The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education has completed a report on future plans for higher-education and U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings will be discussing it with the public next week. One proposal included in the report is the creation of a national database of U.S. college students' personal and educational information.
The proposed "unit record" would centralize and consolidate information that is already reported to the Department of Education in several different databases. The information will include graduation rates, attendance records financial information, according to Curry School Prof. Sarah Turner.
"This proposal would modernize the cumbersome process in which universities submit student information to the government," explained Kevin Carey, research and policy manager for Education Sector, a not-for-profit education think tank.
The current process requires information submitted by colleges to the government to be synthesized several times on different fronts, Carey said. With the new system, the government will be able to break down information pertaining to graduation rate and financial aid further, according to characteristics such as size and type of school or individual student race and gender. Universities will then only have to submit one form of data to the federal government.
The proposed system will also more easily track individual students who move between institutions of higher education, said Curry School Dean David Breneman.
"Say a student starts at a community college and transfers to another school after one year; the current system does not know that the student has transferred and, instead, records the student as a drop-out, which is not accurate," Breneman explained. "Some students transfer two or three times before they get a degree. The new system would track that."
Turner added that the system will also evaluate how colleges are doing in terms of moving students through their system and will help in the distribution of financial aid.
Turner, Breneman and Carey acknowledged that those who oppose the bill consider the database an invasion of privacy and fear the information could be leaked to the public.
"There are legitimate concerns about identity theft," Turner said. "However, design issues are surmountable. There are ways of designing a database that strips identifiable information."
Others are concerned about the cost of such an endeavor.
"There will be short-term, up-front costs to switch data systems over into a common format. But, in the long run, it will be less expensive," Carey said.
George Stovall, director of institutional assessment and studies at the University, said he fears that the costs of the proposed unit record will outweigh the benefits.
"There is a very high risk of information being mishandled," Stovall said. "The amount of work that is going to be required at the institution level compared to what is required now is much greater than anyone realizes."
Department of Education spokesperson Samara Yudof said the finalized Commission report will be discussed next Tuesday at the National Press Club in an address by Spellings.
-- Burc Ozcelik contributed to this article
Oct. 18 Editors note: This article has been updated to reflect a more accurate account of where Spellings discussed the Commission
Read More
U.Va. loses over $60 million in federal research cuts
By Bertie Azqueta | 11 hours agoThe impacted grants include three from the NIH, seven from the NEH, one from the United States Agency for International Development and four from the State Department.
Department of Education reverses course, awards Federal Executive Institute to U.Va.
By Ford McCracken | 3 days agoThe ED had previously awarded the institute to Charlottesville City Schools.
Students reflect on the life and legacy of Pope Francis
By Bertie Azqueta | 4 days agoAt the University, students shared a range of perspectives on his legacy of reform, inclusivity and his impact on the global Catholic community.
