Net Price Calculator Improvement Act
The Net Price Calculator Improvement Act aims to make college cost estimates more accurate and comparable for prospective students by tightening and standardizing the way net price calculators operate. It establishes minimum technical requirements for these calculators (placement, labeling, data display, and required cost and aid information) and mandates that institutions update and align their calculators within one year of enactment. The bill also creates a federally managed universal net price calculator to provide standardized net price estimates across all Title IV institutions, subject to consumer testing and oversight. Finally, it requires a Department of Education report within a year to outline steps to raise awareness of net price calculators among students, families, and educators, with a focus on reaching middle/high school students and low-income families. Potential impact includes more uniform, transparent information on the true cost of attendance after grants and other aid, helping students compare options and make informed enrollment decisions. Institutions may face new formatting, data-display requirements, and privacy protections, while the federal government would oversee a universal tool and track outreach efforts.
Key Points
- 1Minimum standards for net price calculators. Within 1 year of enactment, institutions must ensure calculators:
- 2- Are clearly labeled as “net price calculator,” prominently displayed on cost/aid pages, and easy to find from main site menus.
- 3- Display a user input screen with a chart of net prices for federal aid recipients, disaggregated by income categories.
- 4- Show a results screen with: individual net price, cost of attendance (including total program cost, tuition/fees, room and board, books/supplies, and other expenses), total need-based and merit-based grant aid, share of students receiving aid, a required disclaimer, and, for benefits related to veterans or active duty, appropriate labeling or links and explanations if such benefits aren’t included.
- 5- Use data populated from no earlier than two academic years prior to the most recent year.
- 6- Include data or disclosures about veteran/active-duty benefits and provide links to relevant federal information if benefits are not estimated.
- 7- Prohibit selling or sharing personally identifiable data and clearly mark optional fields if contact information is requested.
- 8Data use and privacy protections. Calculators must clearly indicate required questions, mark optional contact information, prohibit the sale of user data, and state that responses are confidential and not stored or required to be personal data.
- 9Universal net price calculator. The Secretary may develop a Department of Education–branded universal net price calculator that:
- 10- Serves as a single tool for all institutions required to have a net price calculator, using one set of questions to generate institution-specific net prices.
- 11- Provides the required cost and aid information for each institution.
- 12- Is developed in consultation with federal agencies and tested prior to public release.
- 13- Undergoes a formal consumer-testing process (up to 6 months) with students, families, counselors, and consumer groups; results guide final development and may lead to modifications.
- 14- Includes a reporting requirement to Congress on consumer-testing results and any resulting design decisions.
- 15Congressional reporting on awareness. Within 1 year of enactment, the Secretary must report to Congress on efforts to raise awareness of net price calculators among prospective students and families, especially those in middle/high school and from low-income backgrounds.