This bill requires certain actions to provide consumers (e.g., enrolled and prospective students) with additional financial information on institutions of higher education (IHEs) that participate in federal student aid programs.
Specifically, the Department of Education (ED) must update its College Scorecard website with additional information, including detailed data (e.g., costs, financial aid, student debt and repayment, and earnings) for each program of study at each IHE. (The College Scorecard is a comparison tool for information on school sizes, settings, graduation rates, average costs, and salary ranges per field of study.)
Additionally, ED must establish a Universal Net Price Calculator on a dedicated ED website and annually update the data. Among other elements, this calculator must (1) allow an individual to select and compare multiple IHEs and programs of study, (2) provide the individual with net price estimates for each selected IHE and each selected program of study, and (3) provide access to information in an electronic and downloadable format.
Each IHE must make publicly available on its website either the net price calculator developed by ED or the IHE's own calculator (if it includes, at a minimum, the same data elements of ED's calculator).
