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# Student Voter Data Bill Raises New FERPA Stakes for Colleges
- URL: https://www.theamericanquorum.com/student-voter-data-bill-ferpa-colleges/
- Published: 2026-09-17T05:43:43.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-17T05:43:43.000Z
- Description: A new federal bill would require written consent before colleges share student information for voter-registration or turnout studies, raising immediate FERPA, governance and funding questions for higher education.
- Author: Kenneth R. Deans Jr.
- Tags: Education, Utah

A bill introduced in Congress on September 16 would expose colleges to the loss of federal funding if they disclose student information for voter-registration work or turnout measurement without prior written consent. The [proposal](https://www.lee.senate.gov/2026/9/lee-miller-fight-for-student-privacy-with-student-voter-data-protection-act?ref=theamericanquorum.com) would amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, and convert a dispute over one national voting study into a broader compliance question for higher education.

The Student Voter Data Protection Act comes from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill. It has only been introduced, and its prospects are uncertain. Yet its practical importance extends beyond the bill’s fate because the Education Department is already investigating whether colleges, Tufts University and the National Student Clearinghouse mishandled information used by the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, known as NSLVE. Institutions now face overlapping questions about consent, directory information, research partnerships and the boundary between nonpartisan civic education and election activity.

## What the Bill Would Change

FERPA generally requires consent before personally identifiable information from education records is disclosed, but federal rules contain exceptions and permit schools to designate certain records as directory information. That category can include names, addresses, email addresses, fields of study and enrollment status, provided students receive notice and an opportunity to opt out. The Education Department’s [regulations](https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/ferpa?ref=theamericanquorum.com) also distinguish directory information from more sensitive identifiers and define disclosure broadly enough to include electronic transfer.

The new bill would create a more specific rule for voter-related uses. According to the sponsors, colleges could not share student data without consent for voter-registration purposes, and institutions engaging in prohibited practices could lose federal funds. Independent [reporting](https://www.myjournalcourier.com/news/article/mary-miller-college-voter-data-bill-22434767.php?ref=theamericanquorum.com) says the measure also reaches the giving or selling of directory information for measuring registration or voting rates unless a student provides prior written consent. That opt-in design would be stricter than FERPA’s existing framework for directory information, where disclosure may be allowed after notice unless a student opts out.

The funding provision is especially consequential. FERPA already applies to institutions receiving Education Department funds, and the department says violations can ultimately result in termination of that funding. The proposed language would tie the sanction directly to this category of voter-data activity. For colleges, that raises the stakes of deciding whether a civic-engagement project is a permissible study, an authorized institutional function or a disclosure requiring individual consent.

## How the Voting Study Worked

NSLVE has described itself as a nonpartisan study that gives participating colleges institution-level reports on student registration and turnout. More than 1,000 institutions have participated. Its current [process](https://nslve.tufts.edu/nslve/join-nslve?ref=theamericanquorum.com) requires a two-page authorization signed by an institutional official such as a president, provost, dean, registrar or institutional-research director; reports are sent only to designated campus recipients. The program says participation protects student privacy.

The federal government disputes whether those arrangements satisfied FERPA. In February, the Education Department [opened](https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-takes-actions-protect-integrity-of-us-elections?ref=theamericanquorum.com) investigations into Tufts and the National Student Clearinghouse, saying it would examine what information was collected, how it was shared, who received it and whether students gave proper consent. The department also warned colleges against using forthcoming NSLVE data while the inquiry remained unresolved.

Those are allegations, not findings. The department did not identify a political organization that had received individual student records when it announced the inquiry. Tufts said it was reviewing the government’s letter, while the Clearinghouse described itself as politically neutral and committed to FERPA compliance. The [Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2026/02/05/tufts-university-election-investigation/?ref=theamericanquorum.com) reported that campus users generally received statistics rather than individual records and that the voting files did not reveal which candidates students supported.

## Why the FERPA Dispute Matters

The conflict turns less on whether student privacy deserves protection than on which legal pathway, if any, permits the underlying data match. FERPA allows some research disclosures under defined conditions, but the department’s preliminary position was that NSLVE might not qualify for the studies exception. Its February [guidance](https://studentprivacy.ed.gov/resources/sppo-dcl-ihes-regarding-nslve?ref=theamericanquorum.com) told presidents that the study encompassed data from more than 1,000 colleges and placed responsibility on each participating institution to assess its own compliance.

That institution-by-institution responsibility matters operationally. A college may have separate offices managing enrollment records, institutional research, civic engagement, legal review and vendor contracts. If each office interprets directory information, research authority and consent differently, a well-established program can create exposure even without evidence that anyone attempted to influence a student’s vote. The controversy therefore tests not only the legality of NSLVE, but also whether universities have governance systems capable of tracing sensitive data from collection through matching, analysis and reporting.

The bill would simplify one part of that analysis by demanding written consent for voter-related disclosures. It could also reduce the data available to colleges seeking to identify participation gaps among student groups. That tradeoff is central: aggregate turnout information can inform civic-learning programs, but producing it may require matching identifiable enrollment records with public voter files before the results are aggregated. Congress is now being asked to decide whether institutional authorization and existing FERPA safeguards are sufficient for that process.

## The Educator's Takeaway

For college leaders, the immediate implication is governance rather than prediction about whether the bill will pass. Institutions using student records for voting studies or registration programs have reason to document precisely which fields leave campus, the legal basis for each disclosure, which contractors receive the data, how records are matched and whether students can make a meaningful choice. Registrars, institutional-research offices and civic-engagement teams may need a common inventory rather than separate assumptions about FERPA. Faculty and student-affairs professionals should also distinguish aggregate findings used for education from individually identifiable information used to contact or classify students. The unresolved federal investigation means neither the sponsors’ allegations nor the study’s privacy assurances should be treated as a final legal determination. What has changed is the risk environment: a once-specialized research partnership is now a live question of federal policy, institutional funding and public trust.