IHEP Urges Senate HELP Committee to Pass College Transparency Act
Published Jul 29, 2026
Washington, DC (July 29, 2026) – On July 30, 2026, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) will markup the College Transparency Act (CTA), a legislative solution supported by IHEP. CTA would create a student-level data network that connects and leverages federal and institutional data to ensure that complete information about student outcomes is available to the public and policymakers. Ahead of the markup, IHEP President & CEO Mamie Voight sent the following letter in support of CTA to HELP Committee Chairman Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Ranking Member Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT):
The Honorable Bill Cassidy
Chair
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Bernie Sanders
Ranking Member
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Cassidy and Ranking Member Sanders,
On behalf of the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), I write to urge the Committee to advance the College Transparency Act (CTA) out of committee with a strong bipartisan vote. We note the bill has broad support amongst members of the Committee and thank you both for agreeing to mark up the bill.
IHEP has spent more than 13 years researching how postsecondary data can be used to improve outcomes for students. Our research consistently points to the same conclusion: existing federal data systems are incomplete and disconnected. That makes it difficult for students, families, institutions, and policymakers to access timely, accurate information about college costs and outcomes. CTA addresses this directly by creating a secure, privacy-protected student-level data network that would, for the first time, provide outcome data on all students, including the one in three students who do not receive federal financial aid.
Our longstanding support for CTA is informed by more than ten years of extensive exploration of the operational questions involved with implementing a federal student-level data network. Through deep collaboration with institutions, financial aid experts, and fellow researchers, we understand how such a system can be built to maximize the quality and utility of data and resulting insights. We are confident that CTA, as written and reflected in the manager’s amendment, reflects a thoughtful, carefully constructed approach to balancing the benefits of improved data with strong privacy and security protections.
We also see CTA as central to the Committee’s broader interest in college cost and value transparency. Reliable, complete information about student outcomes is a prerequisite for students and families to compare programs and make informed decisions, and for policymakers to evaluate whether federal investments in higher education are achieving their intended results. CTA would meaningfully strengthen the information available to these stakeholders.
We appreciate the Chairman’s leadership on the bill and the Committee’s continued attention to this bipartisan legislation and look forward to continuing to work together to advance this important legislation.
Sincerely,
Mamie Voight
President & CEO
Institute for Higher Education Policy
Download the letter.
