Commerce Department Directive Threatens Availability of Post-Secondary Earnings Data from Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau recently expanded its Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO) dataset, now covering 1,117 colleges and universities, which represents about 40% of all U.S. college graduates. This interactive tool allows prospective students to examine what graduates earned with specific degrees from participating schools one, five, and ten years after graduation, and compare broader state-level results. For instance, bachelor's degree holders in engineering from Texas institutions earned a median of $78,990 annually one year post-graduation and $135,600 after ten years. However, a new directive issued on June 4 by the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, is putting this dataset and others at risk. The directive, titled “Disclosure Avoidance for Statistical Products,” restricts the privacy-protection methods statistical agencies can use for published reports. It specifically bars the use of “noise infusion,” a technique that adds small amounts of data to datasets to protect indivi... 
