U.S. College-Database Idea Sparks Privacy Worries

A plan being studied by the Department of Education to create a federal database of all U.S. college students to help improve graduation-rate tracking is raising privacy concerns among students and others.

But backers of the idea say that getting more accurate and complete information on graduation rates and other areas could help improve policy, particularly on financial aid, at the federal and state levels.

Grover J. “Russ” Whitehurst, the director of the Education Department’s Institute of Education Sciences, which in March did a feasibility study on the plan, says the data collected would also help institutions compare themselves with one another, and help parents and students make better decisions...