IB 

Union Calendar No. 58 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1949 

[Report No. 113–83] 

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 

MAY 20, 2013 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 

House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 13, 2013] 


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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. 


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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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STUDY ON IMPROVEMENTS TO POSTSECONDARY 

7 EDUCATION TRANSPARENCY AT THE FED8 ERAL LEVEL. 

9 (a) FORMATION OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON IMPROV10 ING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION DATA.— 

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

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

13 Education shall convene the Advisory Committee on 

14 Improving Postsecondary Education Data (in this 

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

16 shall be comprised of 15 members who represent eco17 nomically, racially, and geographically diverse popu18 lations appointed by the Secretary in consultation 

19 with the Commissioner for Education Statistics, in20 cluding— 

21 (A) individuals representing different sec22 tors of institutions of higher education, including 

23 individuals representing undergraduate and 

24 graduate education; 


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1 (B) experts in the field of higher education 

2 policy; 

3 (C) State officials; 

4 (D) students and other stakeholders from the 

5 higher education community; 

6 (E) representatives from the business com7 munity; 

8 (F) experts in choice in consumer markets; 

9 (G) privacy experts; 

10 (H) college and career counselors at sec11 ondary schools; 

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

13 use; and 

14 (J) experts in labor markets. 

15 (2) CHAIRPERSON.—The Secretary shall appoint 

16 the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee. 

17 (b) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Advisory Committee shall 

18 conduct a study examining— 

19 (1) the types of information, including informa20 tion related to costs of postsecondary education, 

21 sources of financial assistance (including Federal stu22 dent loans), student outcomes, and postgraduation 

23 earnings, the Federal Government should collect and 

24 report on institutions of higher education to assist 


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1 students and families in their search for an institu2 tion of higher education; 

3 (2) how such information should be collected and 

4 reported, including how to disaggregate information 

5 on student outcomes by subgroups of students, such as 

6 full-time students, part-time students, nontraditional 

7 students, first generation college students, students 

8 who are veterans, and Federal Pell Grant recipients 

9 under subpart 1 of part A of title IV of the Higher 

10 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a); and 

11 (3) the ways in which the Federal Government 

12 may make such information more readily available 

13 to— 

14 (A) students and their families in a format 

15 that is easily accessible and understandable, and 

16 will aid students and their families in making 

17 decisions; and 

18 (B) States, local governments, secondary 

19 schools, individual or groups of institutions of 

20 higher education, and private-sector entities. 

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

22 this Act, the Advisory Committee shall, at a minimum, ex23 amine— 

24 (1) whether the current Federal transparency 

25 initiatives on postsecondary education— 


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1 (A) are reporting consistent information 

2 about individual institutions of higher education 

3 across Federal agencies; and 

4 (B) are similar to transparency initiatives 

5 on postsecondary education carried out by 

6 States, individual or groups of institutions of 

7 higher education, or private-sector entities; 

8 (2) whether— 

9 (A) the collection and reporting of 

10 postgraduation earnings by the Federal Govern11 ment is feasible, and if feasible, the options for 

12 collecting and reporting such information; 

13 (B) collecting and reporting such informa14 tion would improve the use of Federal trans15 parency initiatives and ease decisionmaking for 

16 students and their families; and 

17 (C) collecting and reporting such informa18 tion would have an impact on student privacy, 

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

20 (3) whether any other information, including in21 formation relating to student outcomes or identified 

22 under the review required under subsection (d), 

23 should be collected and reported by the Federal Gov24 ernment to improve the utility of such initiatives for 

25 students and their families, and if so, how such inforVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:43 May 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1949.RH H1949

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1 mation may be collected and reported, including 

2 whether the information should be disaggregated by 

3 subgroups of students; 

4 (4) whether any information currently collected 

5 and reported by the Federal Government on institu6 tions of higher education is not useful for students 

7 and their families and should not be so collected and 

8 reported; 

9 (5) the manner in which the information from 

10 Federal transparency initiatives is made available to 

11 students and their families, and whether format 

12 changes may help the information become more easily 

13 understood and widely utilized by students and their 

14 families; 

15 (6) any activities being carried out by the Fed16 eral Government, States, individual or groups of in17 stitutions of higher education, or private-sector enti18 ties to help inform students and their families of the 

19 availability of Federal transparency initiatives; 

20 (7) the cost to institutions of higher education of 

21 reporting to the Federal Government the information 

22 that is being collected and reported through Federal 

23 transparency initiatives, and how such cost may be 

24 minimized; and 


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1 (8) the relevant research described in subsection 

2 (d). 

3 (d) REVIEW OF RELEVANT RESEARCH.—In con4 ducting the study under this Act, the Advisory Committee 

5 shall review and consider— 

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

7 conducted to determine questions most frequently 

8 asked by students and families to help inform their 

9 search for an institution of higher education; 

10 (2) the types of information students seek before 

11 enrolling in an institution of higher education; 

12 (3) whether the availability to students and their 

13 families of additional information on institutions of 

14 higher education will be beneficial or confusing; 

15 (4) results, if any, that are available from con16 sumer testing of Federal, State, institution of higher 

17 education, and private-sector transparency initiatives 

18 on postsecondary education that have been made pub19 licly available on or after the date that is 10 years 

20 before the date of enactment of this Act; and 

21 (5) any gaps in the research, studies, and results 

22 described in paragraphs (1) and (4) relating to the 

23 types of information students seek before enrolling in 

24 an institution of higher education. 

25 (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 interested 

6 parties in higher education, including appro7 priate researchers, representatives of secondary 

8 schools (including college and career counselors) 

9 and institutions of higher education from dif10 ferent sectors of such institutions (including un11 dergraduate and graduate education), State ad12 ministrators, and Federal officials. 

13 (2) CONSULTATION WITH THE AUTHORIZING

14 COMMITTEES.—The Advisory Committee shall consult 

15 on a regular basis with the authorizing committees in 

16 conducting the study under this Act. 

17 (f) REPORTS TO AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.— 

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

19 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Advisory 

20 Committee shall prepare and submit to the author21 izing committees and the Secretary an interim report 

22 describing the progress made in conducting the study 

23 under this Act and any preliminary findings on the 

24 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 Advi3 sory Committee shall prepare and submit to the 

4 authorizing committees and the Secretary a final 

5 report on the study, including— 

6 (i) recommendations for legislative, 

7 regulatory, and administrative actions 

8 based on findings related to the topics iden9 tified under subsection (c); and 

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

12 (B) CONSULTATION WITH NCES.—The Ad13 visory Committee shall consult with the Commis14 sioner of Education Statistics prior to making 

15 recommendations under subparagraph (A)(i) 

16 with respect to improving the information being 

17 collected and reported by the Federal Govern18 ment on institutions of higher education. 

19 (g) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—The amount necessary 

20 to conduct the study under this Act shall be made available 

21 from amounts available to the Secretary for administrative 

22 expenses of the Department of Education. 

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

24 (1) AUTHORIZING COMMITTEES.—The term ‘‘au25 thorizing committees’’ has the meaning given the term 


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1 in section 103 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

2 (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 mean10 ing given the term in section 102 of the Higher Edu11 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002), except that such 

12 term does not include institutions described in sub13 section (a)(1)(C) of such section 102. 

14 (4) SECONDARY SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘secondary 

15 school’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

16 9101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education 

17 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 meaning 

21 given the term in section 103 of the Higher Education 

22 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 of 

5 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. 1087vv(c)(1))) 

8 who is a student or prospective student. 


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Union Calendar No. 58 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1949 

[Report No. 113–83] 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Education to convene the 

at the Federal level. ments to postsecondary education transparency Education Data to conduct a study on improveAdvisory Committee on Improving Postsecondary 

MAY 20, 2013 

Reported with an amendment, committed to the Comand ordered to be printed mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 


PWALKER on DSK7TPTVN1PROD with BILLS