A working group established by the National Center for Education Statistics' (NCES) has issued a paper to help colleges and universities identify and meet their obligation to disclose information as required under the HEA (as amended by the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008).

The document includes a summary of HEA disclosure requirements and suggestions to help institutions make the HEA-required disclosure information more accessible and understandable to consumers and more comparable across institutions.

The Requirements

The paper provides a summary of the institutional disclosure requirements in the General Provisions (Title I), Teacher Preparation Program Reports (Title II), and the General Provisions for Title IV (Part G) of the Higher Education Act. It includes the requirements in the HEA prior to the enactment of the HEOA, and the revisions and additions to the disclosure requirements included in the amendments to the HEA in the HEOA and in the Higher Education Technical Corrections Act of 2009. The information provided about the disclosure requirements does not include all the details that are necessary for full compliance, such as definitions of key terms. The document is not a substitute for professional legal advice. Institutions should review official sources for complete information and guidance on complying with each disclosure requirement.

Most of the HEOA additions or revisions to the HEA disclosure requirements were effective upon enactment, August 14, 2008. Institutions were expected to make a good faith effort to comply immediately.

The disclosures are organized in two broad categories:

1. Non-Loan-Related Disclosure Requirements: Availability of Institutional and Financial Aid Information, Student Financial Assistance, General Institutional Information, Teacher Preparation Program Report, Health and Safety, Student Outcomes, Intercollegiate Athletic Program, and Voter Registration

2. Disclosure Requirements Relating to Education Loans: HEA disclosure requirements that are related to Title IV, HEA program loans, and private education loans

The following are the required disclosures that affect financial aid offices:

Information that must be posted on an institution's website

• Net Price Calculator (likely to be effective Nov. 2011)
• Code of Conduct for Education Loans
• Preferred Lender Arrangements

Information that must be made available to the public

• Preferred Lender Arrangements Annual Report

Information that must be made available to current students and their families

• Preferred Lender Lists

Information that must be made available to current and prospective students

Note: These disclosure requirements must be listed and briefly described in the annual notice that must be distributed to all enrolled students.

• Contact Information for Assistance in Obtaining Institutional or Financial Aid Information
• Student Financial Aid Information
• Price of Attendance
• Refund Policy, Requirements for Withdrawal and Return of Title IV, HEA Financial Aid

Information that must be provided to current and prospective students and their families

• Preferred Lender Arrangements
• Preferred Lender Arrangements Annual Report

Information that must be provided to current students

• Notice of Availability of Institutional and Financial Aid Information
• Notice of Federal Student Financial Aid Penalties for Drug Law Violations

Information that must be provided to current employees

• Code of Conduct for Education Loans (agents with responsibility for private education loans or FFELP loans)

Information that must be provided to a prospective student athlete and the student's parents, guidance counselor, and coach

• Completion/Graduation and Transfer-out Rates for Students Receiving Athletically Related Student Aid (Including Disaggregated Completion/Graduation Rates)

Information that must be provided to borrowers or prospective borrowers of education loans

• State Grant Assistance
• Student Loan Information Published by Department of Education
• National Student Loan Data System
• Entrance Counseling for Student Borrowers
• Exit Counseling for Student Borrowers
• Private Education Loan Disclosures (Including Self-Certification Form)

Suggestions for Compliance

The paper provides suggestions for institutions to help consumers make informed decisions about postsecondary education and were also developed with attention to the burden that less-resourced institutions may face in meeting common disclosure standards. The five suggestions will help institutions institute the best methods for increasing consistency of access to HEA disclosure information to consumers across institutions, while preserving institutions' capacity to demonstrate their diversity and their ability to manage their own information.

Suggestion 1. Focus both on compliance and communication.

Institutions want to ensure that they are complying fully with each of the disclosure requirements and that they can readily demonstrate their compliance. Students are likely to seek information without concern for (or even knowledge about) federal disclosure requirements. They will be more likely to find information if headings and titles reflect content, rather than federal mandates. For example, a heading such as "Student Consumer Information" will be more meaningful to students and other consumers than "Federal Disclosures." Similarly, "Graduation Rates" will be more meaningful to students than "Student Right-to-Know Act."

Suggestion 2. Develop a single web page on the institution's website that provides hyperlinks to the HEA disclosure information.

The paper suggests that institutions develop such a portal page and position that page to maximize its accessibility to users. Using a single portal page ensures that institutions preserve their flexibility in collecting and managing their own information, while providing a distinct entrance point on an institution's website for the HEA-required disclosure information. This page can be developed beginning with the list of disclosures in the notice that institutions are required to provide to current students under HEA Sec. 485(a) (see appendix B for a list of the disclosures that must be included in the notice), and then adding the items that are required to be published on an institution's website and the other disclosures that are web-appropriate (see appendix B for a list of required disclosures categorized by required method of dissemination). Development of this page can also be useful to institutions in ensuring that all the required materials are produced and updated as necessary. The portal page can be a resource for employees who have responsibility for distributing the information, responding to requests for information, or assisting students and others in finding information.

Suggestion 3. Adopt a "3-click" approach.

Another strategy to improve consumer access to the HEA disclosure information is to ensure that such information is placed "shallowly" enough to be found using a minimum amount of searching. The paper suggests positioning information so that it can be reached by clicking through no more than three web pages (starting from the institution's home page) and that the information be situated in a university-wide "about" section rather than in a subunit's web page (e.g., financial aid, Registrar, office of general counsel). The information should be accessible from a section of the website that applies to all the relevant audiences (e.g., information that is required to be available for both current and prospective students should not be placed solely under "Current Students").

Suggestion 4. Use consumer-friendly labels and language whenever possible, and avoid institutional/technical jargon.

Institutions should provide information to broaden consumers' understanding of more technical information and/or less commonly used terms. The paper suggests that portal pages embed pop-up or hover-over boxes that spell out commonly used acronyms, provide definitions for terms, and offer one or two sentences of explanatory information. Information should always be clearly labeled with the timeframe for the information (e.g., the calendar years for the security report or the beginning and end dates for graduation rate calculations).

Suggestion 5. Use a common set of content titles.

Institutions should label disclosures by content, rather than the source of the information (e.g., "Refund Policy" rather than "Business Office"). Institutions also should adopt a simple, yet common, set of content titles for the purpose of providing links to information on their HEA disclosures portal page. This will help consumers find and compare information across institutions. The paper includes suggested titles for required disclosures.

Posted 11/02/09 to www.NASFAA.org. Redistribution to non-NASFAA institutions is prohibited. Please submit Web site questions or comments to Web@NASFAA.org.