July 10, 2019

Momentum Continues to Build for College Transparency Act

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), a member of the Senate’s education committee, today announced 24 senators have signed their names onto the bipartisan College Transparency Act (CTA) with the addition of, U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). Today’s additions represent clear, growing support for CTA amid ongoing Higher Education Act talks. 

“College loan debts are rising. Students need more information to make better decisions regarding where to attend and whether to borrow,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Twenty three other senators agree and support is growing for the College Transparency Act.”  

This legislation modernizes the college reporting system for postsecondary data by ensuring accurate reporting on student outcomes such as enrollment, completion, and post-college success across colleges and majors, while ensuring the privacy of individual students is securely protected.

This information will tell students how others with their backgrounds have succeeded at an institution, and help point them towards schools and programs of study best suited to their unique needs and desired outcomes. It will also aid institutions of learning and policymakers in their work to improve our country’s postsecondary education system.

The current college reporting system is overly burdensome on institutions, yet provides little practical information for students and families due to significant gaps in college data reporting. Under the updated system, institutions would securely report privacy-protected, student-level data to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). NCES would be responsible for securely storing student information, working with relevant federal agencies to generate post-college outcomes reports, and presenting the summary information on a user-friendly website for students and families. 

U.S. Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) join Dr. Cassidy and U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Tim Scott (R-SC), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), John Cornyn (R-TX), Tammy Baldwin (D-MN), Joni Ernst (R-IA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Cory Gardner (R-CO), Bob Casey (D-PA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), David Perdue (R-GA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mitt Romney (R-UT), Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Thom Tillis (R-NC), in support of CTA.

Representatives Paul Mitchell (R-MI), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and Josh Harder (D-CA) introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives, which has now garnered the support of 36 Representatives.

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