Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013

Summary: Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013 - Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to require institutions of higher education (IHEs) to submit to the Secretary of Education data that the Secretary determines to be sufficient to complete all student components of reporting required for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). Directs the Secretary to review that determination every five years. Requires the Secretary to: (1) establish common definitions for IHEs to follow in submitting the data required under this Act, and (2) determine both collection and reporting requirements. Directs the Secretary to require IHEs to identify student unit records to enable coding and reporting on: (1) students who participate in remedial education; (2) whether, and at what level, the student is seeking a degree; and (3) whether the student is seeking a certificate. (Student unit records are used to collect information at the student, rather than institutional, level.) Requires the Secretary to also calculate, within two years of this Act's enactment, at the institutional and program specific level:    the percentage of students who receive federal, state, or institutional grants or loans;   the average amount of federal loan debt students have accumulated by graduation;   the average amount of total federal loan debt of students who do not complete a program of study two years after their last known enrollment in any IHE;   student transfer rates by sector of transfer;   rates of continuation to higher levels of education; and  the percentage of students who receive the degree level they initially sought.  Directs the Secretary to make those student outcome measures and the currently reported student level components of IPEDS available by specified student types that are differentiated on the basis of their: (1) receipt or non-receipt of federal Pell Grants or Stafford Loans, (2) participation in the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Program, (3) enrollment status, and (4) enrollment intensity.  Requires the Secretary, in cooperation with the Commissioner of Social Security, to establish a system which uses the student components of IPEDS to create earnings metrics that allow the publication of median annual earnings and employment data that is disaggregated by: (1) educational program, credential received, school, and state of employment; and (2) the 2-, 6-, and 15-year periods after educational program completion.  Requires the information aggregated by the Secretary under this Act to be made available on IPEDS and posted on a website in a timely and user-friendly manner that protects personally identifiable information.  Requires IHEs, within five years of this Act's enactment, to provide a prominently displayed link on their websites to the website containing such information. Eliminates, within five years of this Act's enactment, IHE data reporting requirements under the HEA that are deemed duplicative.  Directs the Secretary to create a process through which IHEs and states may request and receive from the Department of Education aggregate student outcome data for the purposes of institutional improvement and program evaluation. Prohibits the unauthorized use of the data collected pursuant to this Act.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Student Right to Know Before You Go 
Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO PROGRAM PARTICIPATION AGREEMENTS.

    Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1094(a)(17)) is amended by inserting ``, in accordance with section 
493E'' after ``of the Secretary''.

SEC. 3. INSTITUTIONAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE INFORMATION FOR 
              STUDENTS.

    Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(n) Alignment With Institutional Reporting Requirements Related 
to IPEDS.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 6 months after the date 
        of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 
        2013, the Secretary shall issue guidance outlining which data 
        metrics required to be submitted by institutions of higher 
        education under section 493E are duplicative of institutional 
        reporting requirements under this section and other provisions 
        of this Act.
            ``(2) Link to institutional reporting website.--Not later 
        than 5 years after the date of enactment of the Student Right 
        to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, an institution of higher 
        education participating in any program under this title shall--
                    ``(A) not be required to make available such 
                duplicative requirements, as determined under paragraph 
                (1), under this section and other provisions of this 
                Act; and
                    ``(B) provide a prominently displayed link on the 
                institution's website to the website described in 
                section 493E(e).''.

SEC. 4. INSTITUTIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    (a) Amendment to Database of Student Information Prohibited.--
Section 134(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1015c(b)) 
is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and'' after the 
        semicolon;
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and 
        inserting ``; and''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) is necessary to carry out section 493E.''.
    (b) Reporting Requirements.--Part G of title IV of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by adding at 
the end the following:

``SEC. 493E. INSTITUTIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.

    ``(a) In General.--
            ``(1) Submission of data.--Each institution of higher 
        education participating in a program under this title shall 
        submit to the Secretary data, as determined by the Secretary, 
        sufficient to complete all student components of reporting 
        required for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 
        (referred to in this section as `IPEDS'). Not later than 1 year 
        after the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before 
        You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary shall submit to institutions 
        of higher education guidance related to the submission of data 
        under this paragraph.
            ``(2) Review.--The Secretary shall review, every 5 years, 
        the determination of the category of data that shall be 
        submitted pursuant to paragraph (1).
    ``(b) Establishment of Additional Student Classifications.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 
        2013, the Secretary shall--
                    ``(A) establish common definitions for institutions 
                to follow in submitting the data required under this 
                section; and
                    ``(B) determine both collection and submission 
                requirements.
            ``(2) Identification of unit records.--The Secretary shall 
        require institutions to identify student unit records to enable 
        coding and reporting on--
                    ``(A) students who participate in remedial 
                education at, or through, the institution;
                    ``(B) whether, and at what level, the student is 
                seeking a degree; and
                    ``(C) whether the student is seeking a certificate.
    ``(c) Establishment of New Outcome Metrics.--
            ``(1) In general.--Data submitted to the Secretary under 
        subsection (a) shall be used to calculate all student 
        components of IPEDS.
            ``(2) Additional measures to be calculated.--In addition to 
        student component outcome measures required to be calculated by 
        the Secretary on the day before the date of enactment of the 
        Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary 
        shall also calculate, not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 
        2013, at the institutional and program specific level:
                    ``(A) The percent of students who receive--
                            ``(i) Federal grants;
                            ``(ii) Federal loans;
                            ``(iii) State grants;
                            ``(iv) State loans;
                            ``(v) institutional grants; or
                            ``(vi) institutional loans.
                    ``(B) The average amount of total Federal loan debt 
                upon student graduation assumed by students while 
                enrolled at the institution.
                    ``(C) The average amount of total Federal loan debt 
                of students who do not complete a program of study 2 
                years after the students' last known enrollment in any 
                institution of higher education.
                    ``(D) Student transfer rates by sector of transfer, 
                which shall be defined as the percentage of students 
                who leave an institution and successfully enroll in 
                another institution, including whether the receiving 
                institution is a public 4-year institution, public 2-
                year institution, public less-than-2-year institution, 
                private nonprofit 4-year institution, private nonprofit 
                2-year institution, private nonprofit less-than-2-year 
                institution, private for-profit 4-year institution, 
                private for-profit 2-year institution, or private for-
                profit less-than-2-year institution.
                    ``(E) Rates of continuation to higher levels of 
                education.
                    ``(F) The percent of students who receive the 
                degree level they initially sought.
                    ``(G) The outcome measures described in 
                subparagraphs (A) through (F), in addition to all 
                student level components of IPEDS required to be 
                reported on the day before the date of enactment of the 
                Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, shall 
                also be made available on the basis of the following 
                student type:
                            ``(i) Students who received a Federal Pell 
                        Grant.
                            ``(ii) Students who received a Federal 
                        Stafford Loan, but not a Federal Pell Grant.
                            ``(iii) Students who received neither a 
                        Federal Pell Grant, nor a Federal Stafford 
                        Loan.
                            ``(iv) Students who are identified as 
                        veterans who received assistance under the 
                        Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance 
                        Program under chapter 33 of title 38, United 
                        States Code. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
                        shall coordinate with the Secretary to make 
                        available data sufficient to enable such 
                        reporting under this clause.
                            ``(v) Enrollment status, including the 
                        following:
                                    ``(I) First-time, full-time 
                                students.
                                    ``(II) First-time, part-time 
                                students.
                                    ``(III) Non-first-time, full-time 
                                students.
                                    ``(IV) Non-first-time, part-time 
                                students.
                            ``(vi) Enrollment intensity while enrolled 
                        at the institution, including the following:
                                    ``(I) Full-time only.
                                    ``(II) Part-time only.
                                    ``(III) Mixed enrollment, both 
                                full- and part-time.
                    ``(H) Other information determined necessary.
    ``(d) Linkage to Earnings Record Data.--
            ``(1) Earnings metrics.--The Secretary, in cooperation with 
        the Commissioner of Social Security, shall establish a system 
        under which the student components of IPEDS are used to create 
        earnings metrics. Such system shall enable the publication of 
        data on median annual earnings and employment metrics, 
        disaggregated by--
                    ``(A) educational program based on CIP code;
                    ``(B) credential received;
                    ``(C) educational institution; and
                    ``(D) State of employment.
            ``(2) Standard time periods for reporting earnings 
        outcomes.--The Secretary shall make publicly available median 
        annual earnings disaggregated by the categories described in 
        subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1) for each of the 
        following time periods:
                    ``(A) 2 years after educational program completion.
                    ``(B) 6 years after educational program completion.
                    ``(C) 15 years after educational program 
                completion.
    ``(e) Public Access to Information.--The information aggregated by 
the Secretary under this section shall be included in the IPEDS and 
posted on a website in a timely and user-friendly manner and in a way 
that does not allow for the dissemination of any personally 
identifiable information.
    ``(f) Ensuring Comparability of Data Metric.--For a period of 5 
years following the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know 
Before You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary shall be responsible for 
publishing all student components of IPEDS as such components would 
have been produced on the day before the date of enactment of the 
Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013.
    ``(g) Involvement of States and Leveraging of Investment in 
Existing State-Based Systems.--
            ``(1) In general.--Notwithstanding section 444 of the 
        General Education Provisions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g, commonly 
        known as the `Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 
        1974') except as provided in paragraph (2), in carrying out 
        this section, the Secretary shall consult extensively with 
        State offices with existing student-level data collections from 
        public and private institutions.
            ``(2) No sharing of personally identifiable information.--
        The Secretary, a State, or institution shall not share 
        personally identifiable information of a student in carrying 
        out paragraph (1), except as necessary to enable individuals 
        who are employed by the Department to meet the reporting 
        requirements and data dissemination purposes and requirements 
        under this Act.
    ``(h) Involvement of Institutions of Higher Education in Developing 
Calculation and Reporting Standards.--In carrying out this section, the 
Secretary shall consult extensively with institutions of higher 
education and State agencies of higher education, particularly in the 
formulation of the calculation and reporting standards outlined in 
subsections (b), (c), and (d), and the public access to information 
under subsection (e).
    ``(i) Use of Data for Institutional Improvement.--The Secretary 
shall create a process through which institutions of higher education 
participating in programs under this title and States may request and 
receive from the Department aggregate student outcome data for the 
purposes of institutional improvement and program evaluation. The 
Secretary shall promulgate regulations to ensure fair and equitable 
access to such data. In cases where institutional data are merged with 
Federal record sets and the resulting data are used for Federal 
accountability purposes beyond reporting to the public, the Secretary 
shall develop procedures to provide opportunities for institutional 
review of the disaggregated merged data.
    ``(j) Privacy, Security, and Use of Information.--
            ``(1) Identity protection.--The data system developed under 
        this section shall not permit an individual to be individually 
        identified by users of the data system who are not actively 
        working as database administrators of the system.
            ``(2) Data audit and data governance systems.--The data 
        system developed under this section shall include a data audit 
        system assessing data quality, validity, and reliability and a 
        data governance system to ensure compliance with all Federal 
        standards of data quality and individual privacy.
            ``(3) Prohibition and unauthorized use.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Individual data collected under 
                this section shall not be used for any purpose not 
                specifically authorized by Federal law.
                    ``(B) No federal action.--No action of Federal 
                authority may be taken against an individual based on 
                data collected within the data system developed under 
                this section.
                    ``(C) Guidelines.--The Secretary shall issue 
                guidelines to institutions regarding the amendment of 
                the institutions required annual privacy notices to 
                reference the data collection required under this 
                section.
            ``(4) Individual privacy and access to data.--Prior to 
        implementation of this section, the Secretary shall publish for 
        public comment assurances that--
                    ``(A) that the system developed under this section 
                does not disclose any personally identifiable 
                information and complies with the requirements of 
                section 444 of the General Education Provisions Act (20 
                U.S.C. 1232g) (commonly known as the `Family 
                Educational Rights and Privacy Act') and other 
                applicable Federal and State privacy laws; and
                    ``(B) that there is a policy on the use of data 
                collected under this section that prevents any use of 
                data outside of the purposes of this section.
    ``(k) Penalties for Unauthorized Disclosure of Data.--Any 
individual who willfully discloses a personal identifier (such as a 
name or social security number) provided under this section, in any 
manner to an entity not entitled to receive the identifier, shall be 
fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 
years, or both.
    ``(l) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary 
for each of the fiscal years 2014 through 2022.''.