Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2019
Latest action. Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Understanding the True Cost of College Act of 2019
This bill requires standardized financial aid terminology and offer forms.
The Department of Education (ED) must develop standard terminology and a format for financial aid offer forms based on recommendations from representatives of certain groups, including students, veterans, and institutions of higher education (IHEs).
The consumer-friendly form must include specified details and disclosures, including
the estimated cost of attendance,
financial aid that does not need to be repaid,
the net price that a student or family is estimated to pay,
work-study employment opportunities,
loans the IHE recommends for the student for the academic period covered by the offer,
deadlines and the process for accepting financial aid,
default rates,
the percentage of students who have student loans and the median debt at graduation for students,
private loans,
scholarships, and
the terms and conditions of financial aid.
ED must (1) test the form with representatives of students, students' families, IHEs, secondary school and postsecondary counselors, and nonprofit consumer groups; and (2) use the results to develop the final form.
Each IHE that participates in federal student aid programs must (1) use the standard form when offering financial aid to students, and (2) use the standard terminology and definitions developed by ED for all communications related to financial aid offers.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on April 12, 2019. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 12, 2019: Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Jefferson Van Drew (D-NJ) introduced it on April 12, 2019, and 13 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They come from both major parties: 10 Democrats, 3 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 12, 2019, 2708 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2708 days ago, on April 12, 2019.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers