II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2281 

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 

MAY 1, 2014 

Mr. FRANKEN (for himself and Mr. GRASSLEY) 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) tuition and fees; 


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1 ‘‘(II) average annual cost of 

2 room and board for the institution for 

3 a first-time, full-time undergraduate 

4 student enrolled in the institution; 

5 ‘‘(III) average annual cost of 

6 books and supplies for a first-time, 

7 full-time undergraduate student en8 rolled in the institution; and 

9 ‘‘(IV) estimated cost of other ex10 penses (including personal expenses 

11 and transportation) for a first-time, 

12 full-time undergraduate student en13 rolled in the institution. 

14 ‘‘(iii) Estimated total need-based 

15 grant aid and merit-based grant aid, from 

16 Federal, State, and institutional sources, 

17 that may be available to the individual stu18 dent, showing the subtotal for each cat19 egory and the total of all sources of grant 

20 aid. 

21 ‘‘(iv) Percentage of the first-time, full22 time undergraduate students enrolled in 

23 the institution that received any type of 

24 grant aid described in clause (iii). 


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1 ‘‘(v) The disclaimer described in para2 graph (6). 

3 ‘‘(vi) In the case of a calculator 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(I) includes questions to esti6 mate a student’s (or prospective stu7 dent’s) eligibility for veterans’ edu8 cation benefits (as defined in section 

9 480) or educational benefits for active 

10 duty service members, such benefits 

11 are displayed on the results screen in 

12 a manner that clearly distinguishes 

13 them from the grant aid described in 

14 clause (iii); or 

15 ‘‘(II) does not include questions 

16 to estimate eligibility for the benefits 

17 described in subclause (I), the results 

18 screen indicates that certain students 

19 (or prospective students) may qualify 

20 for such benefits and includes a link 

21 to information about such benefits. 

22 ‘‘(C) The institution populates the calcu23 lator with data from not earlier than 2 aca24 demic years prior to the most recent academic 

25 year. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PROHIBITION ON USE OF DATA COL2 LECTED BY THE NET PRICE CALCULATOR.—A net 

3 price calculator for an institution of higher edu4 cation shall— 

5 ‘‘(A) clearly indicate which questions are 

6 required to be completed for an estimate of the 

7 net price from the calculator; 

8 ‘‘(B) in the case of a calculator that re9 quests contact information from users, clearly 

10 mark such requests as ‘optional’; 

11 ‘‘(C) prohibit any personally identifiable in12 formation provided by users from being sold or 

13 made available to third parties; and 

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

15 you provide on this site is confidential. The Net 

16 Price Calculator does not store your responses 

17 or require personal identifying information of 

18 any kind.’.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. UNIVERSAL NET PRICE CALCULATOR. 

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

21 (20 U.S.C. 1015a(h)), as amended by section 2, is further 

22 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

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

25 develop a universal net price calculator 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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