IHEP and 128 Organizations Call on Congress to Include the College Transparency Act in a Year-End Agreement

WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 -- The Institute for Higher Education Policy issued the following opinion:

The Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP) and 128 members and partners of the Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData) and the National Skills Coalition have asked Congressional leadership to include the bipartisan, bicameral College Transparency Act (S.800/H.R. 1766) in any year-end agreement, including appropriations legislation.

The College Transparency Act will provide students and families with critical information to inform their college choices, colleges and universities with the data to better target interventions and support student success, policymakers with information to comprehensively measure the outcomes of policy reforms and investments, and employers with data to strengthen their talent pipeline. As our nation looks to rebuild from the COVID-19 public health crisis, higher education stakeholders cannot wait any longer for this needed policy change.

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To: The Honorable Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader, United States Senate, The Capitol, S-230, Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington D.C. 20515

The Honorable Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader, United States Senate, The Capitol, S-221, Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Kevin McCarthy, Republican Leader, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Majority Leader McConnell, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, and Leader McCarthy,

The Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData) and the National Skills Coalition, in cooperation with the undersigned organizations and individuals, urge Congress to pass the College Transparency Act (CTA) as part of any end-of-the-year agreement, including appropriations legislation. This is particularly important as more than half of the members of the 116th Congress has cosponsored the bill, and it is likely other higher education provisions will be included. CTA is needed so that policymakers can comprehensively measure the outcomes of policy changes and investment included in the legislation, students and families will have transparent information as they make critical decisions, colleges and universities will have access to the data they seek to support student success initiatives, and, as the nation rebuilds its economy, employers will have the data they need to strengthen their talent pipeline.

This strongly bipartisan, bicameral bill would help students and families, policymakers, institutions and employers to make informed decisions by providing more complete information about college access, success, costs, and outcomes. This information empowers students and families to make well-informed choices about their education, policymakers and institutions to craft evidence-based policies to help students succeed, and employers to navigate the talent pipeline they need to grow the economy. Without complete, representative data that counts all students, equity will be out of reach.

The research is abundantly clear: Investing in a college education pays off. But while college is worth it on average, students, policymakers, institutions and employers cannot answer crucial questions about which postsecondary programs provide an adequate return on investment for which students. Students and taxpayers have a right to know what they can expect in return for their college investment. Yet, existing policies prevent us from answering basic questions, such as:

* What are national completion rates for part-time and transfer students of color?

* How do college access, affordability, and completion vary by race, ethnicity, and income?

* How much do students borrow, and can they repay their loans?

* How many non-completers from a particular college never reenroll, and how many transfer to finish their degree at another institution?

* Which students go on to succeed in the workforce?

Answers to these questions would help students and families choose programs that demonstrate strong outcomes, while helping policymakers and educators to implement policies and practices that help more students succeed. For the marketplace to function effectively, all these stakeholders need access to high-quality information that reflects all types of students and can look at outcomes across state lines. The federal government--with its access to existing data, including on employment and earnings--is uniquely positioned to compile that information, while reducing institutional reporting burdens.

The College Transparency Act:

* Overturns the ban on student-level data collection in the Higher Education Act;

* Creates a secure, privacy protected student-level data network within the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) using strong security standards and data governance protocols;

* Accurately reports on student outcomes including enrollment, completion and post-college success across colleges and programs;

* Leverages existing data at federal agencies and institutional data by matching a limited set of data to calculate aggregate information to answer questions critical to understanding and improving student success;

* Protects all students by limiting data disclosures, prohibiting the sale of data, penalizing illegal data use, protecting vulnerable students, prohibiting the use of the data for law enforcement, safeguarding personally identifiable information, and requiring notice to students and regular audits of the system;

* Streamlines burdensome federal reporting requirements for postsecondary institutions;

* Provides information disaggregated by race, ethnicity and Pell Grant receipt status to identify inequities in students' success;

* Requires a user-friendly website to ensure the data are transparent, informative, and accessible for students, parents, policymakers, and employers; and

* Feeds aggregate information back to states and institutions so they can develop and implement targeted, data-informed strategies aimed at supporting student success.

The College Transparency Act represents broad consensus among students, colleges and universities, employers, and policymakers that a secure, privacy-protected postsecondary student data system is the only way to give students the information they need to make informed college choices. That is why we are coming together to urge Congress to pass this bill now to provide accurate, timely, and high-quality aggregate data in a user-friendly, transparent way for students and families, policymakers, institutions and employers who have a right to know answers to key questions about student access and success.

Sincerely,

AAC&U

AccessLex Institute

AccuRounds

Achieve Atlanta

Achieving the Dream

Advance CTE

American Association of Community Colleges

American Educational Research Association

AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology

Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund

Aspen Institute College Excellence Program

Association for Career and Technical Education

Association of Community College Trustees

Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Atlanta Regional Workforce Development Board

Augustus F. Hawkins Foundation

Birmingham Prosperity Partnership

Board of Regents, State of Iowa

Boston Centerless

Braven

Build UP

Business Roundtable

California EDGE Coalition

Campaign for College Opportunity

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Chicago Jobs Council

Chiefs for Change

COABE

Cobb Chamber of Commerce

College Now Greater Cleveland

Colorado Center on Law and Policy

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Complete College America, Inc.

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

Custom Plastics and More

CWA Southern California Council

Dallas County Community College District

Data Quality Campaign

District 1199C Training & Upgrading Fund

Edmit

EducationQuest Foundation

Employee Choice Academy

EmployIndy

Enlisted Association of the National Guard

Excelencia in Education

Field Crest Care Center

Five Star Development, Inc.

George Washington Institute of Public Policy

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education

Global Resource Management Inc.

Greater Philadelphia Healthcare Partnership

Greater Washington Community Foundation

HCM Strategists

Higher Learning Advocates

Holder Construction Company

Indiana Institute for Working Families

Institute for Higher Education Policy

Japanese American Citizens League

Jersey City Literacy Program

JEVS Human Services

Jewish Vocational Service, Boston

JFF

JMPDX LLC

JobTrain

Knowledge Alliance

LeaderQuest Holdings Inc.

Learn4Life

Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition

MCCI Medical Group

Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce

NASPA - Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity (NAPE)

National Association for College Admission Counseling

National Association of Graduate-Professional Students

National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators

National Council for Adult Learning

National Council for Workforce Education

National Laboratory for Education Transformation

National Roofing Contractors Association

National Skills Coalition

National Tooling and Machining Association

Naugatuck Adult Education

New America

New Orleans Youth Alliance

New York Association of Training & Employment Professionals (NYATEP)

Nexus Research and Policy Center

NOCTI

Northwest WI Workforce Investment Board

Nucleos-PortableCloud

Optimax Systems Inc.

Orleans Technical College

Policy Matters Ohio

Policy Planning Partners

Postsecondary Analytics

Pryor Education Insights

Public Insight Corporation

Rebuilding America's Middle Class

Ripe Data

Scholarship America

Skills2Compete Colorado

Software & Information Industry Association

South Asian Fund For Education, Scholarship and Training (SAFEST)

Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board

StriveTogether

Student Veterans of America

TechBirmingham

The Bell Policy Center

The Education Trust

The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)

The Quality Assurance Commons for Higher and Postsecondary Education

The Veterans Education Project

Third Way

Towards Employment

TRC Staffing Services

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)

uAspire

United Way of Central Iowa

University of Phoenix

Virginia Community College System

WKBJ Foundation

Women and Families Center-Open DOHR Employment Training

Women Employed

Workforce Solutions Group

WSP USA

Young Invincibles

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