Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2017
The source supplies the latest action, but no lifecycle stage.
Latest action (7 Dec 2017): Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
What this bill does
H.R. 4479, the "Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2017," would direct the Secretary of Education, through the Commissioner for Education Statistics, to establish by October 1, 2020 a new secure higher education data system. This system would use privacy-protective technology—such as secure multi-party computation—to link student-level data on enrollment, financial aid, debt, completion, transfer, and post-graduation earnings without exposing personally identifiable information to the Department or other parties. Colleges, the Social Security Administration, the Treasury Department, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Education itself would report specified data components to the system. The Commissioner would then calculate standardized outcome metrics—covering completion rates, loan debt, repayment, transfer, and earnings—broken down by categories such as Pell Grant recipients, veterans, race, gender, and program of study, and publish them publicly in machine-readable form. Sale of the underlying data would be prohibited.
The bill would primarily affect institutions of higher education receiving federal student aid, federal agencies holding relevant student and earnings data, and students and families seeking comparable information on college outcomes before enrolling. It also amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce duplicative institutional reporting and require colleges to link their websites to the new outcome-metrics data.
The bill was introduced on November 29, 2017, by Rep. Duncan Hunter with bipartisan co-sponsors, and referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and several other committees. It received no vote and did not advance further in the 115th Congress.
Plain-English summary generated by Bill100 AI from the official record. Always verify against the source below.
Official summary
Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2017
This bill requires the National Center for Education Statistics to establish and maintain a new higher education data system. The Center must use the system to calculate student education, debt-related, and earning metrics (e.g., student graduation rates, transfer rates, rates of continuation to subsequent levels of education, dropout rates, loan debt amounts, loan repayment rates, and debt-to-earnings ratios) for each institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs. The metrics must be disaggregated and separately provided on the basis of specified categories.
The system must meet requirements for minimizing privacy and security risks.
The bill provides for the transition from the existing Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System to the new higher education data system.
The Department of Education (ED) must publish the metrics and post the metrics on its website. Within five years, an IHE that participates in federal student aid programs must display links on its website to ED's website that provides metrics data.
Timeline
7 Dec 2017
Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel.
Common questions
- What does H.R. 4479 do?
- H.R. 4479, the "Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2017," would direct the Secretary of Education, through the Commissioner for Education Statistics, to establish by October 1, 2020 a new secure higher education data system. This system would use privacy-protective technology—such as secure multi-party computation—to link student-level data on enrollment, financial aid, debt, completion, transfer, and post-graduation earnings without exposing personally identifiable information to the Department or other parties. Colleges, the Social Security Administration, the Treasury Department, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, and the Department of Education itself would report specified data components to the system. The Commissioner would then calculate standardized outcome metrics—covering completion rates, loan debt, repayment, transfer, and earnings—broken down by categories such as Pell Grant recipients, veterans, race, gender, and program of study, and publish them publicly in machine-readable form. Sale of the underlying data would be prohibited. The bill would primarily affect institutions of higher education receiving federal student aid, federal agencies holding relevant student and earnings data, and students and families seeking comparable information on college outcomes before enrolling. It also amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce duplicative institutional reporting and require colleges to link their websites to the new outcome-metrics data. The bill was introduced on November 29, 2017, by Rep. Duncan Hunter with bipartisan co-sponsors, and referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce and several other committees. It received no vote and did not advance further in the 115th Congress.
- Has H.R. 4479 become law?
- The source does not supply a confirmed lifecycle stage for H.R. 4479. Check the latest action and official source below.
- Who sponsored H.R. 4479?
- H.R. 4479 was sponsored by Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-50] (R-CA), with 5 cosponsors.
- What's the latest action on H.R. 4479?
- Referred to the Subcommittee on Military Personnel. (7 Dec 2017).
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More bills from Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-50]
Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2019
Student Right to Know Before You Go Act of 2013
Student Right to Know Before You Go Act
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