Federal database will show college completion rates, costs, and student earnings.

What it does

The bill creates a database run by the National Center for Education Statistics. Colleges that get federal money must send student data to it. The database will make public reports. Reports compare schools on graduation rates, what graduates earn, and what college costs. Student names and details stay private. The reports help students and families pick colleges. Schools do less paperwork.

Who it affects

Students and families get clear facts about college costs and job pay. Colleges that take federal aid must share data but do less paperwork. Student data stays protected from tracking or sale.

One thing to notice

The bill says colleges cannot be ranked by the federal government. But public reports will show completion rates and earnings by school.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

25 cosponsors: 13 Republicans, 12 Democrats.

• Jul 29, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
• Jul 29, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions”
• Jul 30, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature…”

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

Money around this bill

10 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 18 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $55,625,831 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 15 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 91% of bills with any report.

Bill Cassidy, who sponsored the bill, received $1,403,254 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
• Princeton University — $270,000 in 2 reports
• Associated General Contractors of America — $216,377 in 1 report
• California State University — $100,000 in 2 reports
• Career Education Colleges & Universities (fka Ass'n of Private Sector Colleges a — $100,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• National Center for Education Statistics — The federal office that collects and studies school data.
• completion rates — The share of students who finish their degree or program.
• federal aid — Money the government gives to colleges and students.
• private — Kept secret and not shared with others without permission.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.