1. Department of Education 1

2. Improving Transparency & Accountability  President tasked ED to provide relevant information to students and families to help them make better choices when considering their higher education options particularly for veterans, military spouses, and their families  Led to several new tools to support choice process: –College Scorecard –Financial Aid Shopping Sheet 2

3. Information to Inform Choice Provide prospective veteran and service member students with a personalized and standardized form to help understand the total cost of the educational program including: tuition and fees; the amount of that cost that will be covered by Federal educational benefits; the type and amount of financial aid they may qualify for; their estimated student loan debt upon graduation; information about student outcomes; and other information to facilitate comparison of aid packages offered by different educational institutions. 3

4. Inform veteran and service member students about the availability of Federal financial aid and have in place policies to alert those students of their potential eligibility for that aid before packaging or arranging private student loans or alternative financing programs. Information to Inform Choice

5. Suite of Consumer Choice Tools CATC with Scorecards College Navigator “Shopping Sheet” Aid Offer Comparison Tools ED Institution Private Sector or Government 5 Where to apply Where to enroll

6. College Scorecard Stage of choice process: identifying where to apply Added to the College Affordability & Transparency Center this month 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

7. College Scorecard

9. 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 Fulfills information requirements for key pieces of Executive Order 13607 9

10. Shopping Sheet http://www2.ed.gov/policy/highered/guid/aid-offer/annotatedshoppingsheet.pdf