20 U.S.C. § 1015 — Improvements in market information and public accountability in higher education

(a) Data collection. The Secretary^* must direct the Commissioner to hold forums and develop nationally consistent methods for reporting postsecondary education costs, then redesign data systems using those methods. The Commissioner must define tuition and fees, cost of attendance, average undergraduate aid by type, and the number receiving each type; report the definitions to institutions within 90 days after October 7, 1998; and collect the information from at least all institutions participating in subchapter IV programs beginning with 2000–2001 and each year after. (b) Dissemination. The Secretary must make the data available so individual institutions can be compared and parents and students can understand typical full-time undergraduate costs. (c) Study. The Commissioner must study national higher-education spending, including tuition compared with inflation, faculty and administrative compensation, academic support, research, operations, maintenance, construction, technology, and replacement costs. The study must evaluate changes over time, how spending relates to college costs, and how institutional aid and tuition discounts affect tuition, including recipients’ demographics, discounts used to attract students with limited need, and use of federal aid and loans to offset those costs. The Commissioner must report by September 30, 2002. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, consulting the Commissioner, must create a higher-education market basket of cost items and report it by that date. The Secretary may fine an institution up to $25,000 for late or inaccurate information or failure to cooperate with data collection. (d) Department^* website. The Secretary must prominently link the Department’s federal student-aid website from the Department homepage. (e) Aid information. The Secretary must keep improving the usefulness and accessibility of college-planning and aid information, publicize it through a major media campaign and other communication, and create one Department-accessible website meeting subsections (b), (f), and (g). (f) Military and veterans. With Defense and Veterans Affairs, the Secretary must create a searchable, simple-language website listing all federal and State^* grants, loans, work, tuition aid, scholarships, fellowships, and other aid, plus readmission requirements and other services for service members, National Guard and Reserve members, veterans, and their dependents. It had to be public within one year after August 14, 2008, and its availability must be publicized. “Federal and State student financial assistance” means aid administered, sponsored, or supported by those Departments or a State and available to those people. (g) Other aid. A “nondepartmental student financial assistance program” is a federal-agency program other than Education that gives grants, loans, scholarships, fellowships, or other postsecondary aid directly to a student or the student’s account. The Secretary must ensure information about such programs is available and publicized as the subsection requires. (h) Net-price calculator. Within one year after August 14, 2008, the Secretary, consulting institutions and experts, must create a calculator estimating each student’s net price. Within two years after it is made available, each subchapter IV institution must put a calculator on its website, using the Department calculator or one with at least the same data elements. Each estimate must clearly say it is not a final aid decision or binding award, may change, and requires the FAFSA for actual federal grant, loan, or work-study aid, with a Department FAFSA link. (i) Consumer information. Within one year after August 14, 2008, the Secretary must publish on College Navigator, in simple terms and using the latest satisfactory data, each subchapter IV institution’s mission; applications, admissions, and enrollment; required SAT/ACT middle-50-percent scores; enrollment by student status and level; transfer students; sex; in-state, out-of-state, and international shares; race and ethnicity; disability^*-services percentage (report “three percent or less” when applicable); completion within normal, 150-percent, and 200-percent time; degrees awarded and leading majors; student-faculty ratio, faculty, and instructional graduate assistants; on- and off-campus costs and, for public institutions, resident and nonresident costs; average grants and federal loans; total grants; aid-recipient percentages; Pell recipients; cohort default rate; campus-safety information; links for activities, disability services, career services, transfer-credit policies, regional starting salaries, required reports and pricing pages; any required report; and alternative tuition plans. The Secretary must update it yearly and consult users and experts. The Commissioner must improve IPEDS. The pricing page must list participating institutions in searchable, sortable form with three years of tuition, fees, and net price; required income-group net prices (one year from July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2013, and three years thereafter); average yearly percentage and dollar changes in tuition and net price; and a College Navigator link, with annual updates. The income groups are $0–30,000, $30,001–48,000, $48,001–75,000, $75,001–110,000, and $110,001 or more; the Secretary may adjust them for inflation. (j) Multi-year tuition calculator. Within one year after August 14, 2008, the Secretary must create a calculator, consulting institutions, financial planners, and experts, that lets users select a school, estimates each year’s tuition for the normal program length from the latest tuition and the latest three-year percentage change, totals the years, permits a user-supplied percentage, uses a school’s guarantee program when offered, and includes other appropriate features. It must be on College Navigator and compare multiple institutions. Each result must say it is only an estimate, is not binding, may change based on aid, appropriations, and other factors, requires the FAFSA for actual federal aid, and link to the FAFSA. (k) Student-aid survey. The Secretary, through the Commissioner, must survey subchapter IV aid recipients by State to identify recipients; describe income and socioeconomic traits and federal, State, and private aid combinations; describe loan debt, ability to repay, and effects on study and post-graduation plans; describe how attendance costs affect school choice; and describe textbook and instructional-material costs. It must occur regularly at least every four years, represent full- and part-time, undergraduate, graduate, professional, current, and former students, and be disseminated publicly in print and electronic form. (l) Regulations. The Secretary may issue regulations necessary to carry out this section.