Congress has taken a critical step toward ensuring that public investments in short-term training deliver quality, in-demand credentials that lead to good jobs. The reintroduction of the College Transparency Act (CTA) will give students, families, employers, and policymakers access to the data they need to make informed decisions about which training programs lead to good careers. It comes at a pivotal moment, as federal agencies and states begin implementing Workforce Pell – a long-awaited expansion of Pell Grants to short-term credential programs.
Led by Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Representatives Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) and Mike Kelly (R-PA) the bipartisan bill would create a secure, privacy-protected data network to help students and families, policymakers, institutions, and employers make informed decisions by providing more complete information about college access, success, costs, and outcomes.
The College Transparency Act would create a secure data system within the Department of Education to track student outcomes. The system would utilize existing federal and institutional data to calculate aggregate information on enrollment, completion, and post-college success. Wage and earnings data by major, for example, will help students identify in-demand fields leading to employment, helping to reduce the skills mismatch.
This would be a user-friendly, online portal where students and the public can:
The portal would protect students’ privacy through strong safeguards: The system would include robust privacy and data security safeguards to prevent misuse or unauthorized disclosure of individual student data. Access to personally identifiable information would be strictly limited, and the legislation prohibits the use of this information for law enforcement or immigration enforcement purposes.
The law also ensures schools are not penalized based on their student demographics; feeds aggregate information back to states and institutions so they can develop and implement targeted, data-informed strategies aimed at supporting student success; and streamlines burdensome federal reporting requirements for postsecondary institutions
CTA is Backed by over 150 students, colleges and universities, employers, and policymakers. National Skills Coalition has been advocating for its passage for a decade.
National Skills Coalition has long championed passing Workforce Pell (also known as short term Pell) together with CTA because CTA is key for successful Workforce Pell implementation. By strengthening federal oversight and improving data collection, CTA helps ensure that students and businesses can trust that public investments are going toward high-quality, career-aligned programs.
CTA would play a vital role in tracking programs newly available through Workforce Pell. Because of the recent passage of workforce Pell, many students looking to enrolled in short-term credential programs offered at community colleges or other educational institutions could will now be eligible for Pell Grants. CTA would provide detailed, program level data like completion rates, post-graduation earnings, and employment outcomes – all disaggregated by race, gender, income level, and veteran status. This will give students the insight they need to navigate the list of program offerings, identify those that are most likely to lead to good jobs, and make informed choices about which program suits their career goals. It would help businesses to identify strong education and training partners that are aligned with their hiring needs. Finally, it will help community colleges understand the outcomes for programs they offer and use that information to both strengthen offerings for future learners and ensure programs deliver equitable results across racial, economic, and other demographic groups.
While Workforce Pell includes baseline quality metrics such as requiring programs to be established for at least one year, lead to in-demand credentials, and show that graduates earn at least 70% more than they did prior to enrollment – these eligibility criteria alone can’t guarantee consistently strong outcomes across institutions or student populations.
That’s where CTA plays a critical role.
By requiring institutions to report outcomes like completion rates, earnings, and employment results (all disaggregated by race, gender, income, and veteran status), CTA helps mitigate the risk of students enrolling in low-quality programs and strengthens accountability for institutions receiving public funds.
Beyond improving program transparency and student decision-making, CTA would also provide the critical data infrastructure needed to ensure that public dollars are going to high-quality, career-aligned programs.
One of the main differences between the NSC-supported JOBS Act and the workforce Pell bill that ultimately passed is the lack of required data sharing across federal agencies. Yet, data sharing across federal agencies is essential to understand the full landscape of program outcomes, from labor market information housed at the Department of Labor to enrollment costs at the Department of Education. CTA creates an interagency data-sharing infrastructure where the current Workforce Pell law falls short.
Further, the current federal data system does not fully capture outcomes for the types of students who are most likely to benefit from Workforce Pell — including adult learners, part-time students, and those in short-term, non-degree programs. CTA would close this gap by creating a secure, privacy-protected student-level data system that reflects the full range of today’s students and the programs that serve them.
CTA would also strengthen the Department of Education’s ability to implement Workforce Pell. The Department of Education needs data to evaluate which programs are eligible under Workforce Pell; monitor for equity, outcomes, and fraud; and provide guidance to states and institutions.
Without the data that CTA provides, the Department of Education lacks a full picture—especially for nontraditional students, part-time enrollees, and short-term programs, many of whom are the intended beneficiaries of Workforce Pell. This is especially important now given the current climate and status of the Department of Education.
The rollout of Workforce Pell and the potential passage of the College Transparency Act come at a time of significant strain across federal education and workforce systems:
Workforce and education agencies are under-resourced. Widespread staffing reductions at the Department of Education have limited the technical assistance available to states and local partners — just as implementation needs are increasing.
Federal funding streams are shifting. Key programs are being reorganized across agencies with limited guidance, creating confusion and weakening long-standing infrastructure. CTA would provide a stable, transparent source of data amid this uncertainty.
Financial aid systems are in flux. As student loan programs are scaled back and options for part-time students narrow, it’s more important than ever that students can clearly see which programs are available — and which lead to good jobs.
Funding delays create uncertainty. Billions in workforce and education dollars, including Dislocated Worker and WIOA Title I funds, have been delayed or are only now being released. In this context, CTA’s real-time, program-level data will be essential for state and local leaders to target resources effectively.
Programs serving vulnerable populations face heightened scrutiny. From teacher training to support for migrant and LGBTQ+ students, and even affirmative action protections in WIOA, many equity-focused programs are under political attack. Reliable data from CTA can help defend Workforce Pell by showing that these programs drive real economic mobility.
Ongoing fiscal fights—including calls from the Trump administration to make the government funding process more partisan—threaten future investments in education and workforce development.
Given these challenges, it’s more important than ever that federal agencies, Congress, and education stakeholders get Workforce Pell implementation right. Passing the College Transparency Act is an important milestone and a key start to successful, equitable implementation.
What else do we need for successful STP implementation? NSC will be releasing our full guidance for Workforce Pell implementation in the coming weeks. Spoiler alert: that guidance will strongly align with our coalition’s legislative agenda for this Congress. Think: strong partnerships between industry and education, robust funding for the workforce system, and holistic supports for students and workers. Stay tuned for more.
