U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), chairman of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, requested information from stakeholders on how to improve transparency in higher education.
“Americans want the most value for their hard-earned money. They are used to shopping for products where prices are clearly labeled and information on quality is readily available,” Sen. Cassidy wrote in the request for information (RFI). “But when they shop for a college — one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives — it’s much harder to compare price and value across the available options.”
The six-page RFI, entitled “Increasing College Cost and Value Transparency for Students and Families,” pointed out that colleges vary widely in how easy they make it for students to get an estimated price before they apply, are accepted, and complete financial aid forms.
Additionally, only limited information is available on the quality of different colleges and programs within those colleges. For example, data on how much prospective students can expect to earn after attending a given program are not as comprehensive as they could be, wrote Sen. Cassidy.
At the same time, after a student has been admitted to a college, comparing aid offers from different colleges is also much harder than it should be, according to the RFI.
“Too many colleges present information in a confusing or even misleading manner about how much they will have to pay,” wrote Sen. Cassidy in the RFI. “In fact, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that 90 percent of colleges understate how much students will have to pay.”
Hundreds of colleges have acknowledged this problem and changed their policies for the better, but too many have yet to do so, he added.
“Policymakers on both sides of the aisle have recognized these problems for years and offered bipartisan solutions to address them,” he wrote. “The time has come for Congress to enact bipartisan, common-sense solutions. The HELP Committee is seeking stakeholder feedback on the reforms that will best serve students and families.”
Sen. Cassidy requested that stakeholders submit responses by Oct. 24 to several questions, as well as legislative solutions and any other insights, on how the federal government can work with all stakeholders to advance “pro-student and pro-family policies.”