 14 ‘‘(i) focus on the needs of— 15 ‘‘(I) users of the data system; 16 and 17 ‘‘(II) entities, including postsec- 18 ondary institutions, reporting to the 19 data system; 20 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration, to the 21 extent practicable— 22 ‘‘(I) the guidelines outlined in the 23 U.S. Web Design Standards main- 24 tained by the General Services Admin- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 800 IS istration and the Digital Services 1 Playbook and TechFAR Handbook for 2 Procuring Digital Services Using 3 Agile Processes of the U.S. Digital 4 Service; and 5 ‘‘(II) the relevant successor docu- 6 ments or recommendations of such 7 guidelines; 8 ‘‘(iii) use modern, relevant privacy- 9 and security-enhancing technology, and en- 10 hance and update the data system as nec- 11 essary to carry out the purpose of this sub- 12 section; 13 ‘‘(iv) ensure data privacy and security 14 is consistent with any Federal law relating 15 to privacy or data security, including— 16 ‘‘(I) the requirements of sub- 17 chapter II of chapter 35 of title 44, 18 United States Code, specifying secu- 19 rity categorization under the Federal 20 Information Processing Standards or 21 any relevant successor of such stand- 22 ards; 23 ‘‘(II) security requirements that 24 are consistent with the Federal agency 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 800 IS responsibilities in section 3554 of title 1 44, United States Code, or any rel- 2 evant successor of such responsibil- 3 ities; and 4 ‘‘(III) security requirements, 5 guidelines, and controls consistent 6 with cybersecurity standards and best 7 practices developed by the National 8 Institute of Standards and Tech- 9 nology, including frameworks, con- 10 sistent with section 2(c) of the Na- 11 tional Institute of Standards and 12 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)), or 13 any relevant successor of such frame- 14 works; 15 ‘‘(v) follow Federal data minimization 16 practices to ensure only the minimum 17 amount of data is collected to meet the 18 system’s goals, in accordance with Federal 19 data minimization standards and guide- 20 lines developed by the National Institute of 21 Standards and Technology; and 22 ‘‘(vi) provide notice to students out- 23 lining the data included in the system and 24 how the data are used. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 800 IS ‘‘(2) DATA ELEMENTS.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner, in 2 consultation with the Postsecondary Student 3 Data System Advisory Committee described in 4 subparagraph (B), shall determine— 5 ‘‘(i) the data elements to be included 6 in the postsecondary student data system, 7 in accordance with subparagraphs (C) and 8 (D); and 9 ‘‘(ii) how to include the data elements 10 required under subparagraph (C), and any 11 additional data elements selected under 12 subparagraph (D), in the postsecondary 13 student data system. 14 ‘‘(B) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA 15 SYSTEM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 16 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commis- 17 sioner shall establish a Postsecondary Stu- 18 dent Data System Advisory Committee (re- 19 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘Advi- 20 sory Committee’), whose members shall in- 21 clude— 22 ‘‘(I) the Chief Privacy Officer of 23 the Department or an official of the 24 Department delegated the duties of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 800 IS overseeing data privacy at the Depart- 1 ment; 2 ‘‘(II) the Chief Security Officer 3 of the Department or an official of 4 the Department delegated the duties 5 of overseeing data security at the De- 6 partment; 7 ‘‘(III) representatives of diverse 8 postsecondary institutions, which shall 9 include equal representation between 10 2-year and 4-year institutions of high- 11 er education, and from public, non- 12 profit, and proprietary institutions of 13 higher education, including minority- 14 serving institutions; 15 ‘‘(IV) representatives from State 16 higher education agencies, entities, 17 bodies, or boards; 18 ‘‘(V) representatives of postsec- 19 ondary students; 20 ‘‘(VI) representatives from rel- 21 evant Federal agencies; and 22 ‘‘(VII) other stakeholders (in- 23 cluding individuals with expertise in 24 data privacy and security, consumer 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 800 IS protection, and postsecondary edu- 1 cation research). 2 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commis- 3 sioner shall ensure that the Advisory Com- 4 mittee— 5 ‘‘(I) adheres to all requirements 6 under the Federal Advisory Com- 7 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.); 8 ‘‘(II) establishes operating and 9 meeting procedures and guidelines 10 necessary to execute its advisory du- 11 ties; and 12 ‘‘(III) is provided with appro- 13 priate staffing and resources to exe- 14 cute its advisory duties. 15 ‘‘(C) REQUIRED DATA ELEMENTS.—The 16 data elements in the postsecondary student 17 data system shall include, at a minimum, the 18 following: 19 ‘‘(i) Student-level data elements nec- 20 essary to calculate the information within 21 the surveys designated by the Commis- 22 sioner as ‘student-related surveys’ in the 23 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 24 System (IPEDS), as such surveys are in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 800 IS effect on the day before the date of enact- 1 ment of the College Transparency Act, ex- 2 cept that in the case that collection of such 3 elements would conflict with subparagraph 4 (F), such elements in conflict with sub- 5 paragraph (F) shall be included in the ag- 6 gregate instead of at the student level. 7 ‘‘(ii) Student-level data elements nec- 8 essary to allow for reporting student en- 9 rollment, persistence, retention, transfer, 10 and completion measures for all credential 11 levels separately (including certificate, as- 12 sociate, baccalaureate, and advanced de- 13 gree levels), within and across postsec- 14 ondary institutions (including across all 15 categories of institution level, control, and 16 predominant degree awarded). The data 17 elements shall allow for reporting about all 18 such data disaggregated by the following 19 categories: 20 ‘‘(I) Enrollment status as a first- 21 time student, recent transfer student, 22 or other non-first-time student. 23 ‘‘(II) Attendance intensity, 24 whether full-time or part-time. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 800 IS ‘‘(III) Credential-seeking status, 1 by credential level. 2 ‘‘(IV) Race or ethnicity. 3 ‘‘(V) Age intervals. 4 ‘‘(VI) Gender. 5 ‘‘(VII) Program of study (as ap- 6 plicable). 7 ‘‘(VIII) Military or veteran ben- 8 efit status (as determined based on 9 receipt of veteran’s education benefits, 10 as defined in section 480(c)). 11 ‘‘(IX) Status as a distance edu- 12 cation student, whether exclusively or 13 partially enrolled in distance edu- 14 cation. 15 ‘‘(X) Federal Pell Grant and 16 Federal loan recipient status, provided 17 that the collection of such information 18 complies with paragraph (1)(B). 19 ‘‘(D) OTHER DATA ELEMENTS.— 20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 21 may, after consultation with the Advisory 22 Committee and provision of a public com- 23 ment period, include additional data ele- 24 ments in the postsecondary student data 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 800 IS system, such as those described in clause 1 (ii), if those data elements— 2 ‘‘(I) are necessary to ensure that 3 the postsecondary data system fulfills 4 the purposes described in paragraph 5 (1)(A); and 6 ‘‘(II) are consistent with data 7 minimization principles, including the 8 collection of only those additional ele- 9 ments that are necessary to ensure 10 such purposes. 11 ‘‘(ii) DATA ELEMENTS.—The data ele- 12 ments described in clause (i) may in- 13 clude— 14 ‘‘(I) status as a first generation 15 college student, as defined in section 16 402A(h); 17 ‘‘(II) economic status; 18 ‘‘(III) participation in postsec- 19 ondary remedial coursework or gate- 20 way course completion; or 21 ‘‘(IV) other data elements that 22 are necessary in accordance with 23 clause (i). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 800 IS ‘‘(E) REEVALUATION.—Not less than once 1 every 3 years after the implementation of the 2 postsecondary student data system described in 3 this subsection, the Commissioner, in consulta- 4 tion with the Advisory Committee described in 5 subparagraph (B), shall review the data ele- 6 ments included in the postsecondary student 7 data system and may revise the data elements 8 to be included in such system. 9 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITIONS.—The Commissioner 10 shall not include individual health data (includ- 11 ing data relating to physical health or mental 12 health), student discipline records or data, ele- 13 mentary and secondary education data, an 14 exact address, citizenship status, migrant sta- 15 tus, or national origin status for students or 16 their families, course grades, postsecondary en- 17 trance examination results, political affiliation, 18 or religion in the postsecondary student data 19 system under this subsection. 20 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC MATCHING WITH OTHER FED- 21 ERAL DATA SYSTEMS.— 22 ‘‘(A) DATA SHARING AGREEMENTS.— 23 ‘‘(i) The Commissioner shall ensure 24 secure, periodic data matches by entering 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 800 IS into data sharing agreements with each of 1 the following Federal agencies and offices: 2 ‘‘(I) The Secretary of the Treas- 3 ury and the Commissioner of the In- 4 ternal Revenue Service, in order to 5 calculate aggregate program- and in- 6 stitution-level earnings of postsec- 7 ondary students. 8 ‘‘(II) The Secretary of Defense, 9 in order to assess the use of postsec- 10 ondary educational benefits and the 11 outcomes of servicemembers. 12 ‘‘(III) The Secretary of Veterans 13 Affairs, in order to assess the use of 14 postsecondary educational benefits 15 and outcomes of veterans. 16 ‘‘(IV) The Director of the Census 17 Bureau, in order to assess the occupa- 18 tional and earnings outcomes of 19 former postsecondary education stu- 20 dents. 21 ‘‘(V) The Chief Operating Officer 22 of the Office of Federal Student Aid, 23 in order to analyze the use of postsec- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:24 Mar 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S800.IS S800 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 14 •S 800 IS ondary educational benefits provided 1 under this Act. 2 ‘‘(ii) The heads of Federal agencies 3 and offices described under clause (i) shall 4 enter into data sharing agreements with 5 the Commissioner to ensure secure, peri- 6 odic data matches as described in this 7 paragraph. 8 ‘‘(B) CATEGORIES OF DATA.—The Com- 9 missioner shall, at a minimum, seek to ensure 10 that the secure periodic data system matches 11 described in subparagraph (A) permit con- 12 sistent reporting of the following categories of 13 [Text truncated for display. 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