On November 29, 2017, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced the “Student Right to Know Before You Go Act,” which would give prospective college students and their families more information about the costs and outcomes associated with higher education.

The bipartisan bill advocates for the creation of a centralized database that would aggregate data from all colleges about graduation rates, debt levels, how much graduates can expect to earn and other critical education and workforce-related measures of success.  Post-graduation earnings information would be broken down by educational institution, program of study and credential received, state of employment, and completion status.  Although there are resources that offer prospective students some of this information, the data is limited and in many instances incomplete.  For example, graduation rates are currently only calculated for first-time, full-time students.

Importantly, the bill would ensure that all data is generated using “secure multi-party computation.”  This is an encryption technique that allows any student information gathered from colleges, and loan and income information gathered from the IRS or the Department of Education to be aggregated and analyzed without compromising any private information.

“Deciding where to go to college shouldn’t be based on guesswork,” Senator Wyden said. “The Know Before You Go Act puts the power back in students’ and families’ hands by giving them the opportunity to make the best possible choices for themselves about where to spend their hard-earned dollars. Our updated, bipartisan bill empowers students and families without forcing tradeoffs that sacrifice individual privacy or data security.”

The text of the bill can be found here.