Chair Cassidy Delivers Remarks During Hearing on Increasing Financial Transparency in Higher Education, Lowering Cost for Families

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, delivered remarks during today's hearing on increasing financial transparency in higher education to empower families with better information and increase students' access to educational opportunities.

Click here to watch the full hearing.

Cassidy's speech as prepared for delivery can be found below:

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions will please come to order.

This year, President Trump and Republicans delivered historic reforms to fix higher education: ending inflationary loan programs and increasing Americans' access to educational opportunities. Now, we must address the lack of transparency exacerbating a broken system.

College is one of the largest financial investments many Americans make, but students have little information to inform their decision.

You don't buy a car without the ability to compare prices, quality, and financing options. The same goes for buying a house. Why can't we do this for higher education?

If a student wants to study engineering at College A, they should know their likelihood of graduating and the average income of graduates compared to College B.

Families deserve to know what they're paying for, and whether that investment will actually pay off. Policymakers on both sides of the aisle agree on the problems and have bipartisan solutions to address them.

President Trump's proposed compact for higher education calls for more transparency, including for universities to publicly post the average earnings from graduates in each program. I agree with the President that we need transparency in higher education now more than ever.

If the Committee is serious about transparency, we must work together to empower students with information to examine the entire process, from initial college shopping, to acceptance, to enrollment.

Senator Warren and I lead the College Transparency Act (CTA), which allows students to compare the differences between prospective colleges and majors to see if the value of the degree is worth the price of admission.

Specifically, the CTA makes available information on cost, enrollment, retention, completion, and post-college earnings of a particular university or program of study - with strict data security standards in place to protect Americans' privacy.

Additionally, when families shop for college, they can easily find the price of tuition but it's much harder to find out the "net price" they will actually pay after accounting for grants from institutions, states, and the federal government. Congress directed colleges and universities to develop net price calculators back in 2008. A good idea in concept, but more than a decade later, these calculations do not work as intended. I hope to hear about how we can improve those.

Once a student is accepted by a school, they receive a financial aid offer. GAO reports show these offers can be confusing for parents and students. Senators Tuberville, Hassan, Grassley, and Smith have bipartisan and bicameral proposals to fix this problem. Students will be able to compare one aid offer to another aid offer and make the best decision.

The reforms discussed today will not only give parents and students confidence in their college decision but also make higher education more attainable, creating more opportunities to achieve the American Dream.

With that, I recognize Senator Sanders.

###

For all news and updates from HELP Republicans, visit our websiteor Twitterat @GOPHELP.