Tools to Support Higher Education Choice

1. Session 2 Tools to Support Higher Education Choice Marty Guthrie and Jessica Shedd |Nov. 2012 U.S. Department of Education 2012 Fall Conference

2. Today’s Agenda • The College Scorecard • College Navigator • Net Price Calculator • The Financial Aid Shopping Sheet Focusing on the Scorecard and Shopping Sheet

3. Background • White House initiative on Improving Transparency & Accountability President Obama tasked his Administration with providing students and families new tools and relevant information to help them make sound financial decisions in pursuing their higher education goals: • Designing a College Scorecard • Creating a Financial Aid Shopping Sheet • Protecting Veterans, Military Spouses, and their Families • Led to several new “Tools” to support choice process

4. Suite of Consumer Choice Tools ED Institution Private Sector or Government

5. College Scorecard • Stage of choice process: identifying where to apply • New to the College Affordability & Transparency Center • Designed to help prospective students and their families as they begin to evaluate options for their investment in higher education • Provides key measures of college affordability and value to help prospective students identify institutions best suited to their goals, finances, and needs http://collegecost.ed.gov/

6. College Navigator • Stage of choice process: identifying where to apply • ED’s College Search Tool providing a wealth of information on institutions, ranging from: • General information • Admissions requirements • Tuition & fees, financial aid awarded, average net price • Programs & majors offered • Retention & graduation rates • Campus security • Cohort default rate • Over 200,000 visits and approx. 1.5 million page views each month http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/

7. Financial Aid Shopping Sheet • Stage of choice process: choosing where to enroll • Standardized, clear, and concise format for providing prospective students their personalized financial aid offer • Designed to help prospective students and their families better understand the costs of college before making the final decision on where to enroll • Identifies the type and amount of aid qualified for and allows for easy comparison of aid packages offered by different institutions

8. Aid Offer Comparison Tools • Stage of choice process: choosing where to enroll • Electronic delivery of Shopping Sheet offers capability for students to download their aid offer information in machine-readable format (xml) and then upload it into another tool • Allows for development of comparison tools by the private sector or government to further help prospective students and their families make an informed decision on where to enroll

9. StudentAid.ed.gov • New website • Combines information and tools from several FSA websites • Help prospective students to get the information they need to make important decisions about planning and paying for college • Resource spanning the entire college process • How do I prepare for college? • What types of aid can I get? • Do I qualify for aid? • How do I apply for aid? • How do I manage my loans? http://studentaid.ed.gov/

10. College Scorecard

11. College Scorecard Development • Designed by ED and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as part of the “Know Before You Owe” campaign, initially designed for degree-granting institutions • Draft was posted for public comment on the White House website early in 2012 • Comparison group development included suggestions from an IPEDS Technical Review Panel (held June 2012) on how to define institutional comparison groups for consumer information purposes

12. College Scorecard Measures

13. College Scorecard Measures • Institutions are compared to “similar institutions” on each of the measures, defined as the predominant undergraduate award granted • Primarily bachelor’s degree-granting • Primarily associate’s degree-granting • Primarily certificate granting • To be updated annually • Future developments: • Explore providing a Scorecard for all institutions • Further explore available data sources for employment outcomes

14. Financial Aid Shopping Sheet

15. Historical Details Aid offer notification— • In regulations through late 1980’s • Replaced by disclosure requirement in late 1987 • Statutory changes— • In 1986—Federal Student Assistance Report • In 1992—“Federal” added to Title IV program names

16. HEOA Requirement • HEOA requirement for model aid offer format • Refocused attention on communicating aid offers • Goal of helping families make informed decisions about college • Required public meeting to discuss improvements & offer recommendations • Required development & distribution of model aid offer format • Public meeting held 9/13/11

17. Work with CFPB • After public meeting, began working with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau • Logical connection— • Their focus on information to help consumers make good financial choices • Aid offer sets up conditions for financial transaction between student & school • Experience in developing and testing tools

18. Work with CFPB • “Thought-starter” format discussed at 2011 FSA conference and later posted on CFPB website • CFPB expertise and 1,000+ comments helped develop the current version • Valuable suggestions on structure and organization • Work led to Financial Aid Shopping Sheet announced by Secretary Duncan in July

19. Shopping Sheet for 2013-14 • Single sheet, standardized format • Can use as cover sheet with aid offer notification or as standalone notice of aid awards • Value as a consumer comparison tool • Designed for undergrads and may be modified for graduate students • Transparency and consistency in providing information to all students • Use is voluntary but strongly encouraged • Fulfills information requirements for key pieces of Executive Order 13607

20. Shopping Sheet for 2013-14 Student information School information Student’s cost of attendance Information supplied by ED— Graduation Rate Loan Default Rate Median Borrowing Gift aid Net costs Work and loans Loan repayment information Other funding options Contact information Customized information

21. COA – Grants = Net Costs

22. Work, Loan, & Other Options

23. Outcome Metrics

24. Implementation for 2013-14 • Implementation • HTML code distributed 9/12 • Software providers • EDExpress • Questions via ShoppingSheet@ed.gov

25. Shopping Sheet Communications • 7/24/12: Secretary’s open letter to college presidents • 7/25/12: DCL to financial aid administrators • 8/30/12: DCL to institutions that agree to comply with the principles in Executive Order 13607 • 9/11/12: EA with implementation details

26. Shopping Sheet Communications • 9/25/12: Secretary’s blog post on ED.gov • 9/28/12: EA with HTML specs • Updates on OPE’s webpage • Annotated Shopping Sheet

27. QUESTIONS?

28. Contact Information We appreciate your feedback and comments and can be reached at: • Phone: 202-219-7031 • E-mail: Marty.Guthrie@ed.gov • Phone: 202-502-7446 • E-mail: Jessica.Shedd@ed.gov