Jun. 21, 2017
HARRISBURG – To better position students for success after college, Rep. Bryan Cutler (R-Peach Bottom) drafted a bill that would make available an online resource to help prospective college students and their parents pick a school to best meet their educational and financial needs. The legislation was passed unanimously by the House Education Committee.
“This is the information families need to make informed decisions that will impact them, not just for four years but many after that,” Cutler said. “Many students now are facing overwhelming student loan bills that prevent them from taking the next steps in life like buying a home, getting married and having children.”
The bill would require the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) to provide direct links to the College Navigator Website, operated by the United States Department of Education, with a description of the uses and features of the website. In the same location on PDE’s website, a direct link to the High Priority Occupations public website of the Department of Labor and Industry must be present, with a description of what high-priority occupations are and how they are identified.
It would also dictate that the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency provide a link on its website to the information offered by PDE and require school entities to annually provide this information to students in grades nine through 12.
Should the United States Department of Education discontinue the College Navigator Website, PDE would be required to create a comparison tool on its website to allow users to quickly and easily examine many of the factors that are important to parents and students, such as net tuition and fees, graduation and retention rates, percentage of students receiving federal aid and average borrowing amounts.
Community colleges, universities within the State System of Higher Education, Penn State, University of Pittsburgh, Temple University, Lincoln University, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and any other institution of higher learning that receives state funding would be required to participate. The legislation would also include nonprofit colleges or universities incorporated in Pennsylvania.
The bill now advances to the full House for consideration.
Representative Bryan Cutler
100th Legislative District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Media Contact: Alison Evans
717.260.6206
aevans@pahousegop.com
RepCutler.com /
Facebook.com/RepBryanCutler
Twitter.com/RepBryanCutler