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. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘College Transparency 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA SYSTEM. 

7 Section 132 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

8 U.S.C. 1015a) is amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection 

10 (m); and 


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1 (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(l) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA SYSTEM.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

5 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—The 

6 Commissioner of the National Center for Edu7 cation Statistics (referred to in this subsection 

8 as the ‘Commissioner’) shall develop and main9 tain a secure, privacy-protected postsecondary 

10 student-level data system in order to— 

11 ‘‘(i) accurately evaluate student en12 rollment patterns, progression, completion, 

13 and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher 

14 education costs and financial aid; 

15 ‘‘(ii) assist with transparency, institu16 tional improvement, and analysis of Fed17 eral aid programs; 

18 ‘‘(iii) provide more accurate, complete, 

19 and customizable information for students 

20 and families making decisions about post21 secondary education; and 

22 ‘‘(iv) reduce the reporting burden on 

23 institutions of higher education, in accord24 ance with section 5(b) of the College 

25 Transparency Act. 


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1 ‘‘(B) AVOIDING DUPLICATED REPORT2 ING.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

3 this section, to the extent that another provi4 sion of this section requires the same reporting 

5 or collection of data that is required under this 

6 subsection, a postsecondary institution, or the 

7 Secretary or Commissioner, may use the report8 ing or data required for the postsecondary stu9 dent data system under this subsection to sat10 isfy both requirements. 

11 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—In devel12 oping the postsecondary student data system 

13 described in this subsection, the Commissioner 

14 shall— 

15 ‘‘(i) focus on the needs of— 

16 ‘‘(I) users of the data system; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(II) entities, including postsec19 ondary institutions, reporting to the 

20 data system; 

21 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration, to the 

22 extent practicable— 

23 ‘‘(I) the guidelines outlined in the 

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1 istration and the Digital Services 

2 Playbook and TechFAR Handbook for 

3 Procuring Digital Services Using 

4 Agile Processes of the U.S. Digital 

5 Service; and 

6 ‘‘(II) the relevant successor docu7 ments or recommendations of such 

8 guidelines; 

9 ‘‘(iii) use modern, relevant privacy10 and security-enhancing technology, and en11 hance and update the data system as nec12 essary to carry out the purpose of this sub13 section; 

14 ‘‘(iv) ensure data privacy and security 

15 is consistent with any Federal law relating 

16 to privacy or data security, including— 

17 ‘‘(I) the requirements of sub18 chapter II of chapter 35 of title 44, 

19 United States Code, specifying secu20 rity categorization under the Federal 

21 Information Processing Standards or 

22 any relevant successor of such stand23 ards; 

24 ‘‘(II) security requirements that 

25 are consistent with the Federal agency 


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1 responsibilities in section 3554 of title 

2 44, United States Code, or any rel3 evant successor of such responsibil4 ities; and 

5 ‘‘(III) security requirements, 

6 guidelines, and controls consistent 

7 with cybersecurity standards and best 

8 practices developed by the National 

9 Institute of Standards and Tech10 nology, including frameworks, con11 sistent with section 2(c) of the Na12 tional Institute of Standards and 

13 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)), or 

14 any relevant successor of such frame15 works; 

16 ‘‘(v) follow Federal data minimization 

17 practices to ensure only the minimum 

18 amount of data is collected to meet the 

19 system’s goals, in accordance with Federal 

20 data minimization standards and guide21 lines developed by the National Institute of 

22 Standards and Technology; and 

23 ‘‘(vi) provide notice to students out24 lining the data included in the system and 

25 how the data are used. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DATA ELEMENTS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner, in 

3 consultation with the Postsecondary Student 

4 Data System Advisory Committee described in 

5 subparagraph (B), shall determine— 

6 ‘‘(i) the data elements to be included 

7 in the postsecondary student data system, 

8 in accordance with subparagraphs (C) and 

9 (D); and 

10 ‘‘(ii) how to include the data elements 

11 required under subparagraph (C), and any 

12 additional data elements selected under 

13 subparagraph (D), in the postsecondary 

14 student data system. 

15 ‘‘(B) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA

16 SYSTEM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

17 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Commis18 sioner shall establish a Postsecondary Stu19 dent Data System Advisory Committee (re20 ferred to in this subsection as the ‘Advi21 sory Committee’), whose members shall in22 clude— 

23 ‘‘(I) the Chief Privacy Officer of 

24 the Department or an official of the 

25 Department delegated the duties of 


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1 overseeing data privacy at the Depart2 ment; 

3 ‘‘(II) the Chief Security Officer 

4 of the Department or an official of 

5 the Department delegated the duties 

6 of overseeing data security at the De7 partment; 

8 ‘‘(III) representatives of diverse 

9 postsecondary institutions, which shall 

10 include equal representation between 

11 2-year and 4-year institutions of high12 er education, and from public, non13 profit, and proprietary institutions of 

14 higher education, including minority15 serving institutions; 

16 ‘‘(IV) representatives from State 

17 higher education agencies, entities, 

18 bodies, or boards; 

19 ‘‘(V) representatives of postsec20 ondary students; 

21 ‘‘(VI) representatives from rel22 evant Federal agencies; and 

23 ‘‘(VII) other stakeholders (in24 cluding individuals with expertise in 

25 data privacy and security, consumer 


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1 protection, and postsecondary edu2 cation research). 

3 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commis4 sioner shall ensure that the Advisory Com5 mittee— 

6 ‘‘(I) adheres to all requirements 

7 under the Federal Advisory Com8 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.); 

9 ‘‘(II) establishes operating and 

10 meeting procedures and guidelines 

11 necessary to execute its advisory du12 ties; and 

13 ‘‘(III) is provided with appro14 priate staffing and resources to exe15 cute its advisory duties. 

16 ‘‘(C) REQUIRED DATA ELEMENTS.—The 

17 data elements in the postsecondary student 

18 data system shall include, at a minimum, the 

19 following: 

20 ‘‘(i) Student-level data elements nec21 essary to calculate the information within 

22 the surveys designated by the Commis23 sioner as ‘student-related surveys’ in the 

24 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

25 System (IPEDS), as such surveys are in 


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1 effect on the day before the date of enact2 ment of the College Transparency Act, ex3 cept that in the case that collection of such 

4 elements would conflict with subparagraph 

5 (F), such elements in conflict with sub6 paragraph (F) shall be included in the ag7 gregate instead of at the student level. 

8 ‘‘(ii) Student-level data elements nec9 essary to allow for reporting student en10 rollment, persistence, retention, transfer, 

11 and completion measures for all credential 

12 levels separately (including certificate, as13 sociate, baccalaureate, and advanced de14 gree levels), within and across postsec15 ondary institutions (including across all 

16 categories of institution level, control, and 

17 predominant degree awarded). The data 

18 elements shall allow for reporting about all 

19 such data disaggregated by the following 

20 categories: 

21 ‘‘(I) Enrollment status as a first22 time student, recent transfer student, 

23 or other non-first-time student. 

24 ‘‘(II) Attendance intensity, 

25 whether full-time or part-time. 


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1 ‘‘(III) Credential-seeking status, 

2 by credential level. 

3 ‘‘(IV) Race or ethnicity. 

4 ‘‘(V) Age intervals. 

5 ‘‘(VI) Gender. 

6 ‘‘(VII) Program of study (as ap7 plicable). 

8 ‘‘(VIII) Military or veteran ben9 efit status (as determined based on 

10 receipt of veteran’s education benefits, 

11 as defined in section 480(c)). 

12 ‘‘(IX) Status as a distance edu13 cation student, whether exclusively or 

14 partially enrolled in distance edu15 cation. 

16 ‘‘(X) Federal Pell Grant and 

17 Federal loan recipient status, provided 

18 that the collection of such information 

19 complies with paragraph (1)(B). 

20 ‘‘(D) OTHER DATA ELEMENTS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 

22 may, after consultation with the Advisory 

23 Committee and provision of a public com24 ment period, include additional data ele25 ments in the postsecondary student data 


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1 system, such as those described in clause 

2 (ii), if those data elements— 

3 ‘‘(I) are necessary to ensure that 

4 the postsecondary data system fulfills 

5 the purposes described in paragraph 

6 (1)(A); and 

7 ‘‘(II) are consistent with data 

8 minimization principles, including the 

9 collection of only those additional ele10 ments that are necessary to ensure 

11 such purposes. 

12 ‘‘(ii) DATA ELEMENTS.—The data ele13 ments described in clause (i) may in14 clude— 

15 ‘‘(I) status as a first generation 

16 college student, as defined in section 

17 402A(h); 

18 ‘‘(II) economic status; 

19 ‘‘(III) participation in postsec20 ondary remedial coursework or gate21 way course completion; or 

22 ‘‘(IV) other data elements that 

23 are necessary in accordance with 

24 clause (i). 


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1 ‘‘(E) REEVALUATION.—Not less than once 

2 every 3 years after the implementation of the 

3 postsecondary student data system described in 

4 this subsection, the Commissioner, in consulta5 tion with the Advisory Committee described in 

6 subparagraph (B), shall review the data ele7 ments included in the postsecondary student 

8 data system and may revise the data elements 

9 to be included in such system. 

10 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITIONS.—The Commissioner 

11 shall not include individual health data (includ12 ing data relating to physical health or mental 

13 health), student discipline records or data, ele14 mentary and secondary education data, an 

15 exact address, citizenship status, migrant sta16 tus, or national origin status for students or 

17 their families, course grades, postsecondary en18 trance examination results, political affiliation, 

19 or religion in the postsecondary student data 

20 system under this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC MATCHING WITH OTHER FED22 ERAL DATA SYSTEMS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) DATA SHARING AGREEMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(i) The Commissioner shall ensure 

25 secure, periodic data matches by entering 


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1 into data sharing agreements with each of 

2 the following Federal agencies and offices: 

3 ‘‘(I) The Secretary of the Treas4 ury and the Commissioner of the In5 ternal Revenue Service, in order to 

6 calculate aggregate program- and in7 stitution-level earnings of postsec8 ondary students. 

9 ‘‘(II) The Secretary of Defense, 

10 in order to assess the use of postsec11 ondary educational benefits and the 

12 outcomes of servicemembers. 

13 ‘‘(III) The Secretary of Veterans 

14 Affairs, in order to assess the use of 

15 postsecondary educational benefits 

16 and outcomes of veterans. 

17 ‘‘(IV) The Director of the Census 

18 Bureau, in order to assess the occupa19 tional and earnings outcomes of 

20 former postsecondary education stu21 dents. 

22 ‘‘(V) The Chief Operating Officer 

23 of the Office of Federal Student Aid, 

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1 ondary educational benefits provided 

2 under this Act. 

3 ‘‘(ii) The heads of Federal agencies 

4 and offices described under clause (i) shall 

5 enter into data sharing agreements with 

6 the Commissioner to ensure secure, peri7 odic data matches as described in this 

8 paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(B) CATEGORIES OF DATA.—The Com10 missioner shall, at a minimum, seek to ensure 

11 that the secure periodic data system matches 

12 described in subparagraph (A) permit con13 sistent reporting of the following categories of 

14 data for all postsecondary students: 

15 ‘‘(i) Enrollment, retention, transfer, 

16 and completion outcomes for all postsec17 ondary students. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Financial indicators for postsec19 ondary students receiving Federal grants 

20 and loans, including grant and loan aid by 

21 source, cumulative student debt, loan re22 payment status, and repayment plan. 

23 ‘‘(iii) Post-completion outcomes for all 

24 postsecondary students, including earnings, 

25 employment, and further education, by 


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1 program of study and credential level and 

2 as measured— 

3 ‘‘(I) immediately after leaving 

4 postsecondary education; and 

5 ‘‘(II) at time intervals appro6 priate to the credential sought and 

7 earned. 

8 ‘‘(C) PERIODIC DATA MATCH STREAM9 LINING AND CONFIDENTIALITY.— 

10 ‘‘(i) STREAMLINING.—In creating the 

11 secure periodic data system matches de12 scribed in this paragraph, the Commis13 sioner shall— 

14 ‘‘(I) ensure that such matches 

15 are not continuous, but occur at ap16 propriate intervals, as determined by 

17 the Commissioner; and 

18 ‘‘(II) seek to— 

19 ‘‘(aa) streamline the data 

20 collection and reporting require21 ments for postsecondary institu22 tions; 

23 ‘‘(bb) minimize duplicative 

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1 cluding reporting requirements 

2 applicable to postsecondary insti3 tutions under the Workforce In4 novation and Opportunity Act 

5 (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) and the 

6 Carl D. Perkins Career and 

7 Technical Education Act of 2006; 

8 ‘‘(cc) protect student pri9 vacy; and 

10 ‘‘(dd) streamline the applica11 tion process for student loan ben12 efit programs available to bor13 rowers based on data available 

14 from different Federal data sys15 tems. 

16 ‘‘(ii) REVIEW.—Not less often than 

17 once every 3 years after the establishment 

18 of the postsecondary student data system 

19 under this subsection, the Commissioner, 

20 in consultation with the Advisory Com21 mittee, shall review methods for stream22 lining data collection from postsecondary 

23 institutions and minimizing duplicative re24 porting within the Department and across 


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1 Federal agencies that provide data for the 

2 postsecondary student data system. 

3 ‘‘(iii) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Com4 missioner shall ensure that any periodic 

5 matching or sharing of data through peri6 odic data system matches established in 

7 accordance with this paragraph— 

8 ‘‘(I) complies with the security 

9 and privacy protections described in 

10 paragraph (1)(C)(iv) and other Fed11 eral data protection protocols; 

12 ‘‘(II) follows industry best prac13 tices commensurate with the sensi14 tivity of specific data elements or 

15 metrics; 

16 ‘‘(III) does not result in the cre17 ation of a single standing, linked Fed18 eral database at the Department that 

19 maintains the information reported 

20 across other Federal agencies; and 

21 ‘‘(IV) discloses to postsecondary 

22 students what data are included in the 

23 data system and periodically matched 

24 and how the data are used. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) CORRECTION.—The Commis2 sioner, in consultation with the Advisory 

3 Committee, shall establish a process for 

4 students to request access to only their 

5 personal information for inspection and re6 quest corrections to inaccuracies in a man7 ner that protects the student’s personally 

8 identifiable information. The Commissioner 

9 shall respond in writing to every request 

10 for a correction from a student. 

11 ‘‘(4) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 

13 shall make the summary aggregate information 

14 described in subparagraph (C), at a minimum, 

15 publicly available through a user-friendly con16 sumer information website and analytic tool 

17 that— 

18 ‘‘(i) provides appropriate mechanisms 

19 for users to customize and filter informa20 tion by institutional and student character21 istics; 

22 ‘‘(ii) allows users to build summary 

23 aggregate reports of information, including 

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1 tiple institutions and programs, subject to 

2 subparagraph (B); 

3 ‘‘(iii) uses appropriate statistical dis4 closure limitation techniques necessary to 

5 ensure that the data released to the public 

6 cannot be used to identify specific individ7 uals; and 

8 ‘‘(iv) provides users with appropriate 

9 contextual factors to make comparisons, 

10 which may include national median figures 

11 of the summary aggregate information de12 scribed in subparagraph (C). 

13 ‘‘(B) NO PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE IN14 FORMATION AVAILABLE.—The summary aggre15 gate information described in this paragraph 

16 shall not include personally identifiable informa17 tion. 

18 ‘‘(C) SUMMARY AGGREGATE INFORMATION

19 AVAILABLE.—The summary aggregate informa20 tion described in this paragraph shall, at a min21 imum, include each of the following for each 

22 postsecondary institution: 

23 ‘‘(i) Measures of student access, in24 cluding— 


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1 ‘‘(I) admissions selectivity and 

2 yield; and 

3 ‘‘(II) enrollment, disaggregated 

4 by each category described in para5 graph (2)(C)(ii). 

6 ‘‘(ii) Measures of student progression, 

7 including retention rates and persistence 

8 rates, disaggregated by each category de9 scribed in paragraph (2)(C)(ii). 

10 ‘‘(iii) Measures of student completion, 

11 including— 

12 ‘‘(I) transfer rates and comple13 tion rates, disaggregated by each cat14 egory described in paragraph 

15 (2)(C)(ii); and 

16 ‘‘(II) number of completions, 

17 disaggregated by each category de18 scribed in paragraph (2)(C)(ii). 

19 ‘‘(iv) Measures of student costs, in20 cluding— 

21 ‘‘(I) tuition, required fees, total 

22 cost of attendance, and net price after 

23 total grant aid, disaggregated by in24 State tuition or in-district tuition sta25 tus (if applicable), program of study 


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1 (if applicable), and credential level; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(II) typical grant amounts and 

4 loan amounts received by students re5 ported separately from Federal, State, 

6 local, and institutional sources, and 

7 cumulative debt, disaggregated by 

8 each category described in paragraph 

9 (2)(C)(ii) and completion status. 

10 ‘‘(v) Measures of postcollegiate stu11 dent outcomes, including employment 

12 rates, mean and median earnings, loan re13 payment and default rates, and further 

14 education rates. These measures shall— 

15 ‘‘(I) be disaggregated by each 

16 category described in paragraph 

17 (2)(C)(ii) and completion status; and 

18 ‘‘(II) be measured immediately 

19 after leaving postsecondary education 

20 and at time intervals appropriate to 

21 the credential sought or earned. 

22 ‘‘(D) DEVELOPMENT CRITERIA.—In devel23 oping the method and format of making the in24 formation described in this paragraph publicly 

25 available, the Commissioner shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) focus on the needs of the users of 

2 the information, which will include stu3 dents, families of students, potential stu4 dents, researchers, and other consumers of 

5 education data; 

6 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration, to the 

7 extent practicable, the guidelines described 

8 in paragraph (1)(C)(ii)(I), and relevant 

9 successor documents or recommendations 

10 of such guidelines; 

11 ‘‘(iii) use modern, relevant technology 

12 and enhance and update the postsecondary 

13 student data system with information, as 

14 necessary to carry out the purpose of this 

15 paragraph; 

16 ‘‘(iv) ensure data privacy and security 

17 in accordance with standards and guide18 lines developed by the National Institute of 

19 Standards and Technology, and in accord20 ance with any other Federal law relating to 

21 privacy or security, including complying 

22 with the requirements of subchapter II of 

23 chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 

24 specifying security categorization under the 

25 Federal Information Processing Standards, 


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1 and security requirements, and setting of 

2 National Institute of Standards and Tech3 nology security baseline controls at the ap4 propriate level; and 

5 ‘‘(v) conduct consumer testing to de6 termine how to make the information as 

7 meaningful to users as possible. 

8 ‘‘(5) PERMISSIBLE DISCLOSURES OF DATA.— 

9 ‘‘(A) DATA REPORTS AND QUERIES.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 

11 shall develop and implement a secure proc12 ess for making student-level, non-person13 ally identifiable information, with direct 

14 identifiers removed, from the postsec15 ondary student data system available for 

16 vetted research and evaluation purposes 

17 approved by the Commissioner in a man18 ner compatible with practices for disclosing 

19 National Center for Education Statistics 

20 restricted-use survey data as in effect on 

21 the day before the date of enactment of the 

22 College Transparency Act, or by applying 

23 other research and disclosure restrictions 

24 to ensure data privacy and security. Such 

25 process shall be approved by the National 


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1 Center for Education Statistics’ Disclosure 

2 Review Board or its successor body. 

3 ‘‘(ii) PROVIDING DATA REPORTS AND

4 QUERIES TO INSTITUTIONS AND STATES.— 

5 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Commis6 sioner shall provide feedback reports, 

7 at least annually, to each postsec8 ondary institution, each postsecondary 

9 education system that fully partici10 pates in the postsecondary student 

11 data system, and each State higher 

12 education body as designated by the 

13 governor. 

14 ‘‘(II) FEEDBACK REPORTS.—The 

15 feedback reports provided under this 

16 clause shall include program-level and 

17 institution-level information from the 

18 postsecondary student data system re19 garding students who are associated 

20 with the institution or, for State rep21 resentatives, the institutions within 

22 that State, on or before the date of 

23 the report, on measures including stu24 dent mobility and workforce outcomes, 

25 provided that the feedback aggregate 


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1 summary reports protect the privacy 

2 of individuals. 

3 ‘‘(III) DETERMINATION OF CON4 TENT.—The content of the feedback 

5 reports shall be determined by the 

6 Commissioner in consultation with the 

7 Advisory Committee. 

8 ‘‘(iii) PERMITTING STATE DATA QUE9 RIES.—The Commissioner shall, in con10 sultation with the Advisory Committee and 

11 as soon as practicable, create a process 

12 through which States may submit lists of 

13 secondary school graduates within the 

14 State to receive summary aggregate out15 comes for those students who enrolled at a 

16 postsecondary institution, including post17 secondary enrollment and college comple18 tion, provided that those data protect the 

19 privacy of individuals and that the State 

20 data submitted to the Commissioner are 

21 not stored in the postsecondary education 

22 system. 

23 ‘‘(iv) REGULATIONS.—The Commis24 sioner shall promulgate regulations to en25 sure fair, secure, and equitable access to 


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1 data reports and queries outlined in this 

2 paragraph. 

3 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE LIMITATIONS.—In car4 rying out the public reporting and disclosure re5 quirements of this Act, the Commissioner shall 

6 use appropriate statistical disclosure limitation 

7 techniques necessary to ensure that the data re8 leased to the public cannot include personally 

9 identifiable information or be used to identify 

10 specific individuals. 

11 ‘‘(C) SALE OF DATA PROHIBITED.—Data 

12 collected under this subsection, including the 

13 public-use data set and data comprising the 

14 summary aggregate information available under 

15 paragraph (4), shall not be sold to any third 

16 party by the Commissioner, including any post17 secondary institution or any other entity. 

18 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON USE BY OTHER FED19 ERAL AGENCIES.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 

21 shall not allow any other Federal agency to 

22 use data collected under this subsection for 

23 any purpose except— 

24 ‘‘(I) for vetted research and eval25 uation conducted by the other Federal 


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1 agency, as described in subparagraph 

2 (A)(i); or 

3 ‘‘(II) for a purpose explicitly au4 thorized by this Act. 

5 ‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION ON LIMITATION OF

6 SERVICES.—The Secretary, or the head of 

7 any other Federal agency, shall not use 

8 data collected under this subsection to 

9 limit services to students. 

10 ‘‘(E) LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Personally 

11 identifiable information collected under this 

12 subsection shall not be used for any Federal, 

13 State, or local law enforcement activity or any 

14 other activity that would result in adverse ac15 tion against any student or a student’s family, 

16 including debt collection activity or enforcement 

17 of immigration laws. 

18 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION OF USE FOR FEDERAL

19 RANKINGS OR SUMMATIVE RATING SYSTEM.— 

20 The comprehensive data collection and analysis 

21 necessary for the postsecondary student data 

22 system under this subsection shall not be used 

23 by the Secretary or any Federal entity to estab24 lish any Federal ranking system of postsec25 ondary institutions or a system that results in 


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1 a summative Federal rating of postsecondary 

2 institutions. 

3 ‘‘(G) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

4 in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent 

5 the use of individual categories of aggregate in6 formation to be used for accountability pur7 poses, such as for the calculation of the cohort 

8 default rate under section 435(m). 

9 ‘‘(H) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING

10 COMMERCIAL USE OF DATA.—Nothing in this 

11 paragraph shall be construed to prohibit third12 party entities from using publicly-available in13 formation in this data system for commercial 

14 use. 

15 ‘‘(6) SUBMISSION OF DATA.— 

16 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED SUBMISSION.—Each insti17 tution of higher education participating in a 

18 program under title IV, or the assigned agent 

19 of such institution, shall, in accordance with 

20 section 487(a)(17), collect, and submit to the 

21 Commissioner, the data requested by the Com22 missioner to carry out this subsection. 

23 ‘‘(B) VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION.—Any post24 secondary institution not participating in a pro25 gram under title IV may voluntarily participate 


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1 in the postsecondary student data system under 

2 this subsection by collecting and submitting 

3 data to the Commissioner, as the Commissioner 

4 may request to carry out this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(C) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR6 MATION.—In accordance with paragraph 

7 (2)(C)(i), if the submission of an element of 

8 student-level data is prohibited under para9 graph (2)(F) (or otherwise prohibited by law), 

10 the institution of higher education shall submit 

11 that data to the Commissioner in the aggregate. 

12 ‘‘(7) UNLAWFUL WILLFUL DISCLOSURE.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful 

14 for any person who obtains or has access to 

15 personally identifiable information in connection 

16 with the postsecondary student data system de17 scribed in this subsection to willfully disclose to 

18 any person (except as authorized in this Act or 

19 any Federal law) such personally identifiable in20 formation. 

21 ‘‘(B) PENALTY.—Any person who violates 

22 subparagraph (A) shall be subject to a penalty 

23 described under section 513 of the Confidential 

24 Information Protection and Statistical Effi25 ciency Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) and 


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1 section 183(d)(6) of the Education Sciences Re2 form Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9573(d)(6)). 

3 ‘‘(C) EMPLOYEE OF OFFICER OF THE

4 UNITED STATES.—If a violation of subpara5 graph (A) is committed by any officer or em6 ployee of the United States, the officer or em7 ployee shall be dismissed from office or dis8 charged from employment upon conviction for 

9 the violation. 

10 ‘‘(8) DATA SECURITY.—The Commissioner shall 

11 produce and update as needed guidance and regula12 tions relating to privacy, security, and access which 

13 shall govern the use and disclosure of data collected 

14 in connection with the activities authorized in this 

15 subsection. The guidance and regulations developed 

16 and reviewed shall protect data from unauthorized 

17 access, use, and disclosure, and shall include— 

18 ‘‘(A) an audit capability, including manda19 tory and regularly conducted audits; 

20 ‘‘(B) access controls; 

21 ‘‘(C) requirements to ensure sufficient data 

22 security, quality, validity, and reliability; 

23 ‘‘(D) student confidentiality protection in 

24 accordance with the Confidential Information 

25 Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act; 


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1 ‘‘(E) appropriate and applicable privacy 

2 and security protection, including data retention 

3 and destruction protocols and data minimiza4 tion, in accordance with the most recent Fed5 eral standards developed by the National Insti6 tute of Standards and Technology; and 

7 ‘‘(F) protocols for managing a breach, in8 cluding breach notifications, in accordance with 

9 the standards of National Center for Education 

10 Statistics. 

11 ‘‘(9) DATA COLLECTION.—The Commissioner 

12 shall ensure that data collection, maintenance, and 

13 use under this subsection complies with section 552a 

14 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 ‘‘(10) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

16 ‘‘(A) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU17 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu18 cation’ has the meaning given the term in sec19 tion 102. 

20 ‘‘(B) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR21 MATION.—The term ‘personally identifiable in22 formation’ has the meaning given the term in 

23 section 444 of the General Education Provi24 sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 


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1 ‘‘(C) POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTION.—The 

2 term ‘postsecondary institution’ includes an in3 stitution of higher education.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON STUDENT DATA SYS5 TEM. 

6 Section 134 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 1015c) is repealed. 

8 SEC. 4. INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS. 

9 Paragraph (17) of section 487(a) of the Higher Edu10 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended to 

11 read as follows: 

12 ‘‘(17) The institution or the assigned agent of 

13 the institution will collect and submit data to the 

14 Commissioner for Education Statistics in accordance 

15 with section 132(l), the nonstudent related surveys 

16 within the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

17 System (IPEDS), or any other Federal postsec18 ondary institution data collection effort (as des19 ignated by the Secretary), in a timely manner and 

20 to the satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 

22 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Sections 1, 2, and 4 of this 

23 Act, and the amendments made by such sections, shall 

24 take effect on the date that is 4 years after the date of 

25 enactment of this Act. 


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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Education and 

2 the Commissioner for Education Statistics shall take such 

3 steps as are necessary to ensure that the transition to, 

4 and implementation of, the postsecondary student data 

5 system required under section 132(l) of the Higher Edu6 cation Act of 1965, as added by section 2 of this Act, hap7 pens in a manner that reduces the reporting burden for 

8 postsecondary institutions that reported into the Inte9 grated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS). 

Æ 


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