IIB 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1949 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 23, 2013 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Improving Postsec3 ondary Education Data for Students Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. STUDY ON IMPROVEMENTS TO POSTSECONDARY 

5 EDUCATION TRANSPARENCY AT THE FED6 ERAL LEVEL. 

7 (a) FORMATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IM8 PROVING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION DATA.— 

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

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

11 Education shall convene the Advisory Committee on 

12 Improving Postsecondary Education Data (in this 

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

14 shall be comprised of 15 members who represent 

15 economically, racially, and geographically diverse 

16 populations appointed by the Secretary in consulta17 tion with the Commissioner for Education Statistics, 

18 including— 

19 (A) individuals representing different sec20 tors of institutions of higher education, includ21 ing individuals representing undergraduate and 

22 graduate education; 

23 (B) experts in the field of higher education 

24 policy; 

25 (C) State officials; 


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1 (D) students and other stakeholders from 

2 the higher education community; 

3 (E) representatives from the business com4 munity; 

5 (F) experts in choice in consumer markets; 

6 (G) privacy experts; 

7 (H) college and career counselors at sec8 ondary schools; 

9 (I) experts in data policy, collection, and 

10 use; and 

11 (J) experts in labor markets. 

12 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall ap13 point the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee. 

14 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Advisory Committee 

15 shall conduct a study examining— 

16 (1) the types of information, including informa17 tion related to costs of postsecondary education, 

18 sources of financial assistance (including Federal 

19 student loans), student outcomes, and 

20 postgraduation earnings, the Federal Government 

21 should collect and report on institutions of higher 

22 education to assist students and families in their 

23 search for an institution of higher education; 

24 (2) how such information should be collected 

25 and reported, including how to disaggregate inforVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:24 May 24, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1949.RFS H1949

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1 mation on student outcomes by subgroups of stu2 dents, such as full-time students, part-time students, 

3 nontraditional students, first generation college stu4 dents, students who are veterans, and Federal Pell 

5 Grant recipients under subpart 1 of part A of title 

6 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 1070a); and 

8 (3) the ways in which the Federal Government 

9 may make such information more readily available 

10 to— 

11 (A) students and their families in a format 

12 that is easily accessible and understandable, 

13 and will aid students and their families in mak14 ing decisions; and 

15 (B) States, local governments, secondary 

16 schools, individual or groups of institutions of 

17 higher education, and private-sector entities. 

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

19 under this Act, the Advisory Committee shall, at a min20 imum, examine— 

21 (1) whether the current Federal transparency 

22 initiatives on postsecondary education— 

23 (A) are reporting consistent information 

24 about individual institutions of higher education 

25 across Federal agencies; and 


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1 (B) are similar to transparency initiatives 

2 on postsecondary education carried out by 

3 States, individual or groups of institutions of 

4 higher education, or private-sector entities; 

5 (2) whether— 

6 (A) the collection and reporting of 

7 postgraduation earnings by the Federal Govern8 ment is feasible, and if feasible, the options for 

9 collecting and reporting such information; 

10 (B) collecting and reporting such informa11 tion would improve the use of Federal trans12 parency initiatives and ease decisionmaking for 

13 students and their families; and 

14 (C) collecting and reporting such informa15 tion would have an impact on student privacy, 

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

17 (3) whether any other information, including in18 formation relating to student outcomes or identified 

19 under the review required under subsection (d), 

20 should be collected and reported by the Federal Gov21 ernment to improve the utility of such initiatives for 

22 students and their families, and if so, how such in23 formation may be collected and reported, including 

24 whether the information should be disaggregated by 

25 subgroups of students; 


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1 (4) whether any information currently collected 

2 and reported by the Federal Government on institu3 tions of higher education is not useful for students 

4 and their families and should not be so collected and 

5 reported; 

6 (5) the manner in which the information from 

7 Federal transparency initiatives is made available to 

8 students and their families, and whether format 

9 changes may help the information become more eas10 ily understood and widely utilized by students and 

11 their families; 

12 (6) any activities being carried out by the Fed13 eral Government, States, individual or groups of in14 stitutions of higher education, or private-sector enti15 ties to help inform students and their families of the 

16 availability of Federal transparency initiatives; 

17 (7) the cost to institutions of higher education 

18 of reporting to the Federal Government the informa19 tion that is being collected and reported through 

20 Federal transparency initiatives, and how such cost 

21 may be minimized; and 

22 (8) the relevant research described in sub23 section (d). 


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1 (d) REVIEW OF RELEVANT RESEARCH.—In con2 ducting the study under this Act, the Advisory Committee 

3 shall review and consider— 

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

5 conducted to determine questions most frequently 

6 asked by students and families to help inform their 

7 search for an institution of higher education; 

8 (2) the types of information students seek be9 fore enrolling in an institution of higher education; 

10 (3) whether the availability to students and 

11 their families of additional information on institu12 tions of higher education will be beneficial or con13 fusing; 

14 (4) results, if any, that are available from con15 sumer testing of Federal, State, institution of higher 

16 education, and private-sector transparency initiatives 

17 on postsecondary education that have been made 

18 publicly available on or after the date that is 10 

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

20 (5) any gaps in the research, studies, and re21 sults described in paragraphs (1) and (4) relating to 

22 the types of information students seek before enroll23 ing in an institution of higher education. 

24 (e) CONSULTATION.— 


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

2 under this Act, the Advisory Committee shall— 

3 (A) hold public hearings to consult with 

4 parents and students; and 

5 (B) consult with a broad range of inter6 ested parties in higher education, including ap7 propriate researchers, representatives of sec8 ondary schools (including college and career 

9 counselors) and institutions of higher education 

10 from different sectors of such institutions (in11 cluding undergraduate and graduate education), 

12 State administrators, and Federal officials. 

13 (2) CONSULTATION WITH THE AUTHORIZING

14 COMMITTEES.—The Advisory Committee shall con15 sult on a regular basis with the authorizing commit16 tees in conducting the study under this Act. 

17 (f) REPORTS TO AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.— 

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

19 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Ad20 visory Committee shall prepare and submit to the 

21 authorizing committees and the Secretary an interim 

22 report describing the progress made in conducting 

23 the study under this Act and any preliminary find24 ings on the topics identified under subsection (c). 

25 (2) FINAL REPORT.— 


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

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

4 the authorizing committees and the Secretary a 

5 final report on the study, including— 

6 (i) recommendations for legislative, 

7 regulatory, and administrative actions 

8 based on findings related to the topics 

9 identified under subsection (c); and 

10 (ii) a summary of the research de11 scribed in subsection (d). 

12 (B) CONSULTATION WITH NCES.—The 

13 Advisory Committee shall consult with the Com14 missioner of Education Statistics prior to mak15 ing recommendations under subparagraph 

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

17 being collected and reported by the Federal 

18 Government on institutions of higher education. 

19 (g) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The amount nec20 essary to conduct the study under this Act shall be made 

21 available from amounts available to the Secretary for ad22 ministrative expenses of the Department of Education. 

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

24 (1) AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.—The term 

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


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1 term in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 

2 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1003). 

3 (2) FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT.— 

4 The term ‘‘first generation college student’’ has the 

5 meaning given the term in section 402A(h) of the 

6 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a– 

7 11(h)). 

8 (3) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.—The 

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

10 meaning given the term in section 102 of the Higher 

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

12 that such term does not include institutions de13 scribed in subsection (a)(1)(C) of such section 102. 

14 (4) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘sec15 ondary school’’ has the meaning given the term in 

16 section 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Edu17 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

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

19 the Secretary of Education. 

20 (6) 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 (7) 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. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 22, 2013. 

Attest: KAREN L. HAAS, 

Clerk. 


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