II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 839 

To establish a postsecondary student data system. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Ms. WARREN, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, and 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE) 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.—Not 

6 later than 4 years after the date of enactment 

7 of the College Transparency Act, the Commis8 sioner of the National Center for Education 

9 Statistics (referred to in this subsection as the 

10 ‘Commissioner’) shall develop and maintain a 

11 secure, privacy-protected postsecondary student12 level data system in order to— 

13 ‘‘(i) accurately evaluate student en14 rollment patterns, progression, completion, 

15 and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher 

16 education costs and financial aid; 

17 ‘‘(ii) assist with transparency, institu18 tional improvement, and analysis of Fed19 eral aid programs; 

20 ‘‘(iii) provide accurate, complete, and 

21 customizable information for students and 

22 families making decisions about postsec23 ondary education; and 

24 ‘‘(iv) reduce the reporting burden on 

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1 ance with section 5(b) of the College 

2 Transparency Act. 

3 ‘‘(B) AVOIDING DUPLICATED REPORT4 ING.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 

5 this section, to the extent that another provi6 sion of this section requires the same reporting 

7 or collection of data that is required under this 

8 subsection, an institution of higher education, 

9 or the Secretary or Commissioner, may use the 

10 reporting or data required for the postsec11 ondary student data system under this sub12 section to satisfy both requirements. 

13 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—In devel14 oping the postsecondary student data system 

15 described in this subsection, the Commissioner 

16 shall— 

17 ‘‘(i) focus on the needs of— 

18 ‘‘(I) users of the data system; 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(II) entities, including institu21 tions of higher education, reporting to 

22 the data system; 

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

24 extent practicable— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the guidelines outlined in the 

2 U.S. Web Design Standards main3 tained by the General Services Admin4 istration and the Digital Services 

5 Playbook and TechFAR Handbook for 

6 Procuring Digital Services Using 

7 Agile Processes of the U.S. Digital 

8 Service; and 

9 ‘‘(II) the relevant successor docu10 ments or recommendations of such 

11 guidelines; 

12 ‘‘(iii) use modern, relevant privacy13 and security-enhancing technology, and en14 hance and update the data system as nec15 essary to carry out the purpose of this sub16 section; 

17 ‘‘(iv) ensure data privacy and security 

18 is consistent with any Federal law relating 

19 to privacy or data security, including— 

20 ‘‘(I) the requirements of sub21 chapter II of chapter 35 of title 44, 

22 United States Code, specifying secu23 rity categorization under the Federal 

24 Information Processing Standards or 


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1 any relevant successor of such stand2 ards; 

3 ‘‘(II) security requirements that 

4 are consistent with the Federal agency 

5 responsibilities in section 3554 of title 

6 44, United States Code, or any rel7 evant successor of such responsibil8 ities; and 

9 ‘‘(III) security requirements, 

10 guidelines, and controls consistent 

11 with cybersecurity standards and best 

12 practices developed by the National 

13 Institute of Standards and Tech14 nology, including frameworks, con15 sistent with section 2(c) of the Na16 tional Institute of Standards and 

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

18 any relevant successor of such frame19 works; 

20 ‘‘(v) follow Federal data minimization 

21 practices to ensure only the minimum 

22 amount of data is collected to meet the 

23 system’s goals, in accordance with Federal 

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1 lines developed by the National Institute of 

2 Standards and Technology; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) provide notice to students out4 lining the data included in the system and 

5 how the data are used. 

6 ‘‘(2) DATA ELEMENTS.— 

7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 

8 after the date of enactment of the College 

9 Transparency Act, the Commissioner, in con10 sultation with the Postsecondary Student Data 

11 System Advisory Committee established under 

12 subparagraph (B), shall determine— 

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

14 in the postsecondary student data system, 

15 in accordance with subparagraphs (C) and 

16 (D); and 

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

18 required under subparagraph (C), and any 

19 additional data elements selected under 

20 subparagraph (D), in the postsecondary 

21 student data system. 

22 ‘‘(B) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA

23 SYSTEM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

24 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 

25 than 2 years after the date of enactment 


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1 of the College Transparency Act, the Com2 missioner shall establish a Postsecondary 

3 Student Data System Advisory Committee 

4 (referred to in this subsection as the ‘Advi5 sory Committee’), whose members shall in6 clude— 

7 ‘‘(I) the Chief Privacy Officer of 

8 the Department or an official of the 

9 Department delegated the duties of 

10 overseeing data privacy at the Depart11 ment; 

12 ‘‘(II) the Chief Security Officer 

13 of the Department or an official of 

14 the Department delegated the duties 

15 of overseeing data security at the De16 partment; 

17 ‘‘(III) representatives of diverse 

18 institutions of higher education, which 

19 shall include equal representation be20 tween 2-year and 4-year institutions 

21 of higher education, and from public, 

22 nonprofit, and proprietary institutions 

23 of higher education, including minor24 ity-serving institutions; 


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1 ‘‘(IV) representatives from State 

2 higher education agencies, entities, 

3 bodies, or boards; 

4 ‘‘(V) representatives of postsec5 ondary students; 

6 ‘‘(VI) representatives from rel7 evant Federal agencies; and 

8 ‘‘(VII) other stakeholders (in9 cluding individuals with expertise in 

10 data privacy and security, consumer 

11 protection, and postsecondary edu12 cation research). 

13 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commis14 sioner shall ensure that the Advisory Com15 mittee— 

16 ‘‘(I) adheres to all requirements 

17 under the Federal Advisory Com18 mittee Act (5 U.S.C. App.); 

19 ‘‘(II) establishes operating and 

20 meeting procedures and guidelines 

21 necessary to execute its advisory du22 ties; and 

23 ‘‘(III) is provided with appro24 priate staffing and resources to exe25 cute its advisory duties. 


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1 ‘‘(C) REQUIRED DATA ELEMENTS.—The 

2 data elements in the postsecondary student 

3 data system shall include, at a minimum, the 

4 following: 

5 ‘‘(i) Student-level data elements nec6 essary to calculate the information within 

7 the surveys designated by the Commis8 sioner as ‘student-related surveys’ in the 

9 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

10 System (IPEDS), as such surveys are in 

11 effect on the day before the date of enact12 ment of the College Transparency Act, ex13 cept that in the case that collection of such 

14 elements would conflict with subparagraph 

15 (F), such elements in conflict with sub16 paragraph (F) shall be included in the ag17 gregate instead of at the student level. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Student-level data elements nec19 essary to allow for reporting student en20 rollment, persistence, retention, transfer, 

21 and completion measures for all credential 

22 levels separately (including certificate, as23 sociate, baccalaureate, and advanced de24 gree levels), within and across institutions 

25 of higher education (including across all 


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1 categories of institution level, control, and 

2 predominant degree awarded). The data 

3 elements shall allow for reporting about all 

4 such data disaggregated by the following 

5 categories: 

6 ‘‘(I) Enrollment status as a first7 time student, recent transfer student, 

8 or other non-first-time student. 

9 ‘‘(II) Attendance intensity, 

10 whether full-time or part-time. 

11 ‘‘(III) Credential-seeking status, 

12 by credential level. 

13 ‘‘(IV) Race or ethnicity, in a 

14 manner that captures all the racial 

15 groups specified in the most recent 

16 American Community Survey of the 

17 Bureau of the Census. 

18 ‘‘(V) Age intervals. 

19 ‘‘(VI) Gender. 

20 ‘‘(VII) Program of study (as ap21 plicable). 

22 ‘‘(VIII) Military or veteran ben23 efit status (as determined based on 

24 receipt of veteran’s education benefits, 

25 as defined in section 480(c)). 


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1 ‘‘(IX) Status as a distance edu2 cation student, whether exclusively or 

3 partially enrolled in distance edu4 cation. 

5 ‘‘(X) Federal Pell Grant recipient 

6 status under section 401 and Federal 

7 loan recipient status under title IV, 

8 provided that the collection of such in9 formation complies with paragraph 

10 (1)(B). 

11 ‘‘(D) OTHER DATA ELEMENTS.— 

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

13 may, after consultation with the Advisory 

14 Committee and provision of a public com15 ment period, include additional data ele16 ments in the postsecondary student data 

17 system, such as those described in clause 

18 (ii), if those data elements— 

19 ‘‘(I) are necessary to ensure that 

20 the postsecondary data system fulfills 

21 the purposes described in paragraph 

22 (1)(A); and 

23 ‘‘(II) are consistent with data 

24 minimization principles, including the 

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1 ments that are necessary to ensure 

2 such purposes. 

3 ‘‘(ii) DATA ELEMENTS.—The data ele4 ments described in clause (i) may in5 clude— 

6 ‘‘(I) status as a first generation 

7 college student, as defined in section 

8 402A(h); 

9 ‘‘(II) economic status; 

10 ‘‘(III) participation in postsec11 ondary remedial coursework or gate12 way course completion; or 

13 ‘‘(IV) other data elements that 

14 are necessary in accordance with 

15 clause (i). 

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

17 every 3 years after the implementation of the 

18 postsecondary student data system described in 

19 this subsection, the Commissioner, in consulta20 tion with the Advisory Committee described in 

21 subparagraph (B), shall review the data ele22 ments included in the postsecondary student 

23 data system and may revise the data elements 

24 to be included in such system. 


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1 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITIONS.—The Commissioner 

2 shall not include individual health data (includ3 ing data relating to physical health or mental 

4 health), student discipline records or data, ele5 mentary and secondary education data, an 

6 exact address, citizenship status, migrant sta7 tus, or national origin status for students or 

8 their families, course grades, postsecondary en9 trance examination results, political affiliation, 

10 or religion in the postsecondary student data 

11 system under this subsection. 

12 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC MATCHING WITH OTHER FED13 ERAL DATA SYSTEMS.— 

14 ‘‘(A) DATA SHARING AGREEMENTS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) The Commissioner shall ensure 

16 secure, periodic data matches by entering 

17 into data sharing agreements with each of 

18 the following Federal agencies and offices: 

19 ‘‘(I) The Secretary of the Treas20 ury and the Commissioner of the In21 ternal Revenue Service, in order to 

22 calculate aggregate program- and in23 stitution-level earnings of postsec24 ondary students. 


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1 ‘‘(II) The Secretary of Defense, 

2 in order to assess the use of postsec3 ondary educational benefits and the 

4 outcomes of servicemembers. 

5 ‘‘(III) The Secretary of Veterans 

6 Affairs, in order to assess the use of 

7 postsecondary educational benefits 

8 and outcomes of veterans. 

9 ‘‘(IV) The Director of the Bu10 reau of the Census, in order to assess 

11 the earnings outcomes of former post12 secondary education students. 

13 ‘‘(V) The Chief Operating Officer 

14 of the Office of Federal Student Aid, 

15 in order to analyze the use of postsec16 ondary educational benefits provided 

17 under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(VI) The Commissioner of the 

19 Social Security Administration, in 

20 order to evaluate labor market out21 comes of former postsecondary edu22 cation students. 

23 ‘‘(VII) The Commissioner of the 

24 Bureau of Labor Statistics, in order 


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1 to assess the wages of former postsec2 ondary education students. 

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 carrying out 

11 the secure periodic data system matches 

12 under this paragraph, the Commissioner 

13 shall— 

14 ‘‘(I) ensure that such matches 

15 are not continuous, but occur only pe16 riodically at appropriate intervals, as 

17 determined by the Commissioner to 

18 meet the goals of subparagraph (A); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(II) seek to— 

21 ‘‘(aa) streamline the data 

22 collection and reporting require23 ments for institutions of higher 

24 education; 


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1 ‘‘(bb) minimize duplicative 

2 reporting across or within Fed3 eral agencies or departments, in4 cluding reporting requirements 

5 applicable to institutions of high6 er education under the Workforce 

7 Innovation and Opportunity Act 

8 (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.) and the 

9 Carl D. Perkins Career and 

10 Technical Education Act of 2006; 

11 ‘‘(cc) protect student pri12 vacy; and 

13 ‘‘(dd) streamline the applica14 tion process for student loan ben15 efit programs available to bor16 rowers based on data available 

17 from different Federal data sys18 tems. 

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

20 once every 3 years after the establishment 

21 of the postsecondary student data system 

22 under this subsection, the Commissioner, 

23 in consultation with the Advisory Com24 mittee, shall review methods for stream25 lining data collection from institutions of 


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1 higher education and minimizing duplica2 tive reporting within the Department and 

3 across Federal agencies that provide data 

4 for the postsecondary student data system. 

5 ‘‘(iii) CONFIDENTIALITY.—The Com6 missioner shall ensure that any periodic 

7 matching or sharing of data through peri8 odic data system matches established in 

9 accordance with this paragraph— 

10 ‘‘(I) complies with the security 

11 and privacy protections described in 

12 paragraph (1)(C)(iv) and other Fed13 eral data protection protocols; 

14 ‘‘(II) follows industry best prac15 tices commensurate with the sensi16 tivity of specific data elements or 

17 metrics; 

18 ‘‘(III) does not result in the cre19 ation of a single standing, linked Fed20 eral database at the Department that 

21 maintains the information reported 

22 across other Federal agencies; and 

23 ‘‘(IV) discloses to postsecondary 

24 students what data are included in the 


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1 data system and periodically matched 

2 and how the data are used. 

3 ‘‘(iv) CORRECTION.—The Commis4 sioner, in consultation with the Advisory 

5 Committee, shall establish a process for 

6 students to request access to only their 

7 personal information for inspection and re8 quest corrections to inaccuracies in a man9 ner that protects the student’s personally 

10 identifiable information. The Commissioner 

11 shall respond in writing to every request 

12 for a correction from a student. 

13 ‘‘(4) PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION.— 

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

15 shall make the summary aggregate information 

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

17 publicly available through a user-friendly con18 sumer information website and analytic tool 

19 that— 

20 ‘‘(i) provides appropriate mechanisms 

21 for users to customize and filter informa22 tion by institutional and student character23 istics; 

24 ‘‘(ii) allows users to build summary 

25 aggregate reports of information, including 


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1 reports that allow comparisons across mul2 tiple institutions and programs, subject to 

3 subparagraph (B); 

4 ‘‘(iii) uses appropriate statistical dis5 closure limitation techniques necessary to 

6 ensure that the data released to the public 

7 cannot be used to identify specific individ8 uals; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) provides users with appropriate 

10 contextual factors to make comparisons, 

11 which may include national median figures 

12 of the summary aggregate information de13 scribed in subparagraph (C). 

14 ‘‘(B) NO PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE IN15 FORMATION AVAILABLE.—The summary aggre16 gate information described in this paragraph 

17 shall not include personally identifiable informa18 tion. 

19 ‘‘(C) SUMMARY AGGREGATE INFORMATION

20 AVAILABLE.—The summary aggregate informa21 tion described in this paragraph shall, at a min22 imum, include each of the following for each in23 stitution of higher education: 

24 ‘‘(i) Measures of student access, in25 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.—Not later than 4 

11 years after the date of enactment of the 

12 College Transparency Act, the Commis13 sioner shall develop and implement a se14 cure process for making student-level, non15 personally identifiable information, with di16 rect identifiers removed, from the postsec17 ondary student data system available for 

18 vetted research and evaluation purposes 

19 approved by the Commissioner in a man20 ner compatible with practices for disclosing 

21 National Center for Education Statistics 

22 restricted-use survey data as in effect on 

23 the day before the date of enactment of the 

24 College Transparency Act, or by applying 

25 other research and disclosure restrictions 


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1 to ensure data privacy and security. Such 

2 process shall be approved by the National 

3 Center for Education Statistics’ Disclosure 

4 Review Board (or successor body). 

5 ‘‘(ii) PROVIDING DATA REPORTS AND

6 QUERIES TO INSTITUTIONS AND STATES.— 

7 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Commis8 sioner shall provide feedback reports, 

9 at least annually, to each institution 

10 of higher education, each postsec11 ondary education system that fully 

12 participates in the postsecondary stu13 dent data system, and each State 

14 higher education body as designated 

15 by the governor. 

16 ‘‘(II) FEEDBACK REPORTS.—The 

17 feedback reports provided under this 

18 clause shall include program-level and 

19 institution-level information from the 

20 postsecondary student data system re21 garding students who are associated 

22 with the institution or, for State rep23 resentatives, the institutions within 

24 that State, on or before the date of 

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1 dent mobility and workforce outcomes, 

2 provided that the feedback aggregate 

3 summary reports protect the privacy 

4 of individuals. 

5 ‘‘(III) DETERMINATION OF CON6 TENT.—The content of the feedback 

7 reports shall be determined by the 

8 Commissioner in consultation with the 

9 Advisory Committee. 

10 ‘‘(iii) PERMITTING STATE DATA QUE11 RIES.—The Commissioner shall, in con12 sultation with the Advisory Committee and 

13 as soon as practicable, create a process 

14 through which States may submit lists of 

15 secondary school graduates within the 

16 State to receive summary aggregate out17 comes for those students who enrolled at 

18 an institution of higher education, includ19 ing postsecondary enrollment and college 

20 completion, provided that those data pro21 tect the privacy of individuals and that the 

22 State data submitted to the Commissioner 

23 are not stored in the postsecondary edu24 cation system. 


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1 ‘‘(iv) REGULATIONS.—The Commis2 sioner shall promulgate regulations to en3 sure fair, secure, and equitable access to 

4 data reports and queries under this para5 graph. 

6 ‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE LIMITATIONS.—In car7 rying out the public reporting and disclosure re8 quirements of this subsection, the Commis9 sioner shall use appropriate statistical disclo10 sure limitation techniques necessary to ensure 

11 that the data released to the public cannot in12 clude personally identifiable information or be 

13 used to identify specific individuals. 

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

15 collected under this subsection, including the 

16 public-use data set and data comprising the 

17 summary aggregate information available under 

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

19 party by the Commissioner, including any insti20 tution of higher education or any other entity. 

21 ‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON USE BY OTHER FED22 ERAL AGENCIES.— 

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

24 shall not allow any other Federal agency to 


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1 use data collected under this subsection for 

2 any purpose except— 

3 ‘‘(I) for vetted research and eval4 uation conducted by the other Federal 

5 agency, as described in subparagraph 

6 (A)(i); or 

7 ‘‘(II) for a purpose explicitly au8 thorized by this Act. 

9 ‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION ON LIMITATION OF

10 SERVICES.—The Secretary, or the head of 

11 any other Federal agency, shall not use 

12 data collected under this subsection to 

13 limit services to students. 

14 ‘‘(E) LAW ENFORCEMENT.—Personally 

15 identifiable information collected under this 

16 subsection shall not be used for any Federal, 

17 State, or local law enforcement activity or any 

18 other activity that would result in adverse ac19 tion against any student or a student’s family, 

20 including debt collection activity or enforcement 

21 of immigration laws. 

22 ‘‘(F) LIMITATION OF USE FOR FEDERAL

23 RANKINGS OR SUMMATIVE RATING SYSTEM.— 

24 The comprehensive data collection and analysis 

25 necessary for the postsecondary student data 


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1 system under this subsection shall not be used 

2 by the Secretary or any Federal entity to estab3 lish any Federal ranking system of institutions 

4 of higher education or a system that results in 

5 a summative Federal rating of institutions of 

6 higher education. 

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

8 in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent 

9 the use of individual categories of aggregate in10 formation to be used for accountability pur11 poses. 

12 ‘‘(H) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING

13 COMMERCIAL USE OF DATA.—Nothing in this 

14 paragraph shall be construed to prohibit third15 party entities from using publicly available in16 formation in this data system for commercial 

17 use. 

18 ‘‘(6) SUBMISSION OF DATA.— 

19 ‘‘(A) REQUIRED SUBMISSION.—Each insti20 tution of higher education participating in a 

21 program under title IV, or the assigned agent 

22 of such institution, shall, for each eligible pro23 gram, in accordance with section 487(a)(17), 

24 collect, and submit to the Commissioner, the 


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1 data requested by the Commissioner to carry 

2 out this subsection. 

3 ‘‘(B) VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION.—Any insti4 tution of higher education not participating in 

5 a program under title IV may voluntarily par6 ticipate in the postsecondary student data sys7 tem under this subsection by collecting and sub8 mitting data to the Commissioner, as the Com9 missioner may request to carry out this sub10 section. 

11 ‘‘(C) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR12 MATION.—In accordance with paragraph 

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

14 student-level data is prohibited under para15 graph (2)(F) (or otherwise prohibited by law), 

16 the institution of higher education shall submit 

17 that data to the Commissioner in the aggregate. 

18 ‘‘(7) UNLAWFUL WILLFUL DISCLOSURE.— 

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

20 for any person who obtains or has access to 

21 personally identifiable information in connection 

22 with the postsecondary student data system de23 scribed in this subsection to willfully disclose to 

24 any person (except as authorized in this Act or 


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1 by any Federal law) such personally identifiable 

2 information. 

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

4 subparagraph (A) shall be subject to a penalty 

5 described under section 3572(f) of title 44, 

6 United States Code, and section 183(d)(6) of 

7 the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 

8 U.S.C. 9573(d)(6)). 

9 ‘‘(C) EMPLOYEE OR OFFICER OF THE

10 UNITED STATES.—If a violation of subpara11 graph (A) is committed by any officer or em12 ployee of the United States, the officer or em13 ployee shall be dismissed from office or dis14 charged from employment upon conviction for 

15 the violation. 

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

17 produce and update as needed guidance and regula18 tions relating to privacy, security, and access which 

19 shall govern the use and disclosure of data collected 

20 in connection with the activities authorized in this 

21 subsection. The guidance and regulations developed 

22 and reviewed shall protect data from unauthorized 

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

24 ‘‘(A) an audit capability, including manda25 tory and regularly conducted audits; 


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1 ‘‘(B) access controls; 

2 ‘‘(C) requirements to ensure sufficient data 

3 security, quality, validity, and reliability; 

4 ‘‘(D) confidentiality protection in accord5 ance with the applicable provisions of sub6 chapter III of chapter 35 of title 44, United 

7 States Code; 

8 ‘‘(E) appropriate and applicable privacy 

9 and security protection, including data retention 

10 and destruction protocols and data minimiza11 tion, in accordance with the most recent Fed12 eral standards developed by the National Insti13 tute of Standards and Technology; and 

14 ‘‘(F) protocols for managing a breach, in15 cluding breach notifications, in accordance with 

16 the standards of National Center for Education 

17 Statistics. 

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

19 shall ensure that data collection, maintenance, and 

20 use under this subsection complies with section 552a 

21 of title 5, United States Code. 

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

23 ‘‘(A) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDU24 CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:50 Apr 13, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00032 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S839.IS S839

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1 cation’ has the meaning given the term in sec2 tion 102. 

3 ‘‘(B) MINORITY-SERVING INSTITUTION.— 

4 The term ‘minority-serving institution’ means 

5 an institution of higher education listed in sec6 tion 371(a). 

7 ‘‘(C) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR8 MATION.—The term ‘personally identifiable in9 formation’ means personally identifiable infor10 mation within the meaning of section 444 of the 

11 General Education Provisions Act.’’. 

12 SEC. 3. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON STUDENT DATA SYS13 TEM. 

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

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

16 SEC. 4. INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (17) of section 487(a) 

18 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) 

19 is amended to read as follows: 

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

21 the institution will collect and submit data to the 

22 Commissioner for Education Statistics in accordance 

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

24 within the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 

25 System (IPEDS), or any other Federal institution of 


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1 higher education data collection effort (as designated 

2 by the Secretary), in a timely manner and to the 

3 satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 

4 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

5 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 4 years 

6 after the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 SEC. 5. TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 

8 The Secretary of Education and the Commissioner 

9 for Education Statistics shall take such steps as are nec10 essary to ensure that the development and maintenance 

11 of the postsecondary student data system required under 

12 section 132(l) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

13 added by section 2 of this Act, occurs in a manner that 

14 reduces the reporting burden for entities that reported 

15 into the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 

16 (IPEDS). 

Æ 


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