“Know Before You Owe” Financial Aid Shopping Sheet

To help students better understand how much each college would actually cost them, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPFB) and the U.S. Department of Education (Department) have developed a “Know Before You Owe” financial aid shopping sheet. This draft form takes an important step toward helping students and their families make more informed decisions about how to pay for college and which college to attend. As President Obama remarked in Ohio earlier this week, “You don’t want to owe and then know.”

We recently submitted comments on the draft financial aid shopping sheet, pointing out the most critical elements to include (such as the full cost of attendance and net price) and providing recommendations to make the form even more helpful to students. For example, we emphasize the need to avoid appearing to endorse risky borrowing through private student loans.

We encourage you to submit your own comments on the CFPB’s “Know Before You Owe” webpage. Tell the Department and CFPB what information you wish you had known before deciding where to go to college and how to pay for it. Your feedback is valuable!