FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

October 5, 2016

Contact: Sarah Schultz, Sarah.Schultz@YoungInvincibles.org, 202-734-6510

Young Invincibles Releases Student Agenda for Postsecondary Data Reform

Groups representing over one Million students sign on

[Washington] – Today, Young Invincibles released the Student Agenda for Postsecondary Data Reform, elevating the student perspective on how we should reform our higher education data systems. The proposal would create a more transparent and effective educational system. On average, earning a postsecondary degree is a young adult’s best path toward better job prospects and economic security, yet is more expensive than ever. Students want to know what the return on their investments will be, but current limitations on the information available restricts them from doing so.

“Right now we can’t answer basic questions about the value of different colleges, like which schools or programs lead to different types of jobs, for different types of students. This is a remarkable lack of transparency given the $1.3 trillion students have borrowed to finance their educations. Students across the country weighed in on how to reform our system, and they are eager to access more and better data to inform their decisions of where to go to school and how to pay for it,” said Tom Allison, Deputy Director of Policy and Research, Young Invincibles.

Over the course of the last two years, Young Invincibles has worked with students across the country to understand how they view information about college outcomes, gathering their perspectives on topics including what kind of data should be collected, how we should use that data most responsibility, and how to protect privacy. The agenda outlines a set of reforms that would increase the amount of data available with an emphasis on better reflecting today’s student population and on accountable and secure use. Groups representing over one million students signed support this agenda.

“The Association of Big Ten Students signed on to the Agenda because we believe that students should know what they are getting when they make one of the largest and most important investments in their life. There is no legitimate reason that we cannot have access to this valuable data and make sure that personal information is protected,” said William Dammann, Legislative Affairs Director for the Association of Big Ten Students, an organization representing hundreds of thousands of students at institutions in the Big 10 Athletic Conference.

To learn more about the agenda and to sign on on behalf of yourself, organization, college or university, find more here:

https://younginvincibles.org/higher-education-data-reform/student-agenda/