227 
the Committee on Education and Labor of the 
House of Representatives a summary of the reports 
submitted under paragraph (1) with respect to such 
grant period. 
(j) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that— 
(1) community colleges play an important role 
in preparing and training students seeking to enter 
the workforce; 
(2) it is vital that all States have access to the 
resources and assistance needed to compete for 
grants authorized under this section; and 
(3) in executing the grant program authorized 
under this section, the Secretary should make avail-
able any and all assistance, guidance, and support to 
States seeking to compete for grants authorized 
under this section and should work to ensure that 
such grants are distributed in a fair and equitable 
manner. 
SEC. 505. NATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 
(a) OPEN ONLINE EDUCATION.—From the amount 
appropriated to carry out this section, the Secretary is au-
thorized to make competitive grants to, or enter into con-
tracts with, institutions of higher education, philanthropic 
organizations, and other appropriate entities to develop,
228 
evaluate, and disseminate freely-available high-quality on-
line courses, including instructional materials, for training 
and postsecondary education readiness and success. Enti-
ties receiving funds under this subsection shall ensure that 
electronic and information technology activities meet the 
access standards established under section 508 of the Re-
habilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 
(b) LEARNING AND EARNING RESEARCH CENTER.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—From the amount appro-
priated to carry out this section, the Director of the 
Institute of Education Sciences is authorized to 
award a grant to, or enter into a contract with, an 
organization with demonstrated expertise in the re-
search and evaluation of community colleges to es-
tablish and operate the Learning and Earning Re-
search Center (in this section referred to as the 
‘‘Center’’). 
(2) GRANT
TERM.—The grant or contract 
awarded under this section shall be awarded for a 
period of not more than 4 years. 
(3) BOARD.—The Center shall have an inde-
pendent advisory board of 9 individuals who— 
(A) are appointed by the Secretary, based 
on recommendations from the organization re-
229 
ceiving the grant or contract under this section; 
and 
(B) who have demonstrated expertise in— 
(i) data collection; 
(ii) data analysis; and 
(iii) econometrics, postsecondary edu-
cation, and workforce development re-
search. 
(4) CENTER ACTIVITIES.—The Center shall— 
(A) develop— 
(i) peer-reviewed metrics to help con-
sumers make sound education and training 
choices, and to help students, faculty, 
workers, schools, businesses, researchers, 
and policymakers assess the effectiveness 
of community colleges, and courses of 
study at such colleges, in meeting edu-
cation and employment objectives and serv-
ing groups that are underrepresented in 
postsecondary education; 
(ii) common metrics and data ele-
ments to measure the education and em-
ployment outcomes of students attending 
community colleges;
230 
(B) coordinate with the Institute of Edu-
cation Sciences and States receiving a grant 
under subsection (c) to develop— 
(i) standardized data elements, defini-
tions, and data-sharing protocols to make 
it possible for data systems related to post-
secondary education to be linked and inter-
operable, and for best practices to be 
shared among States; 
(ii) standards and processes for facili-
tating sharing of data in a manner that 
safeguards student privacy; 
(C) develop and make widely available ma-
terials analyzing best practices and research on 
successful postsecondary education and training 
efforts; 
(D) make the data and metrics developed 
pursuant to subparagraph (A) available to the 
public in a transparent, user-friendly format 
that is accessible to individuals with disabilities; 
and 
(E) consult with representatives from 
States with respect to the activities of the Cen-
ter. 
(c) STATE SYSTEMS.—
231 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—From the amount appro-
priated to carry out this section, the Secretary is au-
thorized to award grants to States or consortia of 
States to establish cooperative agreements to de-
velop, implement, and expand interoperable state-
wide longitudinal data systems that— 
(A) collect, maintain, disaggregate (by in-
stitution, income, race, ethnicity, sex, disability, 
and age), and analyze student data from com-
munity colleges, including data on the programs 
of study and education and employment out-
comes for particular students, tracked over 
time; and 
(B) can be linked to other data systems, as 
applicable, including elementary and secondary 
education and workforce data systems. 
(2) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Funds ap-
propriated to carry out this subsection shall be used 
to supplement, and not supplant, other Federal and 
State resources that would otherwise be expended to 
carry out statewide longitudinal data systems, in-
cluding funding appropriated for State Longitudinal 
Data Systems in the American Recovery and Rein-
vestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111–5; 123 Stat. 
115).
232 
(3) PRIVACY AND ACCESS TO DATA.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Each State or consortia 
that receives a grant under this subsection or 
any other provision of this Act shall implement 
measures to— 
(i) ensure that the statewide longitu-
dinal data system under this subsection 
and any other data system the State or 
consortia is operating for the purposes of 
this Act meet the requirements of section 
444 of the General Education Provisions 
Act (20 U.S.C. 1232g) (commonly known 
as the ‘‘Family Educational Rights and 
Privacy Act of 1974’’); 
(ii) limit the use of information in any 
such data system by governmental agencies 
in the State, including State agencies, 
State educational authorities, local edu-
cational agencies, community colleges, and 
institutions of higher education, to edu-
cation and workforce related activities 
under this Act or education and workforce 
related activities otherwise permitted by 
Federal or State law;
233 
(iii) prohibit the disclosure of person-
ally identifiable information except as per-
mitted under section 444 of the General 
Education Provisions Act and any addi-
tional limitations set forth in State law; 
(iv) keep an accurate accounting of 
the date, nature, and purpose of each dis-
closure of personally identifiable informa-
tion in any such data system, a description 
of the information disclosed, and the name 
and address of the person, agency, institu-
tion, or entity to whom the disclosure is 
made, which accounting shall be made 
available on request to parents of any stu-
dent whose information has been disclosed; 
(v) notwithstanding section 444 of the 
General Education Provisions Act, require 
any non-governmental party obtaining per-
sonally identifiable information to sign a 
data use agreement prior to disclosure 
that— 
(I) prohibits the party from fur-
ther disclosing the information; 
(II) prohibits the party from 
using the information for any purpose
234 
other than the purpose specified in 
the agreement; and 
(III) requires the party to de-
stroy the information when the pur-
pose for which the disclosure was 
made is accomplished; 
(vi) maintain adequate security meas-
ures to ensure the confidentiality and in-
tegrity of any such data system, such as 
protecting a student record from identifica-
tion by a unique identifier; 
(vii) where rights are provided to par-
ents under this clause, provide those rights 
to the student instead of the parent if the 
student has reached the age of 18 or is en-
rolled in a postsecondary educational insti-
tution; and 
(viii) ensure adequate enforcement of 
the requirements of this paragraph. 
(B) USE
OF
UNIQUE
IDENTIFIERS.—It 
shall be unlawful for any Federal, State, or 
local governmental agency to— 
(i) use the unique identifiers employed 
in such data systems for any purpose other
235 
than as authorized by Federal or State 
law; or 
(ii) deny any individual any right, 
benefit, or privilege provided by law be-
cause of such individual’s refusal to dis-
close the individual’s unique identifier. 
(d) EVALUATION.—From the amounts appropriated 
to carry out this section, the Secretary shall, not later 
than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 
allocate not less than $1,000,000 for the contract with, 
and report by, the National Research Council required 
under section 1107(c)(2) of the Higher Education Oppor-
tunity Act (Public Law 110–315). 
(e) MODEL
TO DETERMINE CREDIT TRANSFER-
ABILITY.—From the amounts appropriated to carry out 
this section, the Secretary may develop a model, which 
leverages existing technologies if appropriate, of a service 
that enables students to determine the transferability of 
credits between institutions of higher education voluntarily 
participating in such service. 
(f) REPORT.—The Secretary shall submit to the 
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 
the Senate and the Committee on Education and Labor 
of the House of Representatives an annual report on the 
amounts awarded to entities receiving grants or contracts
236 
under this section, and the activities carried out by such 
entities under such grants and contracts. 
TITLE VI—DEFUND ACORN ACT 
SEC. 601. SHORT TITLE. 
This title may be cited as the ‘‘Defund ACORN Act’’. 
SEC. 602. PROHIBITIONS ON FEDERAL FUNDS AND OTHER 
ACTIVITIES WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN IN-
DICTED ORGANIZATIONS. 
(a) PROHIBITIONS.—With respect to any covered or-
ganization, the following prohibitions apply: 
(1) No Federal contract, grant, cooperative 
agreement, or any other form of agreement (includ-
ing a memorandum of understanding) may be 
awarded to or entered into with the organization. 
(2) No Federal funds in any other form may be 
provided to the organization. 
(3) No Federal employee or contractor may 
promote in any way (including recommending to a 
person or referring to a person for any purpose) the 
organization. 
(b) COVERED ORGANIZATION.—In this section, the 
term ‘‘covered organization’’ means any of the following: 
(1) Any organization that has been indicted for 
a violation under any Federal or State law governing 
the financing of a campaign for election for public
237 
office or any law governing the administration of an 
election for public office, including a law relating to 
voter registration. 
(2) Any organization that had its State cor-
porate charter terminated due to its failure to com-
ply with Federal or State lobbying disclosure re-
quirements. 
(3) Any organization that has filed a fraudulent 
form with any Federal or State regulatory agency. 
(4) Any organization that— 
(A) employs any applicable individual, in a 
permanent or temporary capacity; 
(B) has under contract or retains any ap-
plicable individual; or 
(C) has any applicable individual acting on 
the organization’s behalf or with the express or 
apparent authority of the organization. 
(c) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) The term ‘‘organization’’ includes the Asso-
ciation of Community Organizations for Reform 
Now (in this subsection referred to as ‘‘ACORN’’) 
and any ACORN-related affiliate. 
(2) The term ‘‘ACORN-related affiliate’’ means 
any of the following:
238 
(A) Any State chapter of ACORN reg-
istered with the Secretary of State’s office in 
that State. 
(B) Any organization that shares directors, 
employees, or independent contractors with 
ACORN. 
(C) Any organization that has a financial 
stake in ACORN. 
(D) Any organization whose finances, 
whether federally funded, donor-funded, or 
raised through organizational goods and serv-
ices, are shared or controlled by ACORN. 
(3) The term ‘‘applicable individual’’ means an 
individual who has been indicted for a violation 
under Federal or State law relating to an election 
for Federal or State office. 
(d) REVISION OF FEDERAL ACQUISITION REGULA-
TION.—The Federal Acquisition Regulation shall be re-
vised to carry out the provisions of this title relating to 
contracts. 
Passed the House of Representatives September 17, 
2009. 
Attest: 
Clerk.
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 3221 
AN ACT 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965, and 
for other purposes.