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HR-6498House2026-01-21Education

Student Financial Clarity Act of 2025

YourVoice.Now Summary

Your MoneyTransparency & Accountability

Lets families compare the real price of college programs and what graduates earn, starting 2029.

Your Money

New federal cost calculator — your own estimate by 2029

One federal calculator would cover all colleges that take federal student aid. You answer one set of questions, then see your costs for several schools side by side.

Every college must post its own cost calculator online

Colleges would have two years to add a calculator to their own website. They could use the federal one, or build their own with the same facts.

Price history published — three years for each program

Each program would show how much its required costs rose over the last three years, in dollars and percent. The same history would be shown for net price, which is the cost left after grants and scholarships.

Transparency & Accountability

Earnings and debt posted for every program of study

The site would list what students borrowed, how well loans get paid back, and what graduates earn. It shows the average, middle, high, and low for each program.

Earnings shown for students who left without finishing

The site would also report earnings for students who enrolled, did not finish, and are no longer at the school. That gives a picture of what happens to students who leave early.

Acceptance and loan default rates posted for each college

Each college would post its acceptance rate and the share of its borrowers who default on federal loans. It would also link to its campus safety report.

Results broken down by race, sex, income, and disability

Results would be split by income, sex, race, disability, and full-time or part-time status. The data must be built so that no one student can be picked out.

Early cost estimator tool repealed — replaced by new calculator

Today's early estimator tool would be dropped from the law on July 1, 2027. The new calculator that replaces it is not due for 18 more months.

More about this bill

Families shopping for college would see the price of a specific degree before applying. A new federal calculator would ask about your income and aid one time. It would then show your likely yearly and total cost at several schools. It would also project how much the price could rise each year you attend. The College Scorecard website would grow to cover each program of study, not just each school. It would list costs, grant aid, borrowing, repayment rates, and what graduates earn. It would also show earnings for students who left before finishing. Colleges would report acceptance rates and student loan default rates. The numbers would be split by income, race, sex, disability, and enrollment status. Federal privacy rules would still apply. Published figures could not identify an individual student. The rules would take effect July 1, 2027, starting with the 2027-2028 school year. The Education Department would have 18 months after that to launch both websites. Colleges taking federal student aid would then have two years to post their own calculator. Schools would also figure the cost of attendance for each program, not school-wide. In federal law, mentions of the College Navigator site would become the College Scorecard. An older early estimator tool would be repealed. No new grant or loan money is included.

Congressional Summary

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).

Legislative Subjects

Academic performance and assessmentsData collection, sharing, protectionGovernment information and archivesGovernment lending and loan guaranteesHigher educationStudent aid and college costsWages and earnings

Details

Congress
119th
Chamber
House
Status
summarized
Action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 395.
Action Date
2026-01-21
Date Added
2026-04-19
Source
Congress.gov →

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