Strengthening Transparency in Higher Education Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise to express my support for H.R. 4983, the Strengthening Transparency in Higher Education Act.

The underlying bill strengthens the state of transparency in higher education by establishing a new college dashboard Web site, which replaces the Network Navigator and ensures the inclusion of nontraditional students in the data matrix.

The college dashboard Web site will provide better and more accessible information for students and families. Key information will consist of enrollment and completion data on full-time and part-time students as well as those segregated by Pell recipients--or race and ethnicity and disability--as well as information on net price, average student loan debt, and college costs.

The bill promotes transparency on the use of adjunct faculty. For the first time, our Nation's colleges will be required to report the ratio of part-time to full-time instructors by degree level. In addition, this legislation creates a more accessible calculator with clearer, more individualized information on student costs. Finally, the bill requires that the college dashboard Web site be consumer-tested with other agencies and students and institutions and experts to ensure it provides understandable and relevant information.

I am proud to say that Texas has been a leader in this area. The University of Texas' system, for example, has developed an impressive college productivity dashboard designed to increase transparency and to measure productivity in a more effective way. Above all, the UT system's dashboard also provides students, families, and policymakers with robust data and information that they can use to make more informed decisions.

Having better data and information has allowed the University of Texas to identify achievement gaps and to make improvements in areas that need reform. More accurate data on college participation and completion, for instance, can help to improve student outcomes, particularly for low-income students and students of color.

In closing, I applaud Chairman Kline, Ranking Member Miller, and Ranking Member Foxx for working in a bipartisan manner to advance this legislation, and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to vote in favor of H.R. 4983.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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