The House of Representatives voted Friday to empower the Department of Education to increase data collection of college students.
The measure, an amendment to a major China competition bill sponsored by Democratic Michigan Rep. Andy Levin, passed on a bipartisan vote of 238-193, with a handful of Republicans joining all but seven Democrats in supporting the amendment.
The amendment directs the Department of Education to collect data on students pursuing higher education regardless of whether they are the beneficiaries of federal funding. It garnered opposition from a majority of Republicans, who decried the amendment as intrusive to student privacy.
However, supporters say it’s necessary to increase transparency in higher education and promote competition among universities courting prospective students.
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Among the data to be collected include a student’s status as a first-time or transfer student, race or ethnicity, part-time or full-time enrollment, age, course of study, veteran status, and whether the student attends classes online or in person.
The amendment was added to the America COMPETES Act, which aims to bolster scientific research and manufacturing in the United States to compete with China directly. A bipartisan version of the bill passed in the Senate, while the House has been divided along party lines.
“[This amendment] will create the most robust database in history held by the Biden administration’s Department of Education, the same agency that labels parents as domestic terrorists, puts teachers unions above students’ needs, and pushes K-12 schools to adopt Critical Race Theory-inspired curriculum,” read a fact sheet from Republicans on the House Committee on Education and Labor.
In a statement following the passage of the amendment, North Carolina Rep. Virginia Foxx, ranking Republican member on the committee, said the amendment “would allow Washington bureaucrats to control the lives of every student and college graduate who calls this great nation home.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The more information the federal government has, the more they can control, and that is exactly what this amendment is about: more control,” Foxx said. “From registries to lists, databases to files, bureaucrats would have unfettered access to pry into the lives of Americans. No amount of public relations spin from supporters can hide the indisputable fact that this amendment is not about ensuring transparency and accountability. It is pure political hackery.”
