S. 915 — Introduced in Senate

II 113th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 915 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES May 9, 2013 Mr. Wyden (for himself, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Warner) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to update reporting requirements for institutions of higher education and provide for more accurate and complete data on student retention, graduation, and earnings outcomes at all levels of postsecondary enrollment. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013. 2. Amendment to program participation agreements Section 487(a)(17) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)(17)) is amended by inserting , in accordance with section 493E after of the Secretary. 3. Institutional and financial assistance information for students Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092) is amended by adding at the end the following: (n) Alignment with institutional reporting requirements related to IPEDS (1) In general Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary shall issue guidance outlining which data metrics required to be submitted by institutions of higher education under section 493E are duplicative of institutional reporting requirements under this section and other provisions of this Act. (2) Link to institutional reporting website Not later than 5 years after the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, an institution of higher education participating in any program under this title shall— (A) not be required to make available such duplicative requirements, as determined under paragraph (1), under this section and other provisions of this Act; and (B) provide a prominently displayed link on the institution's website to the website described in section 493E(e). . 4. Institutional reporting requirements (a) Amendment to database of student information prohibited Section 134(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1015c(b)) is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking and after the semicolon; (2) in paragraph (2), by striking the period at the end and inserting ; and; and (3) by adding at the end the following: (3) is necessary to carry out section 493E. . (b) Reporting requirements Part G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 493E. Institutional reporting requirements (a) In general (1) Submission of data Each institution of higher education participating in a program under this title shall submit to the Secretary data, as determined by the Secretary, sufficient to complete all student components of reporting required for the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (referred to in this section as IPEDS). Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary shall submit to institutions of higher education guidance related to the submission of data under this paragraph. (2) Review The Secretary shall review, every 5 years, the determination of the category of data that shall be submitted pursuant to paragraph (1). (b) Establishment of additional student classifications (1) In general Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary shall— (A) establish common definitions for institutions to follow in submitting the data required under this section; and (B) determine both collection and submission requirements. (2) Identification of unit records The Secretary shall require institutions to identify student unit records to enable coding and reporting on— (A) students who participate in remedial education at, or through, the institution; (B) whether, and at what level, the student is seeking a degree; and (C) whether the student is seeking a certificate. (c) Establishment of new outcome metrics (1) In general Data submitted to the Secretary under subsection (a) shall be used to calculate all student components of IPEDS. (2) Additional measures to be calculated In addition to student component outcome measures required to be calculated by the Secretary on the day before the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary shall also calculate, not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, at the institutional and program specific level: (A) The percent of students who receive— (i) Federal grants; (ii) Federal loans; (iii) State grants; (iv) State loans; (v) institutional grants; or (vi) institutional loans. (B) The average amount of total Federal loan debt upon student graduation assumed by students while enrolled at the institution. (C) The average amount of total Federal loan debt of students who do not complete a program of study 2 years after the students' last known enrollment in any institution of higher education. (D) Student transfer rates by sector of transfer, which shall be defined as the percentage of students who leave an institution and successfully enroll in another institution, including whether the receiving institution is a public 4-year institution, public 2-year institution, public less-than-2-year institution, private nonprofit 4-year institution, private nonprofit 2-year institution, private nonprofit less-than-2-year institution, private for-profit 4-year institution, private for-profit 2-year institution, or private for-profit less-than-2-year institution. (E) Rates of continuation to higher levels of education. (F) The percent of students who receive the degree level they initially sought. (G) The outcome measures described in subparagraphs (A) through (F), in addition to all student level components of IPEDS required to be reported on the day before the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, shall also be made available on the basis of the following student type: (i) Students who received a Federal Pell Grant. (ii) Students who received a Federal Stafford Loan, but not a Federal Pell Grant. (iii) Students who received neither a Federal Pell Grant, nor a Federal Stafford Loan. (iv) Students who are identified as veterans who received assistance under the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Program under chapter 33 of title 38, United States Code. The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall coordinate with the Secretary to make available data sufficient to enable such reporting under this clause. (v) Enrollment status, including the following: (I) First-time, full-time students. (II) First-time, part-time students. (III) Non-first-time, full-time students. (IV) Non-first-time, part-time students. (vi) Enrollment intensity while enrolled at the institution, including the following: (I) Full-time only. (II) Part-time only. (III) Mixed enrollment, both full- and part-time. (H) Other information determined necessary. (d) Linkage to earnings record data (1) Earnings metrics The Secretary, in cooperation with the Commissioner of Social Security, shall establish a system under which the student components of IPEDS are used to create earnings metrics. Such system shall enable the publication of data on median annual earnings and employment metrics, disaggregated by— (A) educational program based on CIP code; (B) credential received; (C) educational institution; and (D) State of employment. (2) Standard time periods for reporting earnings outcomes The Secretary shall make publicly available median annual earnings disaggregated by the categories described in subparagraphs (A) through (D) of paragraph (1) for each of the following time periods: (A) 2 years after educational program completion. (B) 6 years after educational program completion. (C) 15 years after educational program completion. (e) Public access to information The information aggregated by the Secretary under this section shall be included in the IPEDS and posted on a website in a timely and user-friendly manner and in a way that does not allow for the dissemination of any personally identifiable information. (f) Ensuring comparability of data metric For a period of 5 years following the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013, the Secretary shall be responsible for publishing all student components of IPEDS as such components would have been produced on the day before the date of enactment of the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013. (g) Involvement of states and leveraging of investment in existing state-Based systems (1) In general Notwithstanding 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) except as provided in paragraph (2), in carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consult extensively with State offices with existing student-level data collections from public and private institutions. (2) No sharing of personally identifiable information The Secretary, a State, or institution shall not share personally identifiable information of a student in carrying out paragraph (1), except as necessary to enable individuals who are employed by the Department to meet the reporting requirements and data dissemination purposes and requirements under this Act. (h) Involvement of Institutions of Higher Education in developing calculation and reporting standards In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall consult extensively with institutions of higher education and State agencies of higher education, particularly in the formulation of the calculation and reporting standards outlined in subsections (b), (c), and (d), and the public access to information under subsection (e). (i) Use of data for institutional improvement The Secretary shall create a process through which institutions of higher education participating in programs under this title and States may request and receive from the Department aggregate student outcome data for the purposes of institutional improvement and program evaluation. The Secretary shall promulgate regulations to ensure fair and equitable access to such data. In cases where institutional data are merged with Federal record sets and the resulting data are used for Federal accountability purposes beyond reporting to the public, the Secretary shall develop procedures to provide opportunities for institutional review of the disaggregated merged data. (j) Privacy, security, and use of information (1) Identity protection The data system developed under this section shall not permit an individual to be individually identified by users of the data system who are not actively working as database administrators of the system. (2) Data audit and data governance systems The data system developed under this section shall include a data audit system assessing data quality, validity, and reliability and a data governance system to ensure compliance with all Federal standards of data quality and individual privacy. (3) Prohibition and unauthorized use (A) In general Individual data collected under this section shall not be used for any purpose not specifically authorized by Federal law. (B) No Federal action No action of Federal authority may be taken against an individual based on data collected within the data system developed under this section. (C) Guidelines The Secretary shall issue guidelines to institutions regarding the amendment of the institutions required annual privacy notices to reference the data collection required under this section. (4) Individual privacy and access to data Prior to implementation of this section, the Secretary shall publish for public comment assurances that— (A) that the system developed under this section 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 (B) that there is a policy on the use of data collected under this section that prevents any use of data outside of the purposes of this section. (k) Penalties for unauthorized disclosure of data Any individual who willfully discloses a personal identifier (such as a name or social security number) provided under this section, in any manner to an entity not entitled to receive the identifier, shall be fined under title 18, United States Code, imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both. (l) Authorization of appropriations There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for each of the fiscal years 2014 through 2022. .