JACKSON - A federal proposal to create a national database of all college students has raised concerns within the education community.
Some fear the system is another step toward a "Big Brother" society and could discourage Hispanics and other immigrants from seeking a degree.
The U.S. Department of Education says it wants more information about students as a way to better track trends such as retention, graduation rates and net tuition. The agency wants to create a unit record system at the federal level that would collect data from individual student records.
"The department is holding public meetings with key stakeholders from schools, states and other interested parties to get feedback and suggestions," agency spokeswoman Stephanie Babyak said in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Monday.
The proposed system is supported by several groups, including the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
The National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities is opposed, and already has begun lobbying Congress to quash the proposal.
"Our biggest concern is that if a student takes a single course, they will be entered into a major national database. It would keep records on them by social security number," said NAICU spokeswoman Sarah Flanagan. "We don't believe that enrolling in college is the type of activity that should warrant this type of big brother intrusion."
Before the Department of Education can proceed with the project, Congress must approve the development of the new system.
Flanagan said another concern is the system's impact on the Hispanic community. She said the proposal could discourage some Hispanic Americans, whose parents are undocumented, from seeking an education.
The Rev. Sally Bevill of Jackson agreed that the proposal would create another hassle for the Hispanic population.
Bevill, the coordinator of Hispanic Ministries for the United Methodist Church in Mississippi, believes the proposal is fallout from the terrorist attacks of 2001.
"People who are not advocates of immigrants, their premise is that to track them down, catch them and get them out of the country," Bevill said.
Mississippi has about 39,000 Hispanic residents, according to 2000 Census Bureau figures. Bevill and others put that figure closer to 100,000 as most Hispanics who are not documented don't participate in a census count.
Federal law allows children of undocumented Hispanics to attend public school without a social security number, but not college, Bevill said.
Roy Klumb, president of the state College Board, said the board hasn't reviewed or addressed the proposal. Klumb said he personally doesn't see any problem with creating a national database.
Klumb said students already are tracked in several different ways. For instance, social security information is needed from students applying for financial aid.
"Under the circumstances, particularly with foreign students who come into the country on visas, we have students who are in the country whose relatives are illegal, I think the government has every right to set up an apparatus to deal with this," Klumb said.
"I can't see where beyond this any honest American would have any problem with whether their name is kept in a database or not."
Patricia Ice, a Jackson attorney who practices immigration law, said the potential for abuse is too strong.
The Education Department said it wouldn't share its student records with other agencies, but Ice said if Congress gave the OK, the student records could be used to track people for everything from fines to child support to Homeland Security violations.
"All Congress has to do is pass a law saying it could be used," Ice said. "They would already have the information."
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