To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary of Education to develop requirements for institutions of higher education on formatting financial aid offer forms, and for other purposes.
Sponsors
Lisa C. McClain
R-MI | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMrs. McClain (for herself and Mrs. Kim) introduced the following …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The College Financial Aid Clarity Act of 2025 requires colleges and universities to provide standardized, easy-to-understand financial aid offers to students. Starting July 1, 2029, all schools receiving federal funds must use consistent formatting and terminology so students can compare offers and understand the true cost of attendance.
Who Benefits and How
Students and families benefit from clearer information that distinguishes between grants (free money), loans (money that must be repaid), and work-study opportunities. Low-income and first-generation college students especially benefit as they often lack guidance navigating confusing financial aid letters. Consumer advocacy groups and school counselors benefit from a more level playing field in college affordability decisions.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Colleges and universities must redesign their financial aid offers to meet new formatting requirements by 2029. College financial aid offices face increased compliance work to implement standardized disclosures. The Department of Education must conduct consumer testing and develop implementation requirements by July 2028. Private student loan lenders may see reduced demand as clearer information helps students understand loan costs.
Key Provisions
- Requires financial aid offers to be titled "Financial Aid Offer" and clearly separate grants from loans
- Mandates disclosure of required costs, net price of attendance, and loan interest rates
- Requires links to the College Financing Plan website and College Scorecard
- Secretary of Education must conduct consumer testing with students, families, counselors, and institutions
- Institutions cannot treat confirmation of receipt as acceptance of an aid offer
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
Standardizes financial aid offers from colleges and universities to provide clear, consistent, and comparable information to students and families about the true cost of attendance and available aid.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Mandate transparency and standardization of financial aid offers to help students and families make informed college enrollment decisions by clearly distinguishing between grants, loans, and actual costs"
Likely Beneficiaries
- College students and prospective students
- Students families making enrollment decisions
- Low-income and first-generation college students
- Consumer advocacy groups
Likely Burden Bearers
- Colleges and universities receiving federal financial assistance
- College financial aid offices
- Department of Education (implementation and consumer testing)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Education
- "the_department"
- → Department of Education
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The sum of all items listed in section 472(a) required by an institution for a program of study, including tuition, fees, and required housing/food services
Sum of all grant and scholarship aid available to the student that does not have to be repaid, including need-based, merit-based, athletic-based, from Title IV, other Federal programs, institution, State, or any other source
An eligible program at an institution classified by CIP codes and credential level; does not include study abroad programs
Six-digit taxonomic identification code assigned by an institution to a specific program per the Classification of Instructional Programs by NCES
Level of degree or credential awarded, categorized as either undergraduate or graduate credential level
Minimum time specified in institutional publications for a full-time student to complete requirements for a degree or credential
Actual time it takes a student to complete requirements to obtain the degree or credential
Has the meaning given in section 472 of the Higher Education Act
Required costs for the program of study for the time to credential minus the amount of grant and scholarship aid available
Total net price required for completion plus all non-required costs for the program length
Required costs for an award year minus grant and scholarship aid for that year
Net price of attendance for a specific year, disaggregated from total net price by each year of expected enrollment
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