NEW YORK TIMES Editorial: …Many schools market themselves to students without explaining the real costs of attendance. Letters informing them about financial aid awards often blur the distinction between loans and grants to make the school look like a better deal than it is. And once students enroll, they are generally left on their own as they borrow year after year.
The Obama administration has taken some important steps to address these problems. A proposal would require colleges to clearly disclose costs in a standardized “shopping sheet” that would let students see the aid they are receiving and the debt that they would incur. Later this year, it plans to post an Internet “scorecard” that rates each college nationally on affordability and value — defined by graduation rates and whether graduates earn enough on average to repay their debts.
A bill pending in the Senate would require both colleges and lenders to educate students about the differences between federal loans and riskier, more expensive private loans — and their borrowing options. Congress should also require schools to provide in-depth, annual loan counseling to students and set criteria for the information that must be provided. All schools should be required to disclose annually the average debt load of their graduates… (more)
Perhaps we should advocate this sort of full disclosure for all public debt … WK