20 U.S.C. § 1015e — State higher education information system pilot program
submitted 18 years ago by Pub. L. 89-329 to r/title-20-EDUCATION · 610 words · no verdicts yet
This section creates a pilot program for up to five eligible entities to build State-level postsecondary student-data systems. Grants may last up to three years and must protect privacy while improving data and reducing reporting burdens.
(a) Purpose. The pilot program assists no more than five States in building State*-level postsecondary data systems to improve comprehensive, comparable data and policy evaluation while protecting personally identifiable information, and to reduce institutions’ reporting burden, especially for small institutions, while improving the information they receive. (b) Eligible entity. An “eligible entity” is a State higher-education system, or a broadly representative consortium of State systems or individual institutions from different sectors and places. (c) Grants. (1) The Secretary* must competitively award grants to no more than five eligible entities to design, test, and operate useful student-data systems and examine their costs and burdens. (2) A grant may last no more than three years. (d) Applications. An applicant must submit information the Secretary reasonably requires, including how it will protect student privacy and keep student, achievement, and family information confidential under section 1232g, known as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, and how it will support the work after three years. (e) Uses. Funds must design and implement a comprehensive system able to transmit information within the State; improve institutions’ ability to analyze and use data; choose common data elements and quality rules serving institutional research, student and family decisions, and State oversight of student success; estimate reporting costs and burdens for different institution types; and test privacy and access standards. (f) Evaluation and reports. Within six months after funded projects end, the Secretary must evaluate the pilot and report findings and recommendations about State systems to the authorizing committees*. (g) Appropriations. Congress may appropriate amounts necessary for fiscal year 2009 and each of the next five fiscal years.
It is the purpose of this section to carry out a pilot program to assist not more than five States to develop State*-level postsecondary student data systems to—
improve the capacity of States and institutions of higher education to generate more comprehensive and comparable data, in order to develop better-informed educational policy at the State level and to evaluate the effectiveness of institutional performance while protecting the confidentiality of students’ personally identifiable information; and
identify how to best minimize the data-reporting burden placed on institutions of higher education, particularly smaller institutions, and to maximize and improve the information institutions receive from the data systems, in order to assist institutions in improving educational practice and postsecondary outcomes.
In this section, the term “eligible entity” means—
a State higher education system; or
a consortium of State higher education systems, or a consortium of individual institutions of higher education, that is broadly representative of institutions in different sectors and geographic locations.
The Secretary* shall award grants, on a competitive basis, to not more than five eligible entities to enable the eligible entities to—
design, test, and implement systems of postsecondary student data that provide the maximum benefits to States, institutions of higher education, and State policymakers; and
examine the costs and burdens involved in implementing a State-level postsecondary student data system.
A grant awarded under this section shall be for a period of not more than three years.
An eligible entity desiring a grant under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may reasonably require, including a description of—
how the eligible entity will ensure that student privacy is protected and that individually identifiable information about students, the students’ achievements, and the students’ families remains confidential in accordance with section 1232g of this title (commonly known as the “Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974”); and
how the activities funded by the grant will be supported after the three-year grant period.
A grant awarded under this section shall be used to—
design, develop, and implement the components of a comprehensive postsecondary student data system with the capacity to transmit student information within a State;
improve the capacity of institutions of higher education to analyze and use student data;
select and define common data elements, data quality, and other elements that will enable the data system to—
serve the needs of institutions of higher education for institutional research and improvement;
provide students and the students’ families with useful information for decision-making about postsecondary education; and
provide State policymakers with improved information to monitor and guide efforts to improve student outcomes and success in higher education;
estimate costs and burdens at the institutional level for the reporting system for different types of institutions; and
test the feasibility of protocols and standards for maintaining data privacy and data access.
Not later than six months after the end of the projects funded by grants awarded under this section, the Secretary shall—
conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the pilot program authorized by this section; and
report the Secretary’s findings, as well as recommendations regarding the implementation of State-level postsecondary student data systems, to the authorizing committees*.
There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2009 and each of the five succeeding fiscal years.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 89–329, title I, § 136, as added Pub. L. 110–315, title I, § 115, Aug. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 3111; amended Pub. L. 111–39, title I, § 101(b)(4), July 1, 2009, 123 Stat. 1935.)
- 2008Enacted · Pub. L. 89-329 · 122 Stat. 3111
- 2009Amended · Pub. L. 111-39 · 123 Stat. 1935
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 89-329 on 2008-08-14.
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