Lowering Education Costs and Debt Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1972 To increase college transparency, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. CASSIDY (for himself, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. GRASSLEY, Mr. SCOTT of South Carolina, and Mr. TUBERVILLE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To increase college transparency, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Lowering Education 4 Costs and Debt Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 7 Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. TITLE I—COLLEGE TRANSPARENCY Sec. 101. Postsecondary student data system. Sec. 102. Repeal of prohibition on student data system. Sec. 103. Institutional requirements. VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6211 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1972 IS Sec. 104. Transition provisions. TITLE II—UNDERSTANDING THE TRUE COST OF COLLEGE Sec. 201. Institution Financial Aid Offer Form. Sec. 202. Mandatory form. TITLE III—INFORMED STUDENT BORROWING Sec. 301. Counseling and financial aid disclosures. Sec. 302. Annual requirement to manually enter loan amount. Sec. 303. Work study. TITLE IV—STREAMLINING ACCOUNTABILITY AND VALUE IN EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS Sec. 401. Loan repayment simplification and income-driven repayment reform. Sec. 402. Taxpayer and consumer protection on student loans. Sec. 403. Phase out of income-based repayment. TITLE V—GRADUATE OPPORTUNITY AND AFFORDABLE LOANS Sec. 501. Loan limits. TITLE I—COLLEGE 1 TRANSPARENCY 2 SEC. 101. POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA SYSTEM. 3 Section 132 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 4 U.S.C. 1015a) is amended— 5 (1) by redesignating subsection (l) as subsection 6 (m); and 7 (2) by inserting after subsection (k) the fol- 8 lowing: 9 ‘‘(l) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA SYSTEM.— 10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 11 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF SYSTEM.—Not 12 later than 4 years after the date of enactment 13 of the Lowering Education Costs and Debt Act, 14 the Commissioner of the National Center for 15 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1972 IS Education Statistics (referred to in this sub- 1 section as the ‘Commissioner’) shall develop and 2 maintain a secure and privacy-protected post- 3 secondary student-level data system in order 4 to— 5 ‘‘(i) accurately evaluate student en- 6 rollment patterns, progression, completion, 7 and postcollegiate outcomes, and higher 8 education costs and financial aid; 9 ‘‘(ii) assist with transparency, institu- 10 tional improvement, and analysis of Fed- 11 eral aid programs; 12 ‘‘(iii) provide accurate, complete, and 13 customizable information for students and 14 families making decisions about postsec- 15 ondary education; and 16 ‘‘(iv) reduce the reporting burden on 17 institutions of higher education, in accord- 18 ance with section 104 of the Lowering 19 Education Costs and Debt Act. 20 ‘‘(B) AVOIDING DUPLICATED REPORT- 21 ING.—Notwithstanding any other provision of 22 this section, to the extent that another provi- 23 sion of this section requires the same reporting 24 or collection of data that is required under this 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1972 IS subsection, an institution of higher education, 1 or the Secretary or Commissioner, shall use the 2 reporting or data required for the postsec- 3 ondary student data system under this sub- 4 section to satisfy both requirements. 5 ‘‘(C) DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—In devel- 6 oping the postsecondary student data system 7 described in this subsection, the Commissioner 8 shall— 9 ‘‘(i) focus on the needs of— 10 ‘‘(I) users of the data system; 11 and 12 ‘‘(II) entities, including institu- 13 tions of higher education, reporting to 14 the data system; 15 ‘‘(ii) take into consideration, to the 16 extent practicable— 17 ‘‘(I) the guidelines outlined in the 18 U.S. Web Design Standards main- 19 tained by the General Services Admin- 20 istration and the Digital Services 21 Playbook and TechFAR Handbook for 22 Procuring Digital Services Using 23 Agile Processes of the U.S. Digital 24 Service; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •S 1972 IS ‘‘(II) the relevant successor docu- 1 ments or recommendations of such 2 guidelines; 3 ‘‘(iii) use modern, relevant privacy- 4 and security-enhancing technology, and en- 5 hance and update the data system as nec- 6 essary to carry out the purpose of this sub- 7 section; 8 ‘‘(iv) ensure data privacy and security 9 is consistent with any relevant Federal law 10 relating to privacy or data security, includ- 11 ing— 12 ‘‘(I) the requirements of sub- 13 chapter II of chapter 35 of title 44, 14 United States Code, specifying secu- 15 rity categorization under the Federal 16 Information Processing Standards or 17 any relevant successor of such stand- 18 ards; 19 ‘‘(II) security requirements that 20 are consistent with the Federal agency 21 responsibilities in section 3554 of title 22 44, United States Code, or any rel- 23 evant successor of such responsibil- 24 ities; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •S 1972 IS ‘‘(III) security requirements, 1 guidelines, and controls consistent 2 with cybersecurity standards and best 3 practices developed by the National 4 Institute of Standards and Tech- 5 nology, including frameworks, con- 6 sistent with section 2(c) of the Na- 7 tional Institute of Standards and 8 Technology Act (15 U.S.C. 272(c)), or 9 any relevant successor of such frame- 10 works; 11 ‘‘(v) follow Federal data minimization 12 practices to ensure only the minimum 13 amount of data is collected to meet the 14 system’s goals, in accordance with Federal 15 data minimization standards and guide- 16 lines developed by the National Institute of 17 Standards and Technology; and 18 ‘‘(vi) provide notice to students out- 19 lining the data included in the system and 20 how the data are used. 21 ‘‘(2) DATA ELEMENTS.— 22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 4 years 23 after the date of enactment of the Lowering 24 Education Costs and Debt Act, the Commis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •S 1972 IS sioner, in consultation with the Postsecondary 1 Student Data System Advisory Committee es- 2 tablished under subparagraph (B), shall deter- 3 mine— 4 ‘‘(i) the data elements to be included 5 in the postsecondary student data system, 6 in accordance with subparagraphs (C) and 7 (D); and 8 ‘‘(ii) how to include the data elements 9 required under subparagraph (C), and any 10 additional data elements selected under 11 subparagraph (D), in the postsecondary 12 student data system. 13 ‘‘(B) POSTSECONDARY STUDENT DATA 14 SYSTEM ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 15 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later 16 than 2 years after the date of enactment 17 of the Lowering Education Costs and Debt 18 Act, the Commissioner shall establish a 19 Postsecondary Student Data System Advi- 20 sory Committee (referred to in this sub- 21 section as the ‘Advisory Committee’), 22 whose members shall include— 23 ‘‘(I) the Chief Privacy Officer of 24 the Department or an official of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •S 1972 IS Department delegated the duties of 1 overseeing data privacy at the Depart- 2 ment; 3 ‘‘(II) the Chief Security Officer 4 of the Department or an official of 5 the Department delegated the duties 6 of overseeing data security at the De- 7 partment; 8 ‘‘(III) representatives of diverse 9 institutions of higher education, which 10 shall include equal representation be- 11 tween 2-year and 4-year institutions 12 of higher education, and from public, 13 nonprofit, and proprietary institutions 14 of higher education, including minor- 15 ity-serving institutions; 16 ‘‘(IV) representatives from State 17 higher education agencies, entities, 18 bodies, or boards; 19 ‘‘(V) representatives of postsec- 20 ondary students; 21 ‘‘(VI) representatives from rel- 22 evant Federal agencies; 23 ‘‘(VII) individuals with expertise 24 in data privacy and security; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •S 1972 IS ‘‘(VIII) other stakeholders (in- 1 cluding individuals with consumer 2 protection and postsecondary edu- 3 cation research). 4 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The Commis- 5 sioner shall ensure that the Advisory Com- 6 mittee— 7 ‘‘(I) adheres to all requirements 8 under chapter 10 of title 5, United 9 States Code (commonly known as the 10 ‘Federal Advisory Committee Act’); 11 ‘‘(II) establishes operating and 12 meeting procedures and guidelines 13 necessary to execute its advisory du- 14 ties; and 15 ‘‘(III) is provided with appro- 16 priate staffing and resources to exe- 17 cute its advisory duties. 18 ‘‘(C) REQUIRED DATA ELEMENTS.—The 19 data elements in the postsecondary student 20 data system shall include, at a minimum, the 21 following: 22 ‘‘(i) Student-level data elements nec- 23 essary to calculate the information within 24 the surveys designated by the Commis- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •S 1972 IS sioner as ‘student-related surveys’ in the 1 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data 2 System (IPEDS), as such surveys are in 3 effect on the day before the date of enact- 4 ment of the Lowering Education Costs and 5 Debt Act, except that in the case that col- 6 lection of such elements would conflict with 7 subparagraph (F), such elements in con- 8 flict with subparagraph (F) shall be in- 9 cluded in the aggregate instead of at the 10 student level. 11 ‘‘(ii) Student-level data elements nec- 12 essary to allow for reporting student en- 13 rollment, persistence, retention, transfer, 14 and completion measures for all credential 15 levels separately (including certificate, as- 16 sociate, baccalaureate, and advanced de- 17 gree levels), within and across institutions 18 of higher education (including across all 19 categories of institution level, control, and 20 predominant degree awarded). The data 21 elements shall allow for reporting about all 22 such data disaggregated by the following 23 categories: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •S 1972 IS ‘‘(I) Enrollment status as a first- 1 time student, recent transfer student, 2 or other non-first-time student. 3 ‘‘(II) Attendance intensity, 4 whether full-time or part-time. 5 ‘‘(III) Credential-seeking status, 6 by credential level. 7 ‘‘(IV) Race or ethnicity, in a 8 manner that captures all the racial 9 groups specified in the most recent 10 American Community Survey of the 11 Bureau of the Census. 12 ‘‘(V) Age intervals. 13 ‘‘(VI) Gender. 14 ‘‘(VII) Program of study (as ap- 15 plicable). 16 ‘‘(VIII) Military or veteran ben- 17 efit status (as determined based on 18 receipt of veteran’s education benefits, 19 as defined in section 480(c)). 20 ‘‘(IX) Status as a distance edu- 21 cation student, whether exclusively or 22 partially enrolled in distance edu- 23 cation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •S 1972 IS ‘‘(X) Federal Pell Grant recipient 1 status under section 401 and Federal 2 loan recipient status under title IV, 3 provided that the collection of such in- 4 formation complies with paragraph 5 (1)(B). 6 ‘‘(D) OTHER DATA ELEMENTS.— 7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner 8 may, after consultation with the Advisory 9 Committee and provision of a public com- 10 ment period, include additional data ele- 11 ments in the postsecondary student data 12 system, such as those described in clause 13 (ii), if those data elements— 14 ‘‘(I) are necessary to ensure that 15 the postsecondary data system fulfills 16 the purposes described in paragraph 17 (1)(A); and 18 ‘‘(II) are consistent with data 19 minimization principles, including the 20 collection of only those additional ele- 21 ments that are necessary to ensure 22 such purposes. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •S 1972 IS ‘‘(ii) DATA ELEMENTS.—The data ele- 1 ments described in clause (i) may in- 2 clude— 3 ‘‘(I) status as a first generation 4 college student, as defined in section 5 402A(h); 6 ‘‘(II) economic status; 7 ‘‘(III) participation in postsec- 8 ondary remedial coursework or gate- 9 way course completion; or 10 ‘‘(IV) other data elements that 11 are necessary in accordance with 12 clause (i). 13 ‘‘(E) REEVALUATION.—Not less than once 14 every 3 years after the implementation of the 15 postsecondary student data system described in 16 this subsection, the Commissioner, in consulta- 17 tion with the Advisory Committee described in 18 subparagraph (B), shall review the data ele- 19 ments included in the postsecondary student 20 data system and may revise the data elements 21 to be included in such system. 22 ‘‘(F) PROHIBITIONS.—The Commissioner 23 shall not include individual health data (includ- 24 ing data relating to physical health or mental 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1972.IS S1972 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 14 •S 1972 IS health), student discipline records or data, ele- 1 mentary and secondary education data, an 2 exact address, citizenship status, migrant sta- 3 tus, or national origin status for students or 4 their families, course grades, postsecondary en- 5 trance examination results, political affiliation, 6 or religion in the postsecondary student data 7 system under this subsection. 8 ‘‘(3) PERIODIC MATCHING [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]