IHEP and PostsecData Urge Department of Education to Preserve and Strengthen Transparency Provisions in the Final Regulations

Washington, DC (May 20, 2026) – IHEP, through the Postsecondary Data Collaborative (PostsecData), led a coalition of 29 members and partners in submitting comments to the U.S. Department of Education on its proposed higher education transparency regulations. The letter expresses strong support for maintaining and strengthening the Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS), which would provide students, families, policymakers, and institutions with comprehensive program-level information on college costs, financial aid, debt, earnings, and time to completion. The coalition highlights the importance of clear, comprehensive, and comparable program-level data to help students make informed decisions about their postsecondary options, where costs and outcomes can vary substantially across programs and institutions. In the letter, PostsecData urges the Department to preserve the STATS framework, strengthen student warnings for programs that fail the earnings premium measure, integrate STATS metrics into the College Scorecard, reinstate reporting on cumulative institutional loan debt, and ensure timely implementation of STATS while publishing the program-level data institutions have already reported. Together, these recommendations would strengthen transparency in higher education and provide students and families with more complete information to compare programs and make informed decisions about their educational pathways. 

Read the full letter and list of signatories.