I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1949 

To direct the Secretary of Education to convene the Advisory Committee 

on Improving Postsecondary Education Data to conduct a study on 

improvements to postsecondary education transparency at the Federal 

level. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 13, 2013 

Mr. MESSER (for himself, Mr. KLINE, Mr. PETRI, Ms. FOXX, Mr. ROE of 

Tennessee, Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania, and Mr. BUCSHON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to convene the Advisory 

Committee on Improving Postsecondary Education Data 

to conduct a study on improvements to postsecondary 

education transparency at the Federal level. 

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 ‘‘Improving Postsec5 ondary Education Data for Students Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDY ON WAYS TO IMPROVE POSTSECONDARY 

2 EDUCATION TRANSPARENCY AT THE FED3 ERAL LEVEL. 

4 (a) FORMATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IM5 PROVING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION DATA.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after 

7 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

8 Education shall convene the Advisory Committee on 

9 Improving Postsecondary Education Data (in this 

10 Act referred to as the ‘‘Advisory Committee’’), which 

11 shall be comprised of 15 members appointed by the 

12 Secretary in consultation with the Commissioner for 

13 Education Statistics, including— 

14 (A) individuals representing different sec15 tors of institutions of higher education; 

16 (B) experts in the field of higher education 

17 policy; 

18 (C) State higher education officials, stu19 dents, and other stakeholders from the higher 

20 education community; 

21 (D) representatives from the business com22 munity; 

23 (E) experts in choice in consumer markets, 

24 and 

25 (F) privacy experts. 


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1 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall ap2 point the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee. 

3 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Advisory Committee 

4 shall conduct a study examining— 

5 (1) the types of information, including informa6 tion related to costs of postsecondary education, stu7 dent outcomes, and postgraduation earnings, the 

8 Federal Government should collect and report on in9 stitutions of higher education to assist students and 

10 families in their search for an institution of higher 

11 education; 

12 (2) how such information should be collected 

13 and reported, including how to disaggregate infor14 mation on student outcomes by subgroups of stu15 dents, such as full-time students, part-time students, 

16 nontraditional students, students who are veterans, 

17 and Federal Pell Grant recipients under subpart 1 

18 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act 

19 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a); and 

20 (3) the ways in which the Federal Government 

21 may make such information more readily available 

22 to— 

23 (A) students and their families in a format 

24 that is easily accessible and understandable; 

25 and 


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1 (B) States, individual or groups of institu2 tions of higher education, and private-sector en3 tities. 

4 (c) SCOPE OF STUDY.—In conducting the study 

5 under this Act, the Advisory Committee shall, at a min6 imum, examine— 

7 (1) whether the current Federal transparency 

8 initiatives on postsecondary education— 

9 (A) are reporting consistent information 

10 about individual institutions of higher education 

11 across Federal agencies; and 

12 (B) are similar to transparency initiatives 

13 on postsecondary education carried out by 

14 States, individual or groups of institutions of 

15 higher education, or private-sector entities; 

16 (2) whether— 

17 (A) the collection and reporting of 

18 postgraduation earnings by the Federal Govern19 ment is feasible, and if feasible, the options for 

20 collecting and reporting such information; 

21 (B) collecting and reporting such informa22 tion would improve the utility of Federal trans23 parency initiatives for students and their fami24 lies; and 


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1 (C) collecting and reporting such informa2 tion would have an impact on student privacy, 

3 and if so, how such impact may be minimized; 

4 (3) whether any other information, including in5 formation relating to student outcomes or identified 

6 under the review required under subsection (d), 

7 should be collected and reported by the Federal Gov8 ernment to improve the utility of such initiatives for 

9 students and their families, and if so, how such in10 formation may be collected and reported, including 

11 whether the information should be disaggregated by 

12 subgroups of students; 

13 (4) whether any information currently collected 

14 and reported by the Federal Government on institu15 tions of higher education is not useful for students 

16 and their families and should not be so collected and 

17 reported; 

18 (5) the manner in which the information from 

19 Federal transparency initiatives is made available to 

20 students and their families, and whether format 

21 changes may help the information become more eas22 ily understood and widely utilized by students and 

23 their families; 

24 (6) any activities being carried out by the Fed25 eral Government, States, individual or groups of inVerDate Mar 15 2010 23:57 May 14, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1949.IH H1949

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1 stitutions of higher education, or private-sector enti2 ties to help inform students and their families of the 

3 availability of Federal transparency initiatives; 

4 (7) the cost to institutions of higher education 

5 of reporting to the Federal Government the informa6 tion that is being collected and reported through 

7 Federal transparency initiatives, and how such cost 

8 may be minimized; and 

9 (8) the relevant research described in sub10 section (d). 

11 (d) REVIEW OF RELEVANT RESEARCH.—In con12 ducting the study under this Act, the Advisory Committee 

13 shall review and consider— 

14 (1) research and studies, if any, that have been 

15 conducted to determine questions most frequently 

16 asked by students and families to help inform their 

17 search for an institution of higher education; 

18 (2) the types of information students seek be19 fore enrolling in an institution of higher education; 

20 (3) whether the availability to students and 

21 their families of additional information on institu22 tions of higher education will be beneficial or con23 fusing; 

24 (4) results, if any, that are available from con25 sumer testing of Federal, State, institution of higher 


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1 education, and private-sector transparency initiatives 

2 on postsecondary education that have been made 

3 publicly available on or after the date that is 10 

4 years before the date of enactment of this Act; and 

5 (5) any gaps in the research, studies, and re6 sults described in paragraphs (1) and (4) relating to 

7 the types of information students seek before enroll8 ing in an institution of higher education. 

9 (e) CONSULTATION.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—In conducting the study 

11 under this Act, the Advisory Committee shall— 

12 (A) hold public hearings to consult with 

13 parents and students; and 

14 (B) consult with a broad range of inter15 ested parties in higher education, including ap16 propriate researchers, representatives of sec17 ondary schools and institutions of higher edu18 cation, State administrators, and Federal offi19 cials. 

20 (2) CONSULTATION WITH THE AUTHORIZING

21 COMMITTEES.—The Advisory Committee shall con22 sult on a regular basis with the authorizing commit23 tees in conducting the study under this Act. 

24 (f) REPORTS TO AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.— 


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1 (1) INTERIM REPORT.—Not later than 180 

2 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad3 visory Committee shall prepare and submit to the 

4 authorizing committees and the Secretary an interim 

5 report describing the progress made in conducting 

6 the study under this Act and any preliminary find7 ings on the topics identified under subsection (c). 

8 (2) FINAL REPORT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad11 visory Committee shall prepare and submit to 

12 the authorizing committees and the Secretary a 

13 final report on the study, including— 

14 (i) recommendations for legislative, 

15 regulatory, and administrative actions 

16 based on findings related to the topics 

17 identified under subsection (c); and 

18 (ii) a summary of the research de19 scribed in subsection (d). 

20 (B) CONSULTATION WITH NCES.—The 

21 Advisory Committee shall consult with the Com22 missioner of Education Statistics prior to mak23 ing recommendations under subparagraph 

24 (A)(i) with respect to improving the information 


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1 being collected and reported by the Federal 

2 Government on institutions of higher education. 

3 (g) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The amount nec4 essary to conduct the study under this Act shall be made 

5 available from amounts available to the Secretary for ad6 ministrative expenses of the Department of Education. 

7 (h) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this Act: 

8 (1) AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.—The term 

9 ‘‘authorizing committees’’ has the meaning given the 

10 term in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

12 (2) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

13 term ‘‘institution of higher education’’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

15 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), except 

16 that such term does not include institutions de17 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(C) of such section 102. 

18 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

19 the Secretary of Education. 

20 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean21 ing given the term in section 103 of the Higher 

22 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

23 (5) STUDENT.—The term ‘‘student’’ includes— 

24 (A) a prospective student; 


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1 (B) a student enrolled in an institution of 

2 higher education; 

3 (C) a nontraditional student (as defined in 

4 section 803(j)(2) of the Higher Education Act 

5 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1161c(j)(2))); and 

6 (D) a veteran (as defined in section 

7 480(c)(1) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

8 1087vv(c)(1))) who is a student or prospective 

9 student. 

Æ 


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