and at time intervals appropriate to 
the credential sought or earned. 
‘‘(D) DEVELOPMENT CRITERIA.—In devel-
oping the method and format of making the in-
formation described in this paragraph publicly 
available, the Commissioner shall— 
‘‘(i) focus on the needs of the users of 
the information, which will include stu-
dents, families of students, potential stu-
dents, researchers, and other consumers of 
education data; 
‘‘(ii) take into consideration, to the 
extent practicable, the guidelines described 
in paragraph (1)(C)(ii)(I), and relevant 
successor documents or recommendations 
of such guidelines; 
‘‘(iii) use modern, relevant technology 
and enhance and update the postsecondary 
student data system with information, as 
necessary to carry out the purpose of this 
paragraph; 
‘‘(iv) ensure data privacy and security 
in accordance with standards and guide-
lines developed by the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology, and in accord-
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ance with any other Federal law relating to 
privacy or security, including complying 
with the requirements of subchapter II of 
chapter 35 of title 44, United States Code, 
specifying security categorization under the 
Federal Information Processing Standards, 
and security requirements, and setting of 
National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology security baseline controls at the ap-
propriate level; and 
‘‘(v) conduct consumer testing to de-
termine how to make the information as 
meaningful to users as possible. 
‘‘(5) PERMISSIBLE DISCLOSURES OF DATA.— 
‘‘(A) DATA REPORTS AND QUERIES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 
years after the date of enactment of the 
College Transparency Act, the Commis-
sioner shall develop and implement a se-
cure and privacy-protected process for 
making student-level, non-personally iden-
tifiable information, with direct identifiers 
removed, from the postsecondary student 
data system available for vetted research 
and evaluation purposes approved by the 
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Commissioner in a manner compatible with 
practices for disclosing National Center for 
Education Statistics restricted-use survey 
data as in effect on the day before the date 
of enactment of the College Transparency 
Act, or by applying other research and dis-
closure restrictions to ensure data privacy 
and security. Such process shall be ap-
proved by the National Center for Edu-
cation Statistics’ Disclosure Review Board 
(or successor body). 
‘‘(ii) PROVIDING DATA REPORTS AND 
QUERIES TO INSTITUTIONS AND STATES.— 
‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Commis-
sioner shall provide feedback reports, 
at least annually, to each institution 
of higher education, each postsec-
ondary education system that fully 
participates in the postsecondary stu-
dent data system, and each State 
higher education body as designated 
by the governor. 
‘‘(II) FEEDBACK REPORTS.—The 
feedback reports provided under this 
clause shall include program-level and 
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institution-level information from the 
postsecondary student data system re-
garding students who are associated 
with the institution or, for State rep-
resentatives, the institutions within 
that State, on or before the date of 
the report, on measures including stu-
dent mobility and workforce outcomes, 
provided that the feedback aggregate 
summary reports protect the privacy 
of individuals. 
‘‘(III) DETERMINATION OF CON-
TENT.—The content of the feedback 
reports shall be determined by the 
Commissioner in consultation with the 
Advisory Committee. 
‘‘(iii) PERMITTING STATE DATA QUE-
RIES.—The Commissioner shall, in con-
sultation with the Advisory Committee and 
as soon as practicable, create a process 
through which States may submit lists of 
secondary school graduates within the 
State to receive summary aggregate out-
comes for those students who enrolled at 
an institution of higher education, includ-
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ing postsecondary enrollment and college 
completion, provided that those data pro-
tect the privacy of individuals and that the 
State data submitted to the Commissioner 
are not stored in the postsecondary edu-
cation system. 
‘‘(iv) REGULATIONS.—The Commis-
sioner shall promulgate regulations to en-
sure fair, secure and privacy-protected, and 
equitable access to data reports and que-
ries under this paragraph. 
‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE LIMITATIONS.—In car-
rying out the public reporting and disclosure re-
quirements of this subsection, the Commis-
sioner shall use appropriate statistical disclo-
sure limitation techniques necessary to ensure 
that the data released to the public cannot in-
clude personally identifiable information or be 
used to identify specific individuals. 
‘‘(C) SALE OF DATA PROHIBITED.—Data 
collected under this subsection, including the 
public-use data set and data comprising the 
summary aggregate information available under 
paragraph (4), shall not be sold to any third 
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party by the Commissioner, including any insti-
tution of higher education or any other entity. 
‘‘(D) LIMITATION ON USE BY OTHER FED-
ERAL AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 
shall not allow any other Federal agency to 
use data collected under this subsection for 
any purpose except— 
‘‘(I) for vetted research and eval-
uation conducted by the other Federal 
agency, as described in subparagraph 
(A)(i); or 
‘‘(II) for a purpose explicitly au-
thorized by this Act. 
‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION ON LIMITATION OF 
SERVICES.—The Secretary, or the head of 
any other Federal agency, shall not use 
data collected under this subsection to 
limit services to students. 
‘‘(E) 
LAW
ENFORCEMENT.—Personally 
identifiable information collected under this 
subsection shall not be used for any Federal, 
State, or local law enforcement activity or any 
other activity that would result in adverse ac-
tion against any student or a student’s family, 
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including debt collection activity or enforcement 
of immigration laws. 
‘‘(F) LIMITATION OF USE FOR FEDERAL 
RANKINGS OR SUMMATIVE RATING SYSTEM.— 
The comprehensive data collection and analysis 
necessary for the postsecondary student data 
system under this subsection shall not be used 
by the Secretary or any Federal entity to estab-
lish any Federal ranking system of institutions 
of higher education or a system that results in 
a summative Federal rating of institutions of 
higher education. 
‘‘(G) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent 
the use of individual categories of aggregate in-
formation to be used for accountability pur-
poses. 
‘‘(H) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION REGARDING 
COMMERCIAL USE OF DATA.—Nothing in this 
paragraph shall be construed to prohibit third- 
party entities from using publicly available in-
formation in this data system for commercial 
use. 
‘‘(6) SUBMISSION OF DATA.— 
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‘‘(A) REQUIRED SUBMISSION.—Each insti-
tution of higher education participating in a 
program under title IV, or the assigned agent 
of such institution, shall, for each eligible pro-
gram, in accordance with section 487(a)(17), 
collect, and submit to the Commissioner, the 
data requested by the Commissioner to carry 
out this subsection. 
‘‘(B) VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION.—Any insti-
tution of higher education not participating in 
a program under title IV may voluntarily par-
ticipate in the postsecondary student data sys-
tem under this subsection by collecting and sub-
mitting data to the Commissioner, as the Com-
missioner may request to carry out this sub-
section. 
‘‘(C) PERSONALLY
IDENTIFIABLE
INFOR-
MATION.—In 
accordance 
with 
paragraph 
(2)(C)(i), if the submission of an element of 
student-level data is prohibited under para-
graph (2)(F) (or otherwise prohibited by law), 
the institution of higher education shall submit 
that data to the Commissioner in the aggregate. 
‘‘(7) UNLAWFUL WILLFUL DISCLOSURE.— 
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‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful 
for any person who obtains or has access to 
personally identifiable information in connection 
with the postsecondary student data system de-
scribed in this subsection to willfully disclose to 
any person (except as authorized in this Act or 
by any Federal law) such personally identifiable 
information. 
‘‘(B) PENALTY.—Any person who violates 
subparagraph (A) shall be subject to a penalty 
described under section 3572(f) of title 44, 
United States Code, and section 183(d)(6) of 
the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (20 
U.S.C. 9573(d)(6)). 
‘‘(C) EMPLOYEE
OR
OFFICER
OF
THE 
UNITED
STATES.—If a violation of subpara-
graph (A) is committed by any officer or em-
ployee of the United States, the officer or em-
ployee shall be dismissed from office or dis-
charged from employment upon conviction for 
the violation. 
‘‘(8) DATA SECURITY.—The Commissioner shall 
produce and update as needed guidance and regula-
tions relating to privacy, security, and access which 
shall govern the use and disclosure of data collected 
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in connection with the activities authorized in this 
subsection. The guidance and regulations developed 
and reviewed shall protect data from unauthorized 
access, use, and disclosure, and shall include— 
‘‘(A) an audit capability, including manda-
tory and regularly conducted audits; 
‘‘(B) access controls; 
‘‘(C) requirements to ensure sufficient data 
security, quality, validity, and reliability; 
‘‘(D) confidentiality protection in accord-
ance with the applicable provisions of sub-
chapter III of chapter 35 of title 44, United 
States Code; 
‘‘(E) appropriate and applicable privacy 
and security protection, including data retention 
and destruction protocols and data minimiza-
tion, in accordance with the most recent Fed-
eral standards developed by the National Insti-
tute of Standards and Technology; and 
‘‘(F) protocols for managing a breach, in-
cluding breach notifications, in accordance with 
the standards of National Center for Education 
Statistics. 
‘‘(9) DATA
COLLECTION.—The Commissioner 
shall ensure that data collection, maintenance, and 
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use under this subsection complies with section 552a 
of title 5, United States Code. 
‘‘(10) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) 
INSTITUTION
OF
HIGHER
EDU-
CATION.—The term ‘institution of higher edu-
cation’ has the meaning given the term in sec-
tion 102. 
‘‘(B) MINORITY-SERVING
INSTITUTION.— 
The term ‘minority-serving institution’ means 
an institution of higher education listed in sec-
tion 371(a). 
‘‘(C) PERSONALLY
IDENTIFIABLE
INFOR-
MATION.—The term ‘personally identifiable in-
formation’ means personally identifiable infor-
mation within the meaning of section 444 of the 
General Education Provisions Act.’’. 
SEC. 3. REPEAL OF PROHIBITION ON STUDENT DATA SYS-
TEM. 
Section 134 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1015c) is repealed. 
SEC. 4. INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (17) of section 487(a) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) 
is amended to read as follows: 
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‘‘(17) The institution or the assigned agent of 
the institution will collect and submit data to the 
Commissioner for Education Statistics in accordance 
with section 132(l), the nonstudent related surveys 
within the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 
System (IPEDS), or any other Federal institution of 
higher education data collection effort (as designated 
by the Secretary), in a timely manner and to the 
satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 
subsection (a) shall take effect on the date that is 4 years 
after the date of enactment of this Act. 
SEC. 5. TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 
The Secretary of Education and the Commissioner 
for Education Statistics shall take such steps as are nec-
essary to ensure that the development and maintenance 
of the postsecondary student data system required under 
section 132(l) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 
added by section 2 of this Act, occurs in a manner that 
reduces the reporting burden for entities that reported 
into the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System 
(IPEDS). 
Æ 
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