The U.S. Department of Education is considering a proposal to create a new nationwide database of information on college students that some say would deal a blow to student privacy.
The new system would begin compiling statistical information on individual students, including their Social Security numbers, tuition rates and transfer information—a change from the current system, which collects this data from colleges as a whole, and only collects individual data on students who are receiving financial aid.
Although California already collects information on individual students enrolled in public schools like UC, under the new proposal the data would be collected by the federal government and would be expanded to include more types of financial information.
Officials in the National Center for Education Statistics say a system like this could increase the accuracy of the data on areas ranging from retention rates to graduation rates to general fees and so form a more accurate picture of a school’s quality.
Although officials tout the proposal as a consumer rights benefit, it faces criticism from advocates of student privacy rights.
“(The database) could be very problematic or disastrous for students,” said Luke Swarthout, higher education associate at the State PIRG for Higher Education. “But at the same time, there is good academic policy value in that information.”
Under the current system, transfer students can skew statistics regarding graduation and retention. Now, if a student transfers schools, he is recorded as a dropout in his former school, but a graduate in the other. The proposed system would allow the federal government to recognize him as the same person.
Currently, the statistics center is only discussing the feasibility of changing the system. A formal proposal has not yet been submitted to Congress and an estimated deadline for submission is not yet available.
Proponents of the plan are quick to point out the stringent privacy regulations governing the center.
“(The center) has a track record for protecting information. But it has never had information like this—nothing so comprehensive and useful to private citizens,” Swarthout said. “We want to make sure that the NCES keeps the information, never shares it and only uses it for statistical purposes.”
But any time a government agency is collecting information on private citizens, there is the potential for abuse, opponents said.
An historical cause for concern is the federal National Directory of New Hires, which was created to track employment trends. However, the information was eventually used to help track down fathers who failed to pay child support and other nonemployment-related federal obligations.
“A database with all this information would be so incredibly attractive that there would be almost unbearable pressure to let the information leave for other purposes,” said Susan Hattan, senior consultant for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
If the proposal is approved and funded by Congress, 1,500 colleges will stage a trial of the system in the 2006-07 school year. If successful, the database would go national the next year.
source: http://www.dailycal.org/particle.asp?id=17122 1dec04
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