WASHINGTON DC (September 19, 2019) – Senators Charles "Chuck" Grassley (R-IA) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) are working together to empower students and families with more information throughout the college search process. Sen Cassidy recently cosponsored two of Grassley’s bipartisan bills addressing this issue, the Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act and the Understanding the True Cost of College Act. Sen Grassley recently cosponsored Cassidy’s College Transparency Act. The Grassley and Cassidy bills reinforce and complement each other.

“All too often, students are flying blind when it comes to making one of the most expensive decisions of their lives. Millions of graduates face financial hardship because they borrowed more from the federal government than they can afford to repay with the degree they earned. These bills would empower students with the information they need to make the best choice for their future,” Sen Grassley said.

“Student-loan debt is rising. To make better decisions regarding where to attend and whether to borrow, students need more information,” Sen Cassidy said.

The Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act, which is also co-sponsored by Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) and Sen Joni Ernst (R-IA), would strengthen the current loan-counseling requirements for institutions of higher-education in the Higher Education Act by making the counseling an annual requirement before new loans are disbursed rather than just for first-time borrowers and lets students to decide exactly how much to borrow rather than having the maximum possible amount be the default. The bill then adds several key components to the information institutions of higher-education are required to share with students as part of loan-counseling so that students know not to borrow more than they are likely to be able to repay. The additional information made available by Cassidy’s College Transparency Act will make the information shared with students on likely salaries under Sen Grassley’s bill more precise.

The Understanding the True Cost of College Act, which is also co-sponsored by Sens Smith and Ernst, would create a universal financial-aid award-letter so that students could easily compare financial-aid packages between schools. It would clarify what financial-aid families will receive from a school and create standard terms for the aid offered so that students could accurately compare offers from different schools. Right now, schools do not use standard definitions or names for different types of aid, so students and families often report having difficulty figuring out the differences between grant aid — which does not need to be repaid — and student loans, which do need to be repaid.

The College Transparency Act would modernize the college reporting system for postsecondary data by ensuring accurate reporting on student outcomes such as enrollment, completion, and post-college success across colleges and majors, while ensuring the privacy of individual students is securely-protected. This information will tell students how others with their backgrounds have succeeded at an institution, and help point them toward schools and programs of study best-suited to their unique needs and desired outcomes.

A summary of the Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act is available here.

A summary of the Understanding the True Cost of College Act is available here.

A summary of the College Transparency Act is available here.

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