Yesterday, the Department of Education unveiled plans for a
national database that tracks the academic performance of students from kindergarten to college graduation. As a student, I am strongly opposed to the proposed database because it has the potential to be a gross violation of privacy and could actually undermine the quality of higher education.
The Bush Administration has been pushing a national student database for sometime. Federal officials claim that such a database will help policymakers judge the effectiveness of educational programs. They assert that gathering massive amount of formally private information about student achievement will help educators design better curriculum.
Colleges and universities are simply too diverse for this type of approach. It would be useless to compare someone like me, a student from a small liberal arts college, with a young person who studies at a major research university. The academic environments are simply too different. Students don't want colleges and universities to become standardized. The strength of our higher education system is the wide variety available for young people. A national database could encourage conformity and undermine the diversity of academia.
Students would also be hurt by the competitive jockeying likely to be unleashed by such a database. The information from the data registry will likely be used to rank school performance. This would pressure college administrators to try to boost their schools ranking. Curriculum would be altered to stress the areas that the federal government deems important. I don't want my classes to be chosen to please some bureaucrat in Washington.
Even if a national database was good public policy, there are still major concerns about student privacy. If the Bush Administration has its way, students like me will be entered into a national registry the moment they enroll in college. The database will track performance by monitoring everything from test grades to financial aid. Quite simply, it would track an unprecedented amount of formerly private information.
Concerns about privacy have motivated groups from across the political spectrum to oppose the database. Conservatives and liberals alike have criticized the proposal as a problematic example of increasing federal interference with higher education. There is something seriously wrong with any proposal that unites the liberal American Civil Liberties Union and conservative Eagle Forum.
The diverse groups that oppose the database are right to be concerned. There is no way that the federal government can guarantee that this information will be adequately protected. Frankly a database of this magnitude would be a major target for hackers. The recent attack on the University of Southern California's computer network by a former student should remind policymakers that no system is completely secure. The chance of this much private data falling into the hands of criminals is simply too great to ignore.
Crooks aren't the only ones who would want access to the database. Future employers will undoubtedly seek to find out detailed information about potential hires. Given the close relationship between the Bush Administration and the business community, it seems fairly likely that the information in the database could be leaked to the private sector. This would be a gross invasion of our privacy. Students have the right to protect information about academic performance, financial aid, and other data when applying for a job.
Students, educators, and civil libertarians aren't the only people worried about issues related to privacy. According to a poll conducted by the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, the public opposes a national student database by a margin of 62 percent to 33 percent. Most Americans believe that enough statistics are being complied about higher education and government should focus more on issues related to college affordability. Policymakers would do well to listen to this advice and scrape plans for a national database.
A national database is clearly not in the interest of educators, students, or the general public. The strength of our higher education system lies in its diversity and independence. Allowing the Department of Education to compile such sensitive information would undermine the ability of colleges and universities to provide a good education for American youth.