PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.

College Transparency Act

Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 537.

Official summary

Version 25 · Reported to Senate · Aug 4, 2026

College Transparency Act

This bill requires the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) to establish a secure and privacy-protected data system that contains information about postsecondary students.

Specifically, the data system must

evaluate student enrollment patterns, progression, completion, and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher education costs and financial aid;

provide complete and customizable information for students and families making decisions about postsecondary education;

reduce the requirements for reporting by institutions of higher education; and

periodically match with other federal systems of data.

The bill also establishes a postsecondary student data system advisory committee.

The Department of Education (ED) and NCES must (1) provide dedicated and adequate staffing at ED to implement the bill's requirements, and (2) report to Congress on a quarterly basis regarding the progress of implementing the bill's requirements.

Read the summary on Congress.gov
PlainBill analysis is coming later. This page presents official source data. We have not yet published a PlainBill explanation for this bill.

Who introduced it

Sen. Cassidy, Bill [R-LA] · R–LA

Committees

  • Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
26 cosponsorship records, including any withdrawals

Actions

A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.

  1. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 537.

  2. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Cassidy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.

  3. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Reported by Senator Cassidy with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.

  4. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.

  5. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

  6. Introduced in Senate

Bill text & related measures

Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.

Related bills identified by Congress.gov

Source last updated: Sep 17, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.

Explore the bill from different angles

Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.

Neutral evidence review

Objective

Analyze S.2511 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.

View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact

Progressive lens

Examine S.2511 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.

View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope

Conservative lens

Examine S.2511 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.

View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power

Liberty lens

Examine S.2511 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.

View full prompt & sources