November 16, 2017
 
The Des Moines Register editorial board praised Sen. Grassley’s bipartisan work to rein in skyrocketing college costs and provide students with more transparency about prospective costs and future ability to repay loans.
Grassley’s Net Price Calculator Improvement Act would improve the effectiveness of and access to net price calculators, tools that provide students with early, individualized estimates of higher education costs and financial aid figures before they decide where to apply. The Understanding the True Cost of College Act would create a universal financial aid award letter, so students and families could easily compare financial aid packages between schools. The Know Before You Owe Act would increase the amount of information students receive about federal student loans, including their ability to repay, before taking them out.
An excerpt from the Register’s editorial can be found below.
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We need more clarity in college costs. Figuring out how much you might pay for school can often require an advanced degree. Fortunately, Sen. Chuck Grassley is working with an unlikely colleague — Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn. — to give students more information on what they might pay.
 
Grassley, Franken and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., are co-sponsoring the Net Price Calculator Improvement Act. It would require universities to put the calculators on a prominent spot on websites and provide more information to compare costs. It also authorizes the Department of Education to develop a universal net price calculator.
 
In another bill, Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2017, the Iowa-Minnesota duo have joined Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats to require schools to use a standardized financial aid offer form that would eliminate confusing jargon. The letters would clarify which items are loans (which must be repaid) vs. grants (which don’t), the net price that a student or family is estimated to pay; monthly loan repayment amounts; default rates; and other information.
 
Grassley, Franken and Sen. Joni Ernst are sponsoring the Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act of 2017, which expands counseling that students must receive before taking out federal loans. The information would include how much they would owe compared with how much they’re projected to make in salary in their first job upon graduation.    
 
These bipartisan bills are great beginnings. Federal officials should also follow Iowa Student Loan’s lead and require all borrowers to complete an online “smart borrowing” tool as part of the application process. It provides information about projected salaries for specific degrees, manageable debt loads and ideas for cutting costs.
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