1.This Act may be cited as the
Student Right to Know Before You Go
Act
.
2.Congress finds the following:
(1)Every year,
millions of people in the United States will make the choice of whether to
invest in higher education or job retraining programs, but outcomes vary widely
based on the program of study selected, the institution selected, and the
maximum level of education attained.
(2)A
person who obtains an associate degree earns, on average, $1,500,000 over a
lifetime, while individuals with the maximum accreditation of a high school
diploma can expect to earn $1,300,000 over a lifetime. By comparison,
individuals with a baccalaureate degree earn, on average, $2,300,000 in their
lifetime. However, 28.2 percent of individuals with associate degrees earn more
than the median salary of baccalaureate degree-holders. It is not just maximum
level of education attained, but also the earnings and employment prospects
associated with specific programs of study, that determines the amount of an
individual's earnings. Furthermore, the employment and earnings projections of
distinct degree and certificate programs and the cost of obtaining these
credentials are not equal across institutions.
(3)On average,
workers with a baccalaureate degree earn more than 84 percent over their
lifetime compared with those who do not have a degree, and workers with an
associate degree earn, on average, $6,600 per year more than those with a high
school diploma as their highest credential.
(4)According to the
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education report in 2008, the cost
of college increased 439 percent from 1982 to 2007. In 2010, graduates who took
out loans left college with an average of more than $25,000 of debt, more than
double what it was 15 years ago. In 2011, student debt in the United States
outweighed credit card debt at nearly $1,000,000,000,000.
(5)As of 2008, 84
percent of undergraduates had at least 1 credit card, up from 76 percent in
2004. With the rising cost of college tuition and expenses, students are
increasingly turning to private credit to supplement traditional student aid;
on average, students charge $2,200 towards direct education expenses, with only
17 percent regularly paying off their balances each month. The average student
leaves college with an average credit card debt of more than $4,100, up from
about $2,900 in 2004.
(6)Recent research
shows that more than 1/2 of student loan borrowers are in
deferment, forbearance, delinquency, or default on their Federal student loans
within 5 years of leaving school.
(7)Greater access and
transparency regarding the costs and benefits of higher education are critical
to better prepare students, parents, and the public for the realities of
college and the workforce.
(8)Even though
enrollment in colleges is on the rise, corresponding graduation and completion
rates have not risen. At 2-year institutions of higher education, about 27
percent of first-time, full-time students who enrolled in the fall of 2005
completed a certificate or associate's degree within 150 percent of the normal
time required to complete such a degree.
(9)As unemployment
among young adults remains elevated, the economic value and employment
potential of certain degrees has become an increasingly important factor in
selecting a major. Not all academic fields have the same employment and
earnings potential. Labor and employment statistics show that certain majors
have a higher employment potential after college and a higher median starting
salary. Furthermore, the employment and earnings outcomes for the same or
similar accreditation vary widely across institutions of higher
education.
(10)To enhance the
public’s knowledge and access to improved information concerning the cost of
college, financial aid, prospective earnings, and post-graduation employment
rates, States, institutions of higher education, and other stakeholders must
collaborate to make these data points available to prospective students,
parents, and all taxpayers in a new, comprehensive, and easily accessible
manner.
(11)Such
collaboration will allow for a more comprehensive statistical overview of the
current landscape in American higher education and increase accountability and
efficiency.
(12)Research shows
that certain courses of study correlate to improved earnings and employment;
however, existing reporting requirements make it impossible for researchers to
accurately analyze data at the institutional level. A State-based reporting
system would ensure that students, parents, taxpayers, and policymakers can
make informed decisions, maximizing their return on investment and bringing
greater transparency to higher education in the United States.
3.In this Act:
(1)The term administering entity means—
(A)a State, including
a State coordinating or governing board, State system office, or other State
agency;
(B)a multi-State
compact; or
(C)a data system
operated by the Department of Education.
(2)The term educational institution
means—
(A)an institution of
higher education, as defined in section 102 of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1002);
(B)a school or
institution that offers a program of postsecondary education and that is an
eligible provider of training services under section 122 of the Workforce
Investment Act of 1998 (42 U.S.C. 2842); and
(C)any entity that
provides postsecondary training programs that are approved by the Secretary of
Labor under section 236 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2296) for workers
who receive benefits under the trade adjustment assistance program under
chapter 2 of title II of that Act (19 U.S.C. 2271 et seq.).
(3)The
term Secretary means the Secretary of Education.
4.Participation in
statewide individual-level integrated postsecondary education data
systems
(a)Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17)) is amended—
(1)by striking
(17) The
and inserting (17)(A) The
; and
(2)by adding at the end the following:
(B)To
meet the requirements of subparagraph (A), the institution will fully
participate in, and provide all data required for—
(i)the individual-level integrated
postsecondary education data system certified by the Secretary under section
5(a) of the Student Right to Know Before You
Go Act that is administered by a State entity of the State in
which the institution is located; or
(ii)if no such system exists in the State, an
individual-level integrated postsecondary education data system that is
operated by another administering entity and that is certified by the Secretary
under such section
5(a).
.
(b)The amendments made by subsection (a) shall take effect on
the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.
5.Statewide
individual-level integrated postsecondary education data systems
(a)Statewide
employment and learning exchanges
(1)Certification of
integrated postsecondary education data systems
(A)Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this
Act, the Secretary shall, upon request by an administering entity—
(i)review the
administering entity's individual-level postsecondary education data system or
other data system; and
(ii)upon determining
that the system meets the requirements of this subsection, certify the system
for purposes of section 487(a)(17)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1094(a)(17)(B)).
(B)Consultation for
certification of systems including data for other programsBefore
certifying under subparagraph (A) an individual-level integrated postsecondary
education data system that includes data from a Federal education and training
program in accordance with paragraph (2)(B)(ii)(I), the Secretary shall consult
with the head of the Federal agency responsible for administering such Federal
education and training program.
(2)An individual-level integrated
postsecondary education data system certified under this subsection shall meet
the following requirements:
(A)The system shall have the ability to submit data, in a
manner that does not disclose any personally identifiable information, to the
Integrated Postsecondary Data System (IPEDS) or any other Federal postsecondary
data collection as designated by the Secretary, in a timely manner to the
satisfaction of the Secretary.
(B)The system shall include—
(i)Data
from educational institutions described in section 3(2)(A); or
(ii)if
the administering entity chooses, data from such educational institutions and
data from—
(I)other Federal
education and training programs, such as the Job Corps program carried out
under subtitle C of title I of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C.
2881 et seq.), educational assistance and training programs under the laws
administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, programs carried out under
the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301
et seq.), and training, education, and educational assistance programs of the
Department of Defense; or
(II)beginning on or
after the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act,
educational institutions described in subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section
3(2).
(C)The system shall use a unique individual identifier
system that—
(i)does
not permit an individual to be individually identified by users of the data
system; and
(ii)is
created through a process that creates a one-way secure identifier that can be
used in data systems in other States and cannot be reverse-engineered.
(D)The system shall include the following data and
information:
(i)Data
sufficient to complete all student components of reporting required for the
Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System of the National Center for
Education Statistics. The system shall employ, where applicable, the most
recent version available of the Common Education Data Standards developed by
the National Center for Education Statistics.
(ii)Rates of remedial
enrollment, credit accumulation, and postsecondary completion by high school
completion status.
(iii)Other
information determined necessary by the Secretary to address alignment and
adequate preparation for success in postsecondary education.
(E)Data audit and
data governance systemsThe system shall include a data audit
system assessing data quality, validity, and reliability and a data governance
system, operated at the State or regional level (as the case may be) with the
participation of representative educational institutions, to ensure compliance
with Federal and State standards of data quality and individual privacy.
(F)Individual
privacy and access to dataThe administering entity shall provide
an assurance—
(i)that the system
does not disclose any personally identifiable information and complies with 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
) and other applicable Federal and State privacy laws; and
(ii)that there is a
policy on the use of data in the system by other entities, including by
nongovernmental entities.
(3)In order for an individual-level integrated
postsecondary education data system of an administering entity to be certified
under this subsection, the entity shall demonstrate to the Secretary that the
entity is coordinating with an agency or entity that oversees administrative
wage and earnings data to match data from the postsecondary education data
system to administrative wage and earnings data, in order to create an
interoperable employment and learning exchange that—
(A)continues the use
of a unique individual identifier system that does not permit an individual to
be identified by users of the data system; and
(B)provides data on
average individual annual earnings, disaggregated by educational program,
degree received, educational institution, employment sector, and State.
(b)Technical
assistance grants
(1)The Secretary is
authorized to award grants—
(A)to educational institutions to assist with
the costs necessary to comply with the requirements of this section or section
487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17)), as
added by section 4; and
(B)to administering entities described in
subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 3(1) that have an integrated postsecondary
education data system certified by the Secretary under subsection (a) or that
are developing such a system, to assist with the costs associated with such
systems or with developing or implementing such systems.
(2)An educational institution or administering
entity that desires to receive a grant under this subsection shall submit an
application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such
information as the Secretary shall require.
6.
(a)In transitioning to the requirements of this Act and
the amendments made by this Act, the Secretary shall—
(1)ensure that no
educational institution will be required to report duplicative information to
the Secretary;
(2)allow States and
educational institutions to consolidate the reporting requirements under
section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.)
with any other overlapping reporting requirements, and inform State and
institutions of this ability; and
(3)establish
safeguards to ensure that States and educational institutions are not required
to report duplicative information through the individual-level integrated
postsecondary education data systems certified under section 5(a).
(b)Not later than 3 months
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall make available to
States, educational institutions, and the public, a transition plan (including
guidance) that—
(1)describes the new
options for complying with the reporting requirements of section 487(a)(17) of
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17)), as amended by section
4;
(2)describes the
transition requirements under subsection (a) and how the Secretary will fulfill
such requirements; and
(3)provides a
timeline, including dates, for the Secretary's implementation of the
requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.