Postsecondary Data Collaborative and Workforce Data Quality Campaign Applaud Bipartisan, Bicameral College Transparency Act

​Editor’s Note: As of October 31, 2017 more than 130 organizations have signed the below statement in support of the College Transparency Act of 2017.

Over 70 organizations have signed the following statement in support of the recent higher education transparency legislation, the College Transparency Act of 2017. To add your organization to this listing, please click here.

“The Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData) and the Workforce Data Quality Campaign (WDQC), in cooperation with the undersigned organizations and individuals, applaud Senators Hatch (R-UT), Warren (D-MA), Cassidy (R-LA), and Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representatives Mitchell (R-MI), Polis (D-CO), Garrett (R-VA), Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Stivers (R-OH), Panetta (D-CA), Dunn (R-FL), and Upton (R-MI) for championing transparency through their introduction of the College Transparency Act, which would create a secure, privacy-protected postsecondary data system. Supported by four members of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and two members of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, this bipartisan bill would help students, policymakers, and institutions to make informed choices by providing better information about college access, success, costs, and outcomes.

“The research is abundantly clear: Investing in a college education pays off.[1] But while college is worth it on average, students, policymakers, and institutions 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:

• How many low-income, adult, transfer, and part-time students earn a postsecondary certificate or degree from a particular institution?
• How much do students borrow, and can they repay their loans?
• How long does it take students to complete college, on average?
• How many non-completers from a particular college never reenroll, and how many transfer to finish their degree at another institution?
• Do 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 burden.

“The College Transparency Act would reform federal policy to create a secure, privacy-protected postsecondary data system that would:

• Empower all students to make more informed choices about where to spend their precious time and money,
• Only be used to help students,
• Protect student privacy and adhere to best practices in data security,
• Reduce reporting burden for colleges and universities by replacing the student components of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS),
• Better steward taxpayer dollars,
• Uncover equity gaps so colleges and universities can change policies and practices to better serve underrepresented students, and
• Align education with labor market demand and help employers identify programs that are effectively preparing students for the workforce.

“The bill is laser-focused on protecting students’ privacy. It includes protections that limit data disclosures, prohibit the sale of data, penalize illegal data use, protect vulnerable students, prohibit use of the data for law enforcement, and safeguard personally identifiable information.

“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. It builds upon previous bipartisan, bicameral efforts to strengthen national data systems through the Student Right to Know Before You Go Act. We urge policymakers to pass legislation to create a postsecondary data system that gives the right people the right information to make the best possible decisions about higher education.”

AccessLex Institute

Achieve Atlanta

Achieving the Dream

Advance CTE

AdvancED

Alloy Engineering Co. Inc.

​America Forward

American Association of Community Colleges

American Educational Research Association

Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity

Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund

Aspen Institute College Excellence Program

Association for Career and Technical Education

Association of Community College Trustees

Association for Manufacturing Technology

Association of Public and Land-grant Universities

Association of Public Data Users

Atlanta Regional Workforce Development Board

Boston Centerless

Bottom Line

California EDGE Coalition

California State Student Association (CSSA)

Campaign for College Opportunity

Center for American Progress

Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition

Chiefs for Change

Cobb Chamber of Commerce

College Now Greater Cleveland

Colorado Center on Law and Policy

Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta

Council for Adult and Experiential Learning

Connecticut Association for Human Services

Connecticut State Colleges and Universities

Custom Plastics and More

CWA Southern California Council

Dallas County Community College District

Data Quality Campaign

Deans for Impact

Democrats for Education Reform

ECPI University

Edmit

Excelencia in Education

Five Star Development, Inc.

Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce

Georgia Association for Career and Technical Education

Georgia Department of Education

Georgia State University Student Government Association

Global Resource Management, Inc. (GRMI)

Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce

Greater Philadelphia Healthcare Partnership

GW Institute of Public Policy, George Washington University

Holder Construction Company

Indiana Institute for Working Families

Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP)

James Rutter, CEO RQECG Inc.

Jersey City Literacy Program

JEVS Human Services

JMPDX LLC

Jobs For the Future

Jordan Matsudaira, Assistant Professor Cornell University

Knowledge Alliance

LeaderQuest Holdings Inc.

Learn4Life

Lehman College of The City University of New York

Louisiana State University

Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Coalition

MCCI Medical Group

Metro Atlanta Chamber

Muslim Student Association – West

NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

National Higher Education Benchmarking Institute

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 Skills Coalition

Naugatuck Adult Education

New America

New Growth Group, LLC

New York Association of Training & Employment Professionals (NYATEP)

Nexus Research and Policy Center

NOCTI

Nucleos-PortableCloud

Office of Institutional Research & Planning, The Ohio State University

Optimax Systems Inc.

Orleans Technical College

Partners for a Competitive Workforce

Partnership for College Completion

Perfection Spring & Stamping Corp.

Policy Matters Ohio

Postsecondary Analytics

ProLiteracy

Public Insight Corporation

Ready To Work Business Collaborative

Rebuilding America’s Middle Class

Results for America

Richards Industries

Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

Scholarship America

Skills2Compete Colorado

SkillWorks

​Software & Information Industry Association

South Asian Fund for Education, Scholarship and Training (SAFEST)  ​

Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board

Stephen L. DesJardins, Professor, University of Michigan

StriveTogether

Student Veterans of America

Teamlogic IT – NYC

The Bell Policy Center

The Education Trust

The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS)

The State University of New York

Third Way

Towards Employment

TRC Staffing Services

Transportation Learning Center

Tulsa Regional Chamber

uAspire

UNCF

United Way of Greater Atlanta

Urban Alliance

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Vermont Adult Learning

Veterans Education Success

Virginia Community College System

Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians

WKBJ Foundation

Women Employed

Workforce Data Quality Campaign

Workforce Solutions Group

Workforce Tulsa

World Education Services

WSP USA

Wyoming Machine, Inc.

Young Invincibles