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Congress·In Committee·7 months ago

Congress Proposes New System to Show Students Which Colleges Lead to High-Paying Jobs

Also known as: College Transparency Act

Legislative Progress

✓ Filed
Review
House
Senate
President

Impact Analysis

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Key Points

  • Congress is proposing a new national data system to track how students fare during and after college. This system would collect information on graduation rates, how much debt students take on, and how much money they actually earn in their careers after finishing their degrees.
  • The goal is to help families and students make better choices about where to go to school. A new, easy-to-use website would allow people to compare different colleges and programs to see which ones provide the best value and the highest chance of finding a good job.
  • To protect student privacy, the law would strictly forbid the system from collecting sensitive personal details like health records, religious beliefs, or immigration status. The government would also be banned from using this data for law enforcement or to create a federal ranking of 'good' or 'bad' schools.
  • The plan aims to reduce paperwork for colleges by combining several different reports they already send to the government. Instead of filling out multiple forms, schools would report to one central system that shares data securely with other agencies like the IRS to verify earnings.
  • If this bill becomes law, the government would have four years to build the system. An advisory group made up of students, college leaders, and privacy experts would help decide exactly what information is collected and how to keep it safe from hackers.
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Milestones

2 milestones2 actions
Jul 29, 2025House

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Jul 29, 2025

Introduced in House

Related News

4 articles
The Hill·7 months ago

Bipartisan push for college transparency returns to Congress

A bipartisan group of lawmakers led by Sens. Bill Cassidy and Elizabeth Warren reintroduced the College Transparency Act. The bill seeks to create a national data system to track student outcomes, including graduation rates and post-college earnings, to help families make informed decisions.

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Politico·7 months ago

Warren, Cassidy reintroduce bill to track college student earnings

The College Transparency Act aims to overturn the long-standing ban on student-level data collection. Proponents argue it will provide a clearer picture of the ROI for different degrees, while the bill includes strict prohibitions on collecting sensitive data like immigration status.

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Axios·7 months ago

Tracking the ROI of a college degree

Lawmakers are making a fresh push for the College Transparency Act, which would create a user-friendly website for comparing colleges. The bill emphasizes privacy, forbidding the collection of health or religious data and banning the use of the system for law enforcement purposes.

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Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

College Transparency Act

Bill NumberHR 4806
Congress119th Congress
ChamberHouse of Representatives
Latest ActionReferred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(11)
D: 6R: 5

Analysis generated by AI. While we strive for accuracy, this should not be considered legal or professional advice. Always verify information with official government sources.