I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1311 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the Secretary of 

Education to publish requirements for financial aid offers to be provided 

by institutions of higher education to enrolled and prospective students, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 1, 2023 

Mrs. MCCLAIN (for herself and Ms. FOXX) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to direct the 

Secretary of Education to publish requirements for financial aid offers to be provided by institutions of higher 

education to enrolled and prospective students, and for 

other purposes. 

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 ‘‘College Cost Trans5 parency and Student Protection Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINANCIAL AID OFFERS. 

2 Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1092) is amended by adding at the end the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(n) FINANCIAL AID OFFERS.— 

6 ‘‘(1) INSTITUTIONAL REQUIREMENTS.—Begin7 ning with the first award year that begins not less 

8 than 1 year after the Secretary publishes require9 ments under subparagraph (2), each institution of 

10 higher education participating in any program under 

11 this title shall provide to each enrolled student (and 

12 prospective student accepted for enrollment) at such 

13 institution who applies for financial assistance under 

14 this title, a financial aid offer that— 

15 ‘‘(A) shall comply with the requirements 

16 published by the Secretary under paragraph 

17 (2); and 

18 ‘‘(B) may be supplemented by the institu19 tion with additional, non-contradictory informa20 tion related to financial aid as long as such sup21 plementary information uses the standardized 

22 terms and definitions described in paragraph 

23 (2). 

24 ‘‘(2) SECRETARIAL REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 

25 than 18 months after the date of enactment of the 

26 College Cost Transparency and Student Protection 


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1 Act, the Secretary shall, based on the consumer test2 ing conducted under paragraph (4), publish require3 ments for financial aid offers to be used by institu4 tions of higher education under paragraph (1), 

5 which shall— 

6 ‘‘(A) serve as the primary source for Fed7 eral, State, and institutional financial aid infor8 mation provided by an institution of higher edu9 cation participating in any program under this 

10 title to each enrolled student (and prospective 

11 student accepted for enrollment) at such insti12 tution; 

13 ‘‘(B) include a requirement that no finan14 cial aid offer may be referred to as an award 

15 letter; 

16 ‘‘(C) include the required content described 

17 in paragraph (3); 

18 ‘‘(D) establish standardized terms and 

19 definitions, including for the required content 

20 described in paragraph (3), which shall be in21 cluded in each financial aid offer; and 

22 ‘‘(E) establish formatting requirements 

23 with respect to the organization of the contents 

24 described in paragraph (3), which— 

25 ‘‘(i) shall include— 


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1 ‘‘(I) a requirement that prohibits 

2 any such offer from displaying loans 

3 in a manner that indicates or implies 

4 that such loans reduce the amount 

5 owed to the institution or reduce the 

6 out-of-pocket costs; and 

7 ‘‘(II) requirements that ensure 

8 that before completing the component 

9 of an offer relating to indirect costs, 

10 a student completes the component of 

11 an offer relating to direct costs and 

12 confirms that such student is seeking 

13 financial assistance for indirect costs; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(ii) may not establish, or require 

16 that institutions of higher education use, a 

17 uniform format for such offers. 

18 ‘‘(3) REQUIRED CONTENT FOR A FINANCIAL

19 AID OFFER.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An institution of high21 er education shall provide, to each enrolled stu22 dent (and prospective student accepted for en23 rollment) at such institution who applies for fi24 nancial assistance under this title, a financial 


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1 aid offer for an academic period covered by 

2 such offer, which shall include the following: 

3 ‘‘(i) A component relating to the di4 rect costs for such student for such aca5 demic period, which shall include the con6 tent described in subparagraphs (B) and 

7 (D). 

8 ‘‘(ii) In a case in which the student 

9 completes the component described in 

10 clause (i) and confirms that such student 

11 is seeking financial assistance for indirect 

12 costs for such academic period, a compo13 nent relating to such indirect costs, which 

14 shall include the content described in sub15 paragraphs (C) and (D). 

16 ‘‘(B) COMPONENT FOR DIRECT COSTS.— 

17 The component of a financial aid offer relating 

18 to direct costs shall include the following con19 tent: 

20 ‘‘(i) ESTIMATED SUM OF DIRECT

21 COSTS.—The estimated sum of the stu22 dent’s direct costs for the academic period 

23 covered by such offer, which shall be the 

24 sum of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) the cost of tuition and fees, 

2 as defined in section 472(a)(1), as 

3 amended by section 702 of the 

4 FAFSA Simplification Act; and 

5 ‘‘(II) any other required ex6 penses, as determined by the institu7 tion and presented as an itemized list. 

8 ‘‘(ii) GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

9 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The aggre10 gate amount of grants and scholar11 ships by source that the student does 

12 not have to repay, such as grant aid 

13 offered under this title and grant aid 

14 offered through other Federal pro15 grams, grant aid offered by the insti16 tution, grant aid offered by the State, 

17 and, if known, grant aid from an out18 side source for such academic period. 

19 ‘‘(II) FEDERAL GRANT AID.— 

20 With respect to Federal grant aid, the 

21 conditions under which the student 

22 can expect to receive similar amounts 

23 of such Federal grant aid for each 

24 academic period the student is en25 rolled at the institution. 


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1 ‘‘(III) INSTITUTIONAL GRANT

2 AID.—With respect to institutional 

3 grant aid— 

4 ‘‘(aa) the conditions under 

5 which the student can expect to 

6 receive similar amounts of such 

7 institutional grant aid for each 

8 academic period the student is 

9 enrolled at the institution; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) whether the institu11 tional grant aid offer may change 

12 if grants or scholarships from 

13 outside sources are applied after 

14 the student receives the financial 

15 aid offer, and, if applicable, how 

16 that institutional grant aid will 

17 change. 

18 ‘‘(IV) INDIRECT COSTS.—An 

19 identification of any grants or scholar20 ships described in subclause (I) that 

21 are required to be used for any indi22 rect costs selected by the student 

23 under subparagraph (C)(i). 

24 ‘‘(iii) OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS (RELAT25 ING TO DIRECT COSTS).—The out-of-pocket 


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1 costs (relating to direct costs) that the stu2 dent, or the student’s family on behalf of 

3 the student, is estimated to have to pay for 

4 the student to attend the institution for 

5 such academic period, equal to— 

6 ‘‘(I) the estimated sum of the 

7 student’s direct costs described in 

8 clause (i); minus 

9 ‘‘(II) the aggregate amount of 

10 grants and scholarships described in 

11 clause (ii) that may be used to cover 

12 such direct costs. 

13 ‘‘(iv) FINANCING OPTIONS.— 

14 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—In plain lan15 guage and based on consumer testing 

16 under paragraph (4), the offer shall 

17 include the following financing options 

18 (in the following order) to cover the 

19 total out-of-pocket costs determined 

20 under clause (iii): 

21 ‘‘(aa) Cash or other personal 

22 resources, including the expected 

23 family contribution of the stu24 dent. 


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1 ‘‘(bb) Loans made to the 

2 student under part D (excluding 

3 Federal Direct PLUS Loans), 

4 which shall— 

5 ‘‘(AA) clearly label 

6 whether the loan is sub7 sidized or unsubsidized; and 

8 ‘‘(BB) require the stu9 dent to (1) accept any such 

10 loan by specifying the loan 

11 amount the student is ac12 cepting (which may be an 

13 amount that is less than the 

14 maximum amount for which 

15 such student is eligible 

16 under part D) or (2) decline 

17 any such loan. 

18 ‘‘(cc) Work-study employ19 ment opportunities, offered in ac20 cordance with part C, and other 

21 campus employment, if applica22 ble, which shall require the stu23 dent to (1) accept any such op24 portunity or (2) decline any such 

25 opportunity. 


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1 ‘‘(II) DISCLOSURES RELATED TO

2 COVERED FINANCING OPTIONS.—The 

3 following disclosures, in a simple, 

4 plain-language, and consumer-friendly 

5 manner (based on the consumer test6 ing under paragraph (4)): 

7 ‘‘(aa) GRANTS AND SCHOL8 ARSHIPS.—Grants and scholar9 ships do not have to be repaid. 

10 ‘‘(bb) ALL LOANS.—All 

11 loans must be repaid with inter12 est. 

13 ‘‘(cc) FEDERAL WORK14 STUDY AID.—Any work-study 

15 employment opportunity offered 

16 under part C is subject to the 

17 availability of qualified employ18 ment opportunities and is dis19 bursed over time as earned by 

20 the student. 

21 ‘‘(III) DISCLOSURE RELATED TO

22 OTHER FINANCING OPTIONS.—A dis23 closure that other financing options 

24 (not listed in subclause (I)) may be 

25 available, including private education 


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1 loans, Federal Direct PLUS loans, or 

2 institutional or State loans, if applica3 ble. 

4 ‘‘(IV) TUITION PAYMENT

5 PLANS.—In plain language, the offer 

6 shall include information on tuition 

7 payment plans, if applicable. 

8 ‘‘(v) DISCLOSURE AND CONFIRMATION

9 RELATING TO INDIRECT COSTS.—A disclo10 sure that the financing options for indirect 

11 costs selected by the student under sub12 paragraph (C)(i) may include loans that 

13 must be repaid with interest, and a re14 quirement for the student to confirm 

15 whether the student is seeking financial as16 sistance for such indirect costs. 

17 ‘‘(C) COMPONENT FOR INDIRECT COSTS.— 

18 The component of a financial aid relating to in19 direct costs shall include the following content: 

20 ‘‘(i) SELECTION OF INDIRECT

21 COSTS.—The student shall have the ability 

22 to select each component of the cost of at23 tendance under section 472, as amended 

24 by section 702 of the FAFSA Simplifica25 tion Act (other than the direct costs deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1311.IH H1311

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1 mined under subparagraph (B)(i)) for 

2 which the student needs support for the 

3 academic period covered by the offer, 

4 which may include components relating to 

5 housing and food, books and supplies, 

6 transportation, and miscellaneous personal 

7 expenses. 

8 ‘‘(ii) ESTIMATED SUM OF INDIRECT

9 COSTS.—The estimated sum of the stu10 dent’s indirect costs for the academic pe11 riod covered by such offer, as determined 

12 by the sum of each of the components of 

13 indirect costs selected under clause (i). 

14 ‘‘(iii) GRANTS AND SCHOLARSHIPS.— 

15 Any amounts of the grants and scholar16 ships identified under subparagraph 

17 (B)(ii), which— 

18 ‘‘(I) remain available after fi19 nancing the direct costs determined 

20 under subparagraph (B)(i); or 

21 ‘‘(II) are required to be used for 

22 indirect costs, as described in sub23 clause (II) of subparagraph (B)(ii). 

24 ‘‘(iv) OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS (RELAT25 ING TO INDIRECT COSTS).—The out-ofVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1311.IH H1311

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1 pocket costs (relating to indirect costs) 

2 that the student, or the student’s family on 

3 behalf of the student, is estimated to have 

4 to pay for the student to attend the insti5 tution for such academic period, equal to— 

6 ‘‘(I) the estimated sum of indi7 rect costs determined under clause 

8 (ii); minus 

9 ‘‘(II) the amount of grants and 

10 scholarships determined under clause 

11 (iii). 

12 ‘‘(v) TOTAL COST OF ATTENDANCE.— 

13 The total cost of attendance for the stu14 dent, equal to the sum of— 

15 ‘‘(I) the estimated sum of the 

16 student’s direct costs determined sub17 paragraph (B)(i); and 

18 ‘‘(II) the estimated sum of the 

19 student’s indirect costs determined 

20 under clause (ii). 

21 ‘‘(vi) TOTAL OUT-OF-POCKET

22 COSTS.—The total out-of-pocket costs that 

23 the student, or the student’s family on be24 half of the student, is estimated to have to 

25 pay for the student to attend the instituVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1311.IH H1311

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1 tion for such academic period, equal to the 

2 sum of— 

3 ‘‘(I) the out-of-pocket costs (re4 lating to direct costs) determined 

5 under subparagraph (B)(iii); and 

6 ‘‘(II) the out-of-pocket costs (re7 lating to indirect costs) determined 

8 under clause (iv). 

9 ‘‘(vii) FINANCING OPTIONS.—In plain 

10 language, the offer shall include— 

11 ‘‘(I) each of the financing options 

12 listed under subparagraph (B)(iv)(I), 

13 which remain available after financing 

14 the direct costs determined under sub15 paragraph (B)(i); and 

16 ‘‘(II) the disclosures described in 

17 subclauses (II) and (III) of subpara18 graph (B)(iv). 

19 ‘‘(D) REQUIRED CONTENTS FOR BOTH

20 COMPONENTS.—Each component of the offer 

21 described in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 

22 (A) shall include the following content: 

23 ‘‘(i) ACADEMIC PERIOD.—An indica24 tion of the academic period covered by the 

25 financial aid offer, an explanation that the 


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1 financial aid offered may change for aca2 demic periods not covered by the aid offer 

3 or by program, and an indication, as appli4 cable, about whether the costs identified 

5 under such offer are estimated based on 

6 the previous year, or are set, for the aca7 demic period covered by such offer. 

8 ‘‘(ii) ENROLLMENT INTENSITY.—An 

9 indication of whether cost and aid esti10 mates are based on full-time or part-time 

11 enrollment. 

12 ‘‘(iii) INSTITUTIONAL GRANT AID.—In 

13 the case of an institution of higher edu14 cation that adjusts awards of institutional 

15 grant aid based on student receipt of fi16 nancial assistance not received under this 

17 title— 

18 ‘‘(I) a statement that eligibility 

19 for institutional grant aid may be im20 pacted by the receipt of financial as21 sistance not received under this title 

22 (including all scholarships, grants, 

23 loans, or other assistance known to 

24 the institution at the time the deterVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:18 Mar 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1311.IH H1311

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1 mination of the student’s need is 

2 made); and 

3 ‘‘(II) the institutional policies re4 lating to how receipt of such assist5 ance may impact eligibility for, and 

6 the amount of, institutional grant aid. 

7 ‘‘(iv) NEXT STEP INSTRUCTIONS.— 

8 Next step instructions, including— 

9 ‘‘(I) the process and deadlines for 

10 accepting (and declining) the financial 

11 aid offered in the offer; and 

12 ‘‘(II) information about where to 

13 find additional information on the fi14 nancial aid offered, including contact 

15 information for the institution’s finan16 cial aid office and the Department of 

17 Education’s website on financial aid. 

18 ‘‘(v) STATISTICS ON POST COMPLE19 TION EARNINGS AND LOAN REPAYMENT.— 

20 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Statistics 

21 (which may be presented as monthly 

22 amounts) on the median earnings and 

23 median payments on loans made 

24 under part D (excluding Federal Di25 rect PLUS Loans), for graduates of, 


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1 or individuals who complete, the pro2 gram for which the student receiving 

3 the financial aid offer is enrolled (or, 

4 in a case in which the student has not 

5 selected a program of study, for the 

6 institution). 

7 ‘‘(II) DISCLOSURE.—Any statis8 tics provided under this clause shall 

9 include a disclosure that such statis10 tics may not apply to the student re11 ceiving the offer. 

12 ‘‘(vi) INFORMATION FOR PROSPECTIVE

13 STUDENTS.—In the case of a prospective 

14 student, the process and deadlines for en15 rolling at the institution, if such informa16 tion is determined necessary by the Sec17 retary based on the consumer testing con18 ducted under paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(vii) DELIVERY CONFIRMATION.— 

20 Include a delivery confirmation for elec21 tronic financial aid offer forms, except that 

22 receipt of the forms shall not be considered 

23 an acceptance or rejection of aid. 

24 ‘‘(4) CONSUMER TESTING.—The Secretary 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) conduct consumer testing that shall— 

2 ‘‘(i) serve as the basis in determining 

3 the requirements for financial aid offers 

4 published under paragraph (2); and 

5 ‘‘(ii) include students (including low6 income students, English learners, first 

7 generation college students, veteran stu8 dents, graduate students, and under9 graduate students (including prospective 

10 students and returning students)), stu11 dents’ families (including low-income fami12 lies, families of English learners, and fami13 lies with first generation college students), 

14 institutions of higher education (including 

15 representatives from two- and four-year in16 stitutions, public and private institutions, 

17 and minority-serving institutions), sec18 ondary school and postsecondary coun19 selors, financial aid administrators, non20 profit college access organizations, and 

21 nonprofit consumer groups; and 

22 ‘‘(B) not later than 60 days after the pub23 lication of the requirements under paragraph 

24 (2)— 


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1 ‘‘(i) issue a report on the findings of 

2 the consumer testing under this paragraph; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(ii) specify ways in which the find5 ings are reflected in such requirements. 

6 ‘‘(5) DATA REPORTING.—Not later than 18 

7 months after the date of enactment of the College 

8 Cost Transparency and Student Protection Act, the 

9 Secretary shall ensure that information published on 

10 the College Scorecard website of the Department (or 

11 any successor website), or the website of each insti12 tution of higher education participating in any pro13 gram under this title— 

14 ‘‘(A) with respect to the net price or the 

15 cost of attendance of an institution of higher 

16 education, provides separate cost estimates for 

17 direct costs and indirect costs, in a manner con18 sist with the standard terms and definitions 

19 published under paragraph (2); and 

20 ‘‘(B) with respect to the median earnings 

21 or median payments on loans made under this 

22 title for students who complete a program of 

23 study at an institution of higher education, pro24 vides such information in a manner consistent 

25 with paragraph (3)(D)(v). 


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1 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 

2 ‘‘(A) the term ‘cost of attendance’ has the 

3 meaning given the term in section 472; 

4 ‘‘(B) the term ‘direct costs’, used with re5 spect to a student, means the costs determined 

6 under paragraph (3)(B)(i) for such student; 

7 ‘‘(C) the term ‘English learner’ has the 

8 meaning given the term in section 8101(20) of 

9 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 

10 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801(20)), except that such 

11 term does not include individuals described in 

12 subparagraph (B) of such section; 

13 ‘‘(D) the term ‘first generation college stu14 dent’ has the meaning given the term in section 

15 402A(h); 

16 ‘‘(E) the term ‘indirect costs’, used with 

17 respect to a student, means the costs deter18 mined under paragraph (3)(C)(ii) for such stu19 dent; 

20 ‘‘(F) the term ‘low-income student’ has the 

21 meaning given the term in section 419N(b)(7); 

22 ‘‘(G) the term ‘minority-serving institution’ 

23 means an institution of higher education de24 scribed in section 371(a); and 


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1 ‘‘(H) the term ‘private education loan’ has 

2 the meaning given the term in section 140 of 

3 the Truth in Lending Act.’’. 

Æ 


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