II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1349 To establish a postsecondary student data system. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 27, 2023 Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. MARSHALL, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. HICKENLOOPER, Mrs. CAPITO, Mr. KAINE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CASEY, Ms. ERNST, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. CRAMER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. ROMNEY, and Ms. BALDWIN) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee 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 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1349 IS (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the fol- 1 lowing: 2 ‘‘(l) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA SYSTEM.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 4 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not 5 later than 4 years after the date of enactment 6 of the College Transparency Act, the Commis- 7 sioner of the National Center for Education 8 Statistics (referred to in this subsection as the 9 ‘Commissioner’) shall develop and maintain a 10 secure and privacy-protected postsecondary stu- 11 dent-level data system in order to— 12 ‘‘(i) accurately evaluate student en- 13 rollment patterns, progression, completion, 14 and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher 15 education costs and financial aid; 16 ‘‘(ii) assist with transparency, institu- 17 tional improvement, and analysis of Fed- 18 eral aid programs; 19 ‘‘(iii) provide accurate, complete, and 20 customizable information for students and 21 families making decisions about postsec- 22 ondary education; and 23 ‘‘(iv) reduce the reporting burden on 24 institutions of higher education, in accord- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1349 IS ance with section 5 of the College Trans- 1 parency Act. 2 ‘‘(B) AVOIDING DUPLICATED REPORT- 3 ING.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 4 this section, to the extent that another provi- 5 sion of this section requires the same reporting 6 or collection of data that is required under this 7 subsection, an institution of higher education, 8 or the Secretary or Commissioner, shall use the 9 reporting or data required for the postsec- 10 ondary student data system under this sub- 11 section to satisfy both requirements. 12 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—In devel- 13 oping the postsecondary student data system 14 described in this subsection, the Commissioner 15 shall— 16 ‘‘(i) focus on the needs of— 17 ‘‘(I) users of the data system; 18 and 19 ‘‘(II) entities, including institu- 20 tions of higher education, reporting to 21 the data system; 22 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration, to the 23 extent practicable— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1349 IS ‘‘(I) the guidelines outlined in the 1 U.S. Web Design Standards main- 2 tained by the General Services Admin- 3 istration and the Digital Services 4 Playbook and TechFAR Handbook for 5 Procuring Digital Services Using 6 Agile Processes of the U.S. Digital 7 Service; and 8 ‘‘(II) the relevant successor docu- 9 ments or recommendations of such 10 guidelines; 11 ‘‘(iii) use modern, relevant privacy- 12 and security-enhancing technology, and en- 13 hance and update the data system as nec- 14 essary to carry out the purpose of this sub- 15 section; 16 ‘‘(iv) ensure data privacy and security 17 is consistent with any relevant Federal law 18 relating to privacy or data security, includ- 19 ing— 20 ‘‘(I) the requirements of sub- 21 chapter II of chapter 35 of title 44, 22 United States Code, specifying secu- 23 rity categorization under the Federal 24 Information Processing Standards or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1349 IS any relevant successor of such stand- 1 ards; 2 ‘‘(II) security requirements that 3 are consistent with the Federal agency 4 responsibilities in section 3554 of title 5 44, United States Code, or any rel- 6 evant successor of such responsibil- 7 ities; and 8 ‘‘(III) security requirements, 9 guidelines, and controls consistent 10 with cybersecurity standards and best 11 practices developed by the National 12 Institute of Standards and Tech- 13 nology, including frameworks, con- 14 sistent with section 2(c) of the Na- 15 tional Institute of Standards and 16 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)), or 17 any relevant successor of such frame- 18 works; 19 ‘‘(v) follow Federal data minimization 20 practices to ensure only the minimum 21 amount of data is collected to meet the 22 system’s goals, in accordance with Federal 23 data minimization standards and guide- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1349 IS lines developed by the National Institute of 1 Standards and Technology; and 2 ‘‘(vi) provide notice to students out- 3 lining the data included in the system and 4 how the data are used. 5 ‘‘(2) DATA ELEMENTS.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 7 after the date of enactment of the College 8 Transparency Act, the Commissioner, in con- 9 sultation with the Postsecondary Student Data 10 System Advisory Committee established under 11 subparagraph (B), shall determine— 12 ‘‘(i) the data elements to be included 13 in the postsecondary student data system, 14 in accordance with subparagraphs (C) and 15 (D); and 16 ‘‘(ii) how to include the data elements 17 required under subparagraph (C), and any 18 additional data elements selected under 19 subparagraph (D), in the postsecondary 20 student data system. 21 ‘‘(B) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA 22 SYSTEM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 23 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 24 than 2 years after the date of enactment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1349 IS of the College Transparency Act, the Com- 1 missioner shall establish a Postsecondary 2 Student Data System Advisory Committee 3 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Advi- 4 sory Committee’), whose members shall in- 5 clude— 6 ‘‘(I) the Chief Privacy Officer of 7 the Department or an official of the 8 Department delegated the duties of 9 overseeing data privacy at the Depart- 10 ment; 11 ‘‘(II) the Chief Security Officer 12 of the Department or an official of 13 the Department delegated the duties 14 of overseeing data security at the De- 15 partment; 16 ‘‘(III) representatives of diverse 17 institutions of higher education, which 18 shall include equal representation be- 19 tween 2-year and 4-year institutions 20 of higher education, and from public, 21 nonprofit, and proprietary institutions 22 of higher education, including minor- 23 ity-serving institutions; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1349 IS ‘‘(IV) representatives from State 1 higher education agencies, entities, 2 bodies, or boards; 3 ‘‘(V) representatives of postsec- 4 ondary students; 5 ‘‘(VI) representatives from rel- 6 evant Federal agencies; 7 ‘‘(VII) individuals with expertise 8 in data privacy and security; and 9 ‘‘(VIII) other stakeholders (in- 10 cluding individuals with consumer 11 protection and postsecondary edu- 12 cation research). 13 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commis- 14 sioner shall ensure that the Advisory Com- 15 mittee— 16 ‘‘(I) adheres to all requirements 17 under chapter 10 of title 5, United 18 States Code (commonly known as the 19 ‘Federal Advisory Committee Act’); 20 ‘‘(II) establishes operating and 21 meeting procedures and guidelines 22 necessary to execute its advisory du- 23 ties; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1349 IS ‘‘(III) is provided with appro- 1 priate staffing and resources to exe- 2 cute its advisory duties. 3 ‘‘(C) REQUIRED DATA ELEMENTS.—The 4 data elements in the postsecondary student 5 data system shall include, at a minimum, the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(i) Student-level data elements nec- 8 essary to calculate the information within 9 the surveys designated by the Commis- 10 sioner as ‘student-related surveys’ in the 11 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 12 System (IPEDS), as such surveys are in 13 effect on the day before the date of enact- 14 ment of the College Transparency Act, ex- 15 cept that in the case that collection of such 16 elements would conflict with subparagraph 17 (F), such elements in conflict with sub- 18 paragraph (F) shall be included in the ag- 19 gregate instead of at the student level. 20 ‘‘(ii) Student-level data elements nec- 21 essary to allow for reporting student en- 22 rollment, persistence, retention, transfer, 23 and completion measures for all credential 24 levels separately (including certificate, as- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1349 IS sociate, baccalaureate, and advanced de- 1 gree levels), within and across institutions 2 of higher education (including across all 3 categories of institution level, control, and 4 predominant degree awarded). The data 5 elements shall allow for reporting about all 6 such data disaggregated by the following 7 categories: 8 ‘‘(I) Enrollment status as a first- 9 time student, recent transfer student, 10 or other non-first-time student. 11 ‘‘(II) Attendance intensity, 12 whether full-time or part-time. 13 ‘‘(III) Credential-seeking status, 14 by credential level. 15 ‘‘(IV) Race or ethnicity, in a 16 manner that captures all the racial 17 groups specified in the most recent 18 American Community Survey of the 19 Bureau of the Census. 20 ‘‘(V) Age intervals. 21 ‘‘(VI) Gender. 22 ‘‘(VII) Program of study (as ap- 23 plicable). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1349 IS ‘‘(VIII) Military or veteran ben- 1 efit status (as determined based on 2 receipt of veteran’s education benefits, 3 as defined in section 480(c)). 4 ‘‘(IX) Status as a distance edu- 5 cation student, whether exclusively or 6 partially enrolled in distance edu- 7 cation. 8 ‘‘(X) Federal Pell Grant recipient 9 status under section 401 and Federal 10 loan recipient status under title IV, 11 provided that the collection of such in- 12 formation complies with paragraph 13 (1)(B). 14 ‘‘(D) OTHER DATA ELEMENTS.— 15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 16 may, after consultation with the Advisory 17 Committee and provision of a public com- 18 ment period, include additional data ele- 19 ments in the postsecondary student data 20 system, such as those described in clause 21 (ii), if those data elements— 22 ‘‘(I) are necessary to ensure that 23 the postsecondary data system fulfills 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1349 IS the purposes described in paragraph 1 (1)(A); and 2 ‘‘(II) are consistent with data 3 minimization principles, including the 4 collection of only those additional ele- 5 ments that are necessary to ensure 6 such purposes. 7 ‘‘(ii) DATA ELEMENTS.—The data ele- 8 ments described in clause (i) may in- 9 clude— 10 ‘‘(I) status as a first generation 11 college student, as defined in section 12 402A(h); 13 ‘‘(II) economic status; 14 ‘‘(III) participation in postsec- 15 ondary remedial coursework or gate- 16 way course completion; or 17 ‘‘(IV) other data elements that 18 are necessary in accordance with 19 clause (i). 20 ‘‘(E) REEVALUATION.—Not less than once 21 every 3 years after the implementation of the 22 postsecondary student data system described in 23 this subsection, the Commissioner, in consulta- 24 tion with the Advisory Committee described in 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1349 IS subparagraph (B), shall review the data ele- 1 ments included in the postsecondary student 2 data system and may revise the data elements 3 to be included in such system. 4 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITIONS.—The Commissioner 5 shall not include individual health data (includ- 6 ing data relating to physical health or mental 7 health), student discipline records or data, ele- 8 mentary and secondary education data, an 9 exact address, citizenship status, migrant sta- 10 tus, or national origin status for students or 11 their families, course grades, postsecondary en- 12 trance examination results, political affiliation, 13 or religion in the postsecondary student data 14 system under this subsection. 15 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC MATCHING WITH OTHER FED- 16 ERAL DATA SYSTEMS.— 17 ‘‘(A) DATA SHARING AGREEMENTS.— 18 ‘‘(i) The Commissioner shall ensure 19 secure and privacy-protected periodic data 20 matches by entering into data sharing 21 agreements with each of the following Fed- 22 eral agencies and offices: 23 ‘‘(I) The Secretary of the Treas- 24 ury and the Commissioner of the In- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:29 May 06, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1349.IS S1349 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14 •S 1349 IS ternal Revenue Service, in order to 1 calculate aggregate program- and in- 2 stitution-level earnings of postsec- 3 ondary students. 4 ‘‘(II) The Secretary of Defense, 5 in order to assess the use of postsec- 6 ondary educational benefits and the 7 outcomes of servicemembers. 8 ‘‘(III) The Secretary of Veterans 9 Affairs, in order to assess the use of 10 postsecondary educational benefits 11 and outcomes of veterans. 12 ‘‘(IV) The Director of the Bu- 13 reau of the Census, in order to assess 14 the earnings outcomes of former post- 15 secondary education students. 16 ‘‘(V) The Chief [Text truncated for display. 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