‘‘(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-
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, 
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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.—The Commissioner 
shall develop and implement a secure proc-
ess for making student-level, non-person-
ally identifiable information, with direct 
identifiers removed, from the postsec-
ondary student data system available for 
vetted research and evaluation purposes 
approved by the Commissioner in a man-
ner 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 disclosure restrictions 
to ensure data privacy and security. Such 
process shall be approved by the National 
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Center for Education Statistics’ Disclosure 
Review Board or its 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 postsec-
ondary institution, each postsecondary 
education system that fully partici-
pates in the postsecondary student 
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 
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 
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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 a 
postsecondary institution, including post-
secondary enrollment and college comple-
tion, provided that those data protect the 
privacy of individuals and that the State 
data submitted to the Commissioner are 
not stored in the postsecondary education 
system. 
‘‘(iv) REGULATIONS.—The Commis-
sioner shall promulgate regulations to en-
sure fair, secure, and equitable access to 
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data reports and queries outlined in this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(B) DISCLOSURE LIMITATIONS.—In car-
rying out the public reporting and disclosure re-
quirements of this Act, the Commissioner shall 
use appropriate statistical disclosure limitation 
techniques necessary to ensure that the data re-
leased to the public cannot include 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 
party by the Commissioner, including any post-
secondary institution 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 
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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, 
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 postsec-
ondary institutions or a system that results in 
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a summative Federal rating of postsecondary 
institutions. 
‘‘(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, such as for the calculation of the cohort 
default rate under section 435(m). 
‘‘(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.— 
‘‘(A) REQUIRED SUBMISSION.—Each insti-
tution of higher education participating in a 
program under title IV, or the assigned agent 
of such institution, shall, in accordance with 
section 487(a)(17), collect, and submit to the 
Commissioner, the data requested by the Com-
missioner to carry out this subsection. 
‘‘(B) VOLUNTARY SUBMISSION.—Any post-
secondary institution not participating in a pro-
gram under title IV may voluntarily participate 
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in the postsecondary student data system under 
this subsection by collecting and submitting 
data to the Commissioner, as the Commissioner 
may request to carry out this subsection. 
‘‘(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.— 
‘‘(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 
any Federal law) such personally identifiable in-
formation. 
‘‘(B) PENALTY.—Any person who violates 
subparagraph (A) shall be subject to a penalty 
described under section 513 of the Confidential 
Information Protection and Statistical Effi-
ciency Act of 2002 (44 U.S.C. 3501 note) and 
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section 183(d)(6) of the Education Sciences Re-
form Act of 2002 (20 U.S.C. 9573(d)(6)). 
‘‘(C) EMPLOYEE
OF
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 
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) student confidentiality protection in 
accordance with the Confidential Information 
Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act; 
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‘‘(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 
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) PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFOR-
MATION.—The term ‘personally identifiable in-
formation’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 444 of the General Education Provi-
sions Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g). 
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‘‘(C) POSTSECONDARY INSTITUTION.—The 
term ‘postsecondary institution’ includes an in-
stitution of higher education.’’. 
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. 
Paragraph (17) of section 487(a) of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended to 
read as follows: 
‘‘(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 postsec-
ondary institution data collection effort (as des-
ignated by the Secretary), in a timely manner and 
to the satisfaction of the Secretary.’’. 
SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE; TRANSITION PROVISIONS. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Sections 1, 2, and 4 of this 
Act, and the amendments made by such sections, shall 
take effect on the date that is 4 years after the date of 
enactment of this Act. 
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