Student Financial Clarity Act of 2025
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Would overhaul the Department of Education's College Scorecard and require a new Universal Net Price Calculator so students can compare detailed costs, financial aid, debt, and earnings data for individual programs of study at each college, not just whole institutions.
By standardizing definitions like "net price" and "program of study" and requiring colleges to post net price calculators on their own websites, the bill aims to give prospective students clearer, comparable pricing information before they enroll and take on debt.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would rewrite Section 132 of the Higher Education Act to require the Department of Education to publish detailed, program-level data on the College Scorecard website for every institution receiving federal student aid, including costs, financial aid, student debt and repayment outcomes, and post-completion earnings, broken down by income, sex, race, disability status, and other characteristics. It would also require the Department to build a Universal Net Price Calculator letting users compare estimated net prices across multiple colleges and programs, and would require each institution to post either that calculator or an equivalent one of its own. The bill also amends definitions of "cost of attendance" and creates a new statutory definition of "program of study" based on CIP codes and credential levels, repeals the Education Department's separate early estimator tool, and replaces references to "College Navigator" with "College Scorecard" throughout federal law. It does not create new financial aid programs or change loan terms themselves.
Key provisions
- 1Would require the Education Department to publish detailed program-level cost, aid, debt, and earnings data on the College Scorecard website, disaggregated by student characteristics
- 2Would require establishment of a Universal Net Price Calculator letting users compare net price estimates across multiple colleges and programs of study
- 3Would require each institution receiving Title IV funds to post a net price calculator (federal or equivalent) on its own website within two years
- 4Would create a new statutory definition of 'program of study' based on CIP codes and credential levels, and revise the definition of 'cost of attendance'
- 5Would repeal the Education Department's existing early estimator tool under section 485E(b)
- 6Would replace references to 'College Navigator' with 'College Scorecard' throughout the Higher Education Act and other federal references
Who would be affected
Prospective and current college students and their families, all institutions of higher education participating in federal Title IV student aid programs, the Department of Education, and the National Center for Education Statistics, which maintains program classification data used in the new disclosures.
Why it matters
Students and families would gain access to standardized, program-specific data on costs, aid, debt, and earnings, potentially making it easier to compare colleges before enrolling and borrowing. Institutions would face new data-reporting and website-disclosure obligations, and the Department of Education would take on significant new tool-building and annual-update responsibilities.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Higher Education Act of 1965, Section 132 (20 U.S.C. 1015a) (Sec. 2(a))
Replaces subsections (a)-(j) with new requirements for expanded College Scorecard data and a Universal Net Price Calculator.
Amends Higher Education Act of 1965, Section 472(a) and (c) (20 U.S.C. 1087ll) (Sec. 3(a))
Changes cost-of-attendance calculation and disclosure requirements to be program-of-study specific rather than institution-wide.
Amends Higher Education Act of 1965, Section 103 (20 U.S.C. 1003) (Sec. 3(b))
Adds a new statutory definition of 'program of study' based on CIP codes and credential level.
Repeals Higher Education Act of 1965, Section 485E(b) (20 U.S.C. 1092f(b)) (Sec. 3(c))
Eliminates the existing early estimator financial aid tool provision.
Agencies directed to act
Effective dates
- The whole Act and its amendments take effect, applying to award year 2027-2028 onward
- Deadline for Education Department to update College Scorecard with new data
- Deadline for Education Department to establish the Universal Net Price Calculator
- Deadline for first round of consumer testing on the websites
- Deadline for institutions to post their own or the federal net price calculator
Funding and costs
Congressional Budget Office estimate
CBO estimates H.R. 6498 would cost $3 million over the 2026–2031 period in discretionary spending (funds subject to annual appropriations), with no effect on direct spending, revenues, or the deficit.
CBO estimates that implementing H.R. 6498 would cost $3 million over the 2026–2031 period; that spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds (i.e., discretionary, not mandatory, spending). The bill would have no effect on direct (mandatory) spending or revenues, and would not increase the deficit in any scoring window. CBO also found that the bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates, and that statutory pay-as-you-go procedures do not apply.
How implementation would work
The Department of Education must build and annually update the enhanced College Scorecard and the Universal Net Price Calculator within 18 months of the effective date, developing standardized input questions and using data institutions already report under existing federal regulations and the FAFSA. The Department must conduct consumer testing within 6 months and every 4 years after, coordinate with other federal agencies on consistency, and link the calculator from the FAFSA website. Institutions have two years after the Department's calculator is available to post their own or the federal one on their websites. The whole framework takes effect July 1, 2027, applying starting with award year 2027-2028.
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 395.
Official CRS summary
Show the CRS summaryHide the CRS 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 assessments; Data collection, sharing, protection; Education; Government information and archives; Government lending and loan guarantees; Higher education; Student aid and college costs; Wages and earnings
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-461