College Transparency Act

The bill lists what the system may not hold. That list covers health data, school discipline files, grades, test scores, exact address, citizenship, and religion. Those items would be reported as totals only.

The data could not be used for law enforcement at any level. It could not be used to enforce immigration law or collect a debt. No agency could use it to cut services to a student.

You could ask to see your own record. You could ask to fix errors in it. The agency must answer every request in writing.

Data gathered by the new system could not be sold to anyone. That covers the public data set as well as the totals posted online.

Leaking someone's personal data from the system on purpose would break the law. The penalties come from other federal laws the bill points to. A federal worker found guilty would lose their job.

The agency would have to write security rules. They must cover audits, who may see the data, how long it is kept, and how it is wiped. They must also say what happens after a breach.

Any college that joins federal student aid would have to send records on each student. The records go to the Education Department. Colleges that take no federal aid could join if they want.

Current law bars the government from keeping a record on each college student. Section 3 of this bill would repeal that ban outright.

The agency would trade data with the IRS, Social Security, and five other offices. The swaps would happen now and then, not all the time. The bill bars one big linked database at the Department.

Approved researchers could get the student-level data with names and IDs taken out. A review board must sign off on how that is done.

A public website would let you compare schools and programs. You could look up tuition, price after grants, typical loans, total debt, and pay after you leave. It would show totals only, and nothing that names a person.

While it matches records, the agency would look for ways to cut the paperwork borrowers file for loan benefit programs. The bill sets no deadline for that.

A committee would advise on what the system collects. Seats would go to students, two-year and four-year colleges, state agencies, and privacy experts. It would be set up within two years.

The agency could add data beyond the required list. First it must ask the committee and open a public comment period. Anything added must meet the rule of collecting the least data needed.

Each college in the system would get a report at least once a year. States would get one too. The reports cover how students move between schools and how they do at work.

The government could not use this system to rank or rate colleges. Single pieces of the summary data could still be used to hold schools to account.

Selling the data is banned. But the bill says nothing stops private firms from using the public numbers in their own paid products.