II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 889 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make technical improvements 

to the Net Price Calculator system so that prospective students may 

have a more accurate understanding of the true cost of college. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 7, 2017 

Mr. GRASSLEY (for himself and Mr. FRANKEN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to make technical improvements to the Net Price Calculator system 

so that prospective students may have a more accurate 

understanding of the true cost of college. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Net Price Calculator 

5 Improvement Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MINIMUM STANDARDS FOR NET PRICE CALCULA2 TORS. 

3 Section 132(h) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

4 (20 U.S.C. 1015a(h)) is amended— 

5 (1) by redesignating paragraph (4) as para6 graph (6); 

7 (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting before the pe8 riod ‘‘, and, not later than 1 year after the date of 

9 enactment of the Net Price Calculator Improvement 

10 Act, shall meet the requirements of paragraph 

11 (4)(B)’’; 

12 (3) in paragraph (3), by inserting after the first 

13 sentence the following: ‘‘Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of enactment of the Net Price Calculator 

15 Improvement Act, such calculator shall meet the re16 quirements of paragraph (4).’’; and 

17 (4) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(4) MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR NET PRICE

20 CALCULATORS.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

21 of enactment of the Net Price Calculator Improve22 ment Act, a net price calculator for an institution of 

23 higher education shall, at a minimum, meet the fol24 lowing requirements: 

25 ‘‘(A) The link for the calculator— 


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1 ‘‘(i) is clearly labeled as a ‘net price 

2 calculator’ and prominently, clearly, and 

3 conspicuously (in such size and contrast 

4 (such as shade) that it is readily noticeable 

5 and readable) posted in locations on the in6 stitution’s website where information on 

7 costs and aid is provided (such as financial 

8 aid, prospective students, or tuition and 

9 fees web pages); 

10 ‘‘(ii) matches in size and font to the 

11 other prominent links on the primary 

12 menu; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) may also be included on the in14 stitution’s compliance web page, which 

15 contains information relating to compliance 

16 with Federal, State, and local laws. 

17 ‘‘(B) The results screen for the calculator 

18 specifies the following information: 

19 ‘‘(i) The individual net price (as cal20 culated under paragraph (2)) for the indi21 vidual student, which is the most visually 

22 prominent figure on the results screen. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Cost of attendance, including— 

24 ‘‘(I) annual tuition and fees and 

25 total estimated cost for a student, 


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1 based on normal time for completion 

2 of, or graduation from, the student’s 

3 particular program of study; 

4 ‘‘(II) average annual cost of 

5 room and board for the institution for 

6 a first-time, full-time undergraduate 

7 student enrolled in the institution; 

8 ‘‘(III) average annual cost of 

9 books and supplies for a first-time, 

10 full-time undergraduate student en11 rolled in the institution; and 

12 ‘‘(IV) estimated cost of other ex13 penses (including personal expenses 

14 and transportation) for a first-time, 

15 full-time undergraduate student en16 rolled in the institution. 

17 ‘‘(iii) Estimated total need-based 

18 grant aid and merit-based grant aid, from 

19 Federal, State, and institutional sources, 

20 that may be available to the individual stu21 dent, showing the subtotal for each cat22 egory and the total of all sources of grant 

23 aid, and disaggregated by academic year 

24 for normal time for completion of, or gradVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:31 Apr 17, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S889.IS S889

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1 uation from, the student’s particular pro2 gram of study. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Percentage of the first-time, full4 time undergraduate students enrolled in 

5 the institution that received any type of 

6 grant aid described in clause (iii), 

7 disaggregated by their first year and sub8 sequent years of enrollment up to the num9 ber of years for normal completion of, or 

10 graduation from, their particular program 

11 of study. 

12 ‘‘(v) The disclaimer described in para13 graph (6). 

14 ‘‘(vi) In the case of a calculator 

15 that— 

16 ‘‘(I) includes questions to esti17 mate a student’s (or prospective stu18 dent’s) eligibility for veterans’ edu19 cation benefits (as defined in section 

20 480) or educational benefits for active 

21 duty service members, such benefits 

22 are displayed on the results screen in 

23 a manner that clearly distinguishes 

24 them from the grant aid described in 

25 clause (iii); or 


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1 ‘‘(II) does not include questions 

2 to estimate eligibility for the benefits 

3 described in subclause (I), the results 

4 screen indicates— 

5 ‘‘(aa) that certain students 

6 (or prospective students) may 

7 qualify for such benefits; 

8 ‘‘(bb) states why the institu9 tion is not including questions to 

10 estimate a student’s eligibility for 

11 such benefits; and 

12 ‘‘(cc) includes a link to an 

13 appropriate Federal website that 

14 provides information about such 

15 benefits. 

16 ‘‘(C) The institution populates the calcu17 lator with data from not earlier than 2 aca18 demic years prior to the most recent academic 

19 year. 

20 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION ON USE OF DATA COL21 LECTED BY THE NET PRICE CALCULATOR.—A net 

22 price calculator for an institution of higher edu23 cation shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) clearly indicate which questions are 

2 required to be completed for an estimate of the 

3 net price from the calculator; 

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of a calculator that re5 quests contact information from users, clearly 

6 mark such requests as ‘optional’; 

7 ‘‘(C) prohibit any personally identifiable in8 formation provided by users from being sold or 

9 made available to third parties; and 

10 ‘‘(D) clearly state ‘Any information that 

11 you provide on this site is confidential. The Net 

12 Price Calculator does not store your responses 

13 or require personal identifying information of 

14 any kind.’.’’. 

15 SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL NET PRICE CALCULATOR. 

16 Section 132(h) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

17 (20 U.S.C. 1015a(h)), as amended by section 2, is further 

18 amended by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(7) UNIVERSAL NET PRICE CALCULATOR.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

21 develop a universal net price calculator that is 

22 housed within the Department of Education, 

23 with Department branding, and that may be 

24 based on or utilize an existing platform devel25 oped by a public or private entity, that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) enables users to answer one set of 

2 questions and receive net prices for any in3 stitution that is required to have a net 

4 price calculator under this subsection; 

5 ‘‘(ii) provides the information required 

6 under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of para7 graph (4) for each institution for which a 

8 net price is being sought; 

9 ‘‘(iii) is developed in consultation with 

10 the heads of relevant Federal agencies; and 

11 ‘‘(iv) before being finalized and pub12 licly released, is tested in accordance with 

13 subparagraph (B). 

14 ‘‘(B) CONSUMER TESTING.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary 

16 develops a universal net price calculator 

17 under subparagraph (A), the Secretary, in 

18 consultation with the heads of relevant 

19 Federal agencies, shall establish a process 

20 to submit the universal net price calculator 

21 developed under this paragraph for con22 sumer testing among representatives of 

23 students (including low-income students, 

24 first generation college students, adult stu25 dents, and prospective students), students’ 


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1 families (including low-income families, 

2 families with first generation college stu3 dents, and families with prospective stu4 dents), institutions of higher education, 

5 secondary school and postsecondary coun6 selors, and nonprofit consumer groups. 

7 ‘‘(ii) LENGTH OF CONSUMER TEST8 ING.—The Secretary shall ensure that the 

9 consumer testing lasts no longer than 6 

10 months after the process for consumer 

11 testing is developed under clause (i). 

12 ‘‘(iii) USE OF RESULTS.—The results 

13 of consumer testing under clause (i) shall 

14 be used in the final development of the 

15 universal net price calculator. 

16 ‘‘(iv) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

17 Not later than 3 months after the date the 

18 consumer testing under clause (i) con19 cludes, the Secretary shall submit to Con20 gress the final universal net price calcu21 lator and a report detailing the results of 

22 such testing, including whether the Sec23 retary added any additional items to the 

24 calculator as a result of such testing. 


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1 ‘‘(v) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY.—The 

2 Secretary may modify the definitions, 

3 terms, formatting, and design of the uni4 versal net price calculator based on the re5 sults of consumer testing required under 

6 this paragraph and before finalizing the 

7 calculator. 

8 ‘‘(8) REPORT FROM SECRETARY.—Not later 

9 than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Net 

10 Price Calculator Improvement Act, the Secretary 

11 shall submit a report to Congress on steps taken to 

12 raise awareness of net price calculators among pro13 spective students and families, particularly among 

14 students in middle school and high school and stu15 dents from low-income families.’’. 

Æ 


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