Braven applauds the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee for voting 21-1 to advance the College Transparency Act (S. 2511 / H.R. 4806) out of committee. This bipartisan milestone comes nearly a decade after the legislation was first introduced and marks meaningful progress toward giving students, families, and policymakers the information they need to make informed decisions about college and career pathways.
While the bachelor’s degree is still the surest path to economic mobility, that potential is only realized when students have clear, reliable information to choose programs that lead to strong outcomes. Too many students, particularly first-generation college students and students from low-income backgrounds, make that choice without knowing how graduates of a given program actually fare afterward. The College Transparency Act would help close that gap.
Braven has long supported the College Transparency Act as part of our policy agenda because students deserve more transparency around outcomes, including labor market outcomes and median earnings by postsecondary program. That means data disaggregated by institution, by program, and by key demographic factors; data collected across all institution types; and data that captures outcomes for completers and non-completers alike, and for full- and part-time students.
While this vote is an important step, we recognize there is still a long road ahead: a vote on the Senate floor and passage out of committee and off the floor in the House. We encourage the full Senate and House to take up and pass this legislation without delay, and we thank HELP Committee staff for their work in bringing the bill this far.
