SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1972        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 674

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Kenneth J. Donnelly

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to ensuring quality education and training programs.

_______________

PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1972        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 674

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act relative to ensuring quality education and training programs.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Section 12 of chapter 62E of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “official duties.”, in line 16, the following sentence:-

The department of revenue may also share reporting system information with the department of higher education for the purpose of meeting its reporting obligations under section 21 of chapter 73.

SECTION 2. Chapter 73 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following section:-

Section 21. (a) Any public institution of higher education, as established by section 5 of chapter 15A, receiving state financial aid under section 12 of chapter 73 must report annually, by June 1, to the department of higher education the following student-level information for its undergraduate programs for the immediately preceding calendar year; provided that, the words “undergraduate programs” shall include, but not be limited to, programs that result in the attainment of a bachelor’s degree, associate degree, work certificate or other established program granting workforce credentials:

(1) enrollment, un-enrollment and graduation rates for all students in the aggregate and for each undergraduate program;

(2) job placement rates and salary and wage information for all graduates of each undergraduate program within 1 year of graduation;

(3) percentage of graduates placed in employment relevant to field of study;

(4) median and average student loan debt for all students in the aggregate and for each undergraduate program;

(5) an inventory of the vocational-technical education and cooperative education programs and courses, as defined in section 1 of chapter 74, and any other workforce certification programs and courses available to students attending high school; and

(6) the average time taken to complete each undergraduate program.

(b) The department of revenue, pursuant to and under the conditions outlined in section 12 of chapter 62E, and the division of unemployment assistance, pursuant to and under the conditions outlined in subsection (f) of section 14P of chapter 151A, shall assist the department of higher education in obtaining the information set forth in subsection (a).

(c) The department of higher education shall provide the following on its website:

(1) the data submitted by a public institution of higher education pursuant to subsection (a), which shall be made available on a consumer information website that is searchable by institution, provided that, the data shall be published in the aggregate without personal identifiers and shall adhere to all applicable state and federal privacy laws; and

(2) other data or information that is useful to students and parents who are in the process of selecting a college or university including, but not limited to, local occupational profiles and program capacity and accessibility, including the availability of evening, weekend or online programs or courses.

(d) The department of higher education shall, not later than December 31 each year, submit a summary report of the information described in subsection (a) to the office of the governor and to the clerks of the senate and house of representatives who shall forward the same to the joint committee on higher education, joint committee on labor and workforce development and the senate and house committees on ways and means.

(e) Not later than 6 months after passage of this act, the department of higher education, in consultation with the department of revenue and the division of unemployment assistance, shall promulgate such rules and regulations in accordance with, and necessary for the administration of, this section, which shall include regulations that provide a standard format and instructions for supplying the information required under subsection (a).

SECTION 3. Subsection (f) of section 14P of chapter 151A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2014 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the words “20 CFR Pt 603”, in lines 60 and 61, the following words:- , including, to the department of higher education for the purpose of meeting its reporting obligations under section 21 of chapter 73.

SECTION 4. Not later than 30 days after the effective date of this act, the executive office of labor and workforce development and the executive office of education, in consultation with the department of revenue, the division of unemployment assistance, the department of higher education, the department of career services, the Commonwealth Corporation and any other appropriate agencies or entities, shall convene a task force to develop the action steps required to improve state data infrastructure and promote data use, with the goal of creating longitudinal data systems that can illustrate how combinations of education, workforce and human service programs are providing opportunity for sustainable employment in the commonwealth. The task force shall develop action steps to accomplish the following:

(1) Connect education, workforce development and employment data from multiple in-state sources; provided that, such data should be collected in a manner that enables the following to be measured for students or graduates of undergraduate programs for all public institutions of higher education, as established by section 5 of chapter 15A: (i) the percentage of students or graduates by demographics employed within 1, 3 and 5 years of separation or graduation, and (ii) the median, minimum and maximum starting salary of students or graduates within 1, 3 and 5 years of separation or graduation; provided further, that the data described in clauses (i) and (ii) should be collected in a manner that enables the data to be separately analyzed for each academic program offered at a public institution of higher education, including bachelor’s degrees, associate degrees, work certificates and other established programs granting workforce credentials;

(2) Connect education, workforce development and employment data with such data from other states, to the extent permitted by law and in a manner that protects individuals’ private information while allowing measurement of aggregate data; and

(3) Ensure adherence to data security and privacy principles, and all applicable state and federal privacy laws, to protect individuals’ private information while allowing measurement of aggregate data.

The task force shall submit a report, with its findings and recommendations, together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry those recommendations into effect by filing the same with the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on economic development and emerging technologies, the joint committee on labor and workforce development, the joint committee on higher education and the office of the governor not later than January 1, 2019.

SECTION 5.  Section 2 shall take effect on January 1, 2018.