Newsroom

April 11, 2012

Financial student aid shopping tool from CFPB

April 12, 2012 –A beta version of a financial aid comparison shopping tool released Wednesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau allows users to see information from 7,500 schools and includes a calculator targeted to military servicemembers.

The comparison tool is part of the bureau's Know Before You Owe student loan project initiated in October. The initiative included release of a draft Financial Aid Shopping Sheet the CFPB created in consultation with the Department of Education. The shopping sheet was released to help higher education institutions provide uniform, easy-to-understand explanations of the total cost of post-secondary education and financing options.

The Financial Aid Comparison Shopper, unveiled during an event in South Dakota with Senate Banking Chairman Tim Johnson, D-S.D., builds on that by helping students compare information across schools.

"Student loan debt has crossed the $1 trillion mark and tuition continues to climb," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. "Now more than ever, students and their families need to know before they owe. Our Financial Aid Comparison Shopper helps students make apples to apples comparisons of their offers and pick the one that works best for their financial future."

The CFPB received supervisory authority over nonbank providers of private student loans under the Dodd-Frank Act. It released a notice last November seeking information from members of the public on their experiences with the private student loan market and is due to report findings later this year to Congress.

The bureau's authority in this area is expected to gain importance over time as more banks – including J.P. Morgan, the nation's largest private student lender, and U.S. Bank – pull out of the market.

According to the CFPB, colleges will send some 5 million letters of acceptance to about 1.5 million students this year. send letters of acceptance. Outstanding student loan debt had crossed the $1 trillion mark. Student loans have eclipsed credit cards as the leading source of U.S. household debt outside of mortgages, it notes.

The beta version of the Financial Aid Comparison Shopper has more than 7,500 schools and institutions in its database, including vocational schools and community, state, and private colleges. It draws information from publicly available data provided by government statistical agencies. It allows comparisons of financial aid offers and includes a "Military Benefit Calculator" that can estimate education benefits for servicemembers, veterans and their families. The calculator includes military tuition assistance and Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits.

The CFPB last fall also released the Student Debt Repayment Assistant interactive tool and, more recently, implemented a student loan complaint system.


All four tools: