To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to increase transparency in college tuition for consumers, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Guthrie (for himself, Mr. Onder, and Mrs. Trahan) introduced …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Student Financial Clarity Act of 2025 requires the Department of Education to dramatically expand the information available on the College Scorecard website and create a new Universal Net Price Calculator. The goal is to help prospective students and families understand the true costs of attending different colleges and programs, including how much financial aid they might receive and what graduates actually earn after leaving school.
Who Benefits and How
Prospective college students and their families benefit most from this bill through access to detailed, program-level data on costs, financial aid, student debt, and post-graduation earnings. They will be able to use the Universal Net Price Calculator to get personalized estimates of what college will actually cost them. Lower-cost institutions with strong student outcomes may gain a competitive advantage as transparency makes it easier for students to identify good values.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Colleges and universities face new compliance burdens, as they must report detailed data on costs, outcomes, and financial aid by program of study, and must deploy net price calculators on their websites within two years. The Department of Education must build and maintain the enhanced College Scorecard and Universal Net Price Calculator, conduct consumer testing, and coordinate with other federal agencies. Institutions with high costs relative to student outcomes may see reduced enrollment as transparent data highlights unfavorable comparisons.
Key Provisions
- Requires the College Scorecard website to display comprehensive data on costs, financial aid, student debt, loan repayment rates, and post-graduation earnings for every institution and program receiving federal student aid
- Creates a Universal Net Price Calculator that allows students to compare personalized cost estimates across multiple schools and programs
- Mandates that information be disaggregated by income level, race, gender, disability status, enrollment type, and type of federal aid received
- Requires all Title IV institutions to have a net price calculator on their website within two years
- Standardizes the definition of "program of study" across federal higher education law using CIP codes and credential levels
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to enhance the College Scorecard website and create a Universal Net Price Calculator, requiring comprehensive disclosure of college costs, financial aid, debt, and post-graduation earnings to help students and families make informed enrollment decisions.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Mandate comprehensive cost and outcome disclosure by higher education institutions to empower consumer choice and increase market accountability in higher education pricing."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Prospective college students and their families (through better information for enrollment decisions)
- Consumer advocacy organizations (through data transparency)
- Technology companies providing education comparison tools (through downloadable data access)
- Lower-cost institutions (through price transparency that may highlight their value)
Likely Burden Bearers
- Institutions of higher education (must comply with new reporting requirements and maintain net price calculators)
- Department of Education (must develop and maintain enhanced College Scorecard and Universal Net Price Calculator)
- Commissioner for Education Statistics (must update IPEDS reporting systems)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_commissioner"
- → Commissioner for Education Statistics
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The College Scorecard website required under subsection (b) and includes any successor website.
Has the meaning given such term in section 472(a) of the Higher Education Act.
The sum of all items listed in section 472(a) that are required by an institution of higher education for a program of study, including tuition and fees, and in some cases housing and food services.
The sum of all grant and scholarship aid available to the student that does not have to be repaid, including need-based, merit-based, or athletic-based aid from federal, state, institutional, or other sources.
Required costs for the time to credential minus the amount of grant and scholarship aid available for that period.
Required costs for an award year minus the amount of grant and scholarship aid for that year.
The total net price required for completion plus all costs under section 472(a) that are not required costs.
The minimum amount of time specified by an institution for a full-time student to complete a specific program of study.
The actual amount of time it takes a student to complete the requirements for a degree or credential.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology