Federal college database launches: your earnings data, tracked for life.

What it does

This bill creates a federal database of student-level data from all colleges and universities receiving federal aid, to be maintained by the National Center for Education Statistics. The system will track enrollment, completion, costs, financial aid, and post-graduation outcomes (earnings, employment) by linking college data with IRS, Census, Social Security, and Veterans Affairs records. The data will be published in aggregate form on a public website so students and families can compare colleges; institutions will receive annual feedback reports; and vetted researchers can access de-identified student records. The bill explicitly prohibits selling the data, using it for law enforcement, or creating a federal college ranking system.

Why we flagged it

The bill's core mechanism is establishing a federal student data system to increase transparency about college outcomes and costs for consumers and policymakers. It is fundamentally a public-accountability and consumer-information tool, not a subsidy, deregulation, or private carve-out.

What the text implies

• Federal data matching with IRS, Census, and Social Security creates a longitudinal earnings database for all college students—a powerful tool for labor-market analysis but also a persistent federal record linking education to lifetime earnings outcomes.
• States gain ability to track their own high school graduates' college enrollment and completion via data queries, potentially enabling state-level accountability pressure on institutions or students.
• The bill repeals Section 134 of the Higher Education Act (a prior prohibition on student data systems), removing a statutory barrier that had blocked this type of federal student tracking.
• Institutions must submit data as a condition of receiving federal aid (Title IV), making participation effectively mandatory for nearly all colleges; voluntary participation is available only for institutions not receiving federal funds.
• Public aggregate data cannot identify individuals, but the bill permits de-identified student-level data access for vetted researchers—creating a restricted-use research database that could enable studies tracking individual student outcomes without explicit consent.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Ordinary citizens gain transparency about college costs, completion rates, and earnings outcomes—information currently scattered or unavailable—enabling better educational decisions. The bill includes strong privacy protections (prohibits sale, law enforcement use, health data collection) and data minimization requirements. Institutions face new reporting requirements, but the bill explicitly aims to reduce duplicative burden by consolidating existing IPEDS reporting.

Named in the bill

National Center for Education Statistics, Department of Education, Internal Revenue Service, Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, Bureau of the Census, Social Security Administration, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Office of Federal Student Aid, Postsecondary Student Data System Advisory Committee, institutions of higher education, minority-serving institutions

Where it stands

23 cosponsors: 12 Democrats, 11 Republicans.

• Jul 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jul 29, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

8 lobbying clients named this bill on 15 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $55,309,454 in lobbying spend. A filing names 15 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 88% of bills with at least one filing.

Raja Krishnamoorthi, the sponsor, reported $763,350 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 on 3 filings
• Princeton University — $270,000 on 2 filings
• Career Education Colleges & Universities (fka Ass'n of Private Sector Colleges a — $100,000 on 1 filing
• The Ohio State University — $89,454 on 1 filing
• American Association of Community Colleges — $80,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.