The College Transparency Act mandates the establishment of a secure and privacy-protected postsecondary student-level data system by the Commissioner of the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) within four years. This system aims to accurately evaluate student enrollment patterns, progression, completion, and postcollegiate outcomes, as well as higher education costs and financial aid. It is designed to enhance transparency, support institutional improvement, inform students and families, and significantly reduce the reporting burden on institutions of higher education. The bill outlines specific data elements to be included, such as student enrollment, persistence, retention, transfer, and completion measures, disaggregated by various categories like race, age, gender, and financial aid status. Crucially, it prohibits the inclusion of highly sensitive data, including individual health information, student discipline records, exact addresses, citizenship status, and course grades. An Advisory Committee , comprising diverse stakeholders including privacy and security experts, institutional representatives, and students, will be established to consult on data elements and system development. The new system will facilitate secure and privacy-protected periodic data matching with several federal agencies, including the Treasury, IRS, Department of Defense, VA, Census Bureau, Office of Federal Student Aid, Social Security Administration, and Bureau of Labor Statistics. These matches will enable the calculation of aggregate program- and institution-level earnings, employment, and loan repayment outcomes. The Commissioner must ensure these matches are not continuous, streamline data collection, minimize duplication, and protect student privacy, explicitly prohibiting the creation of a single, linked federal database. Summary aggregate information, devoid of personally identifiable information, will be made publicly available through a user-friendly consumer information website and analytic tool. This tool will allow users to customize and filter data on student access, progression, completion, costs, and postcollegiate outcomes, with appropriate statistical disclosure limitation techniques. The bill strictly prohibits the sale of collected data to any third party and forbids its use for law enforcement activities, limiting student services, or establishing federal ranking systems for institutions. All institutions participating in Title IV federal student aid programs will be required to submit data to the Commissioner, while non-Title IV institutions may participate voluntarily. The bill also repeals the existing prohibition on student data systems and mandates that the Secretary of Education and the Commissioner ensure the new system reduces the overall reporting burden for institutions, particularly compared to the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS).