EXCLUSIVE — A bipartisan group of senators is introducing a bill to boost transparency for those taking out federal student loans.
Sens. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Ashley Moody (R-FL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) unveiled the Student Transparency for Understanding Decisions in Education Net Terms, or STUDENT, Act on Wednesday. If passed, it would provide those taking out student loans with a full estimate of the amount of interest they would owe. This estimate is based on the outstanding principal of all loans taken out by the student.
“The only time students should be given a cheat sheet is to reveal the true cost of college tuition,” Ernst said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “My bipartisan bill will pull back the curtain and give our students and their families the tools they need to make the best decisions for their financial future.”
“As college students return to school, many are overwhelmed watching interest pile up on loans they never understood in the first place,” Grassley said. “Our STUDENT Act, along with other legislation I’ve introduced, shines a light on the true costs that students and families face. By increasing transparency, our legislation helps students make more informed decisions and empowers them to succeed.”
Kaine released a similar statement, saying the bill would help students and families by reducing the amount of guesswork to figure out the true extent they will have to pay, reducing the dread surrounding the accrual of unknown levels of debt.
“I’m proud to be introducing bipartisan legislation that will allow student loan applicants to reduce their guess-work by helping them see the total estimate of their loan interest,” Kaine said. “I will continue to work with all my colleagues to get this bill across the finish line and to make the college process less stressful and expensive for all.”
Hassan boasted that the bill would allow student borrowers to make “informed decisions about their financial futures.”
“Taking on student debt is a major financial commitment, and student borrowers have a right to understand exactly what that commitment means in real dollars,” she said.
The bill comes as the student federal financial aid forms, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, are set to arrive on time on Oct. 1 after years of technical glitches delayed their timely rollout. Ernst cosponsored the FAFSA Deadline Act, which ensured the form would be available by Oct. 1 every year. Problems with delays stemmed from an overhaul trying to simplify the application system, triggering glitches that repeatedly pushed the rollout date back months.
The forms that will be available online starting Oct. 1 will cover the 2026-2027 school year. Millions of students fill out the forms to ease the financial burden of education every year.
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The STUDENT Act aims to provide greater financial transparency for the aid garnered from these forms.
The issue of student debt has become a political hotspot in recent years. The total debt held by students is approaching $2 trillion, and over 43 million people hold student loan debt.