USA - Student Right to Know Before You Go Act

Last updated on September 5th 2014

Update on Sept. 5th 2014: The act (or rather bill) mentioned below seems to have got stuck at the introduction stage. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1937 states that it has only "4% chance of being enacted"!
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I was very happy that some senators in the USA have introduced a new act which will empower USA students and parents with more information for making crucial higher education decisions.

Here's a press release dated May 9th 2013 about the act, "Sens. Warner, Rubio, Wyden Introduce Student Right to Know Before You Go Act",  http://www.warner.senate.gov/public/...

[Note: The Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license does not apply to this post.]

Some important extracts from the press release are given below:

The legislation would streamline existing institutional reporting requirements to give students and their families more tools to easily compare graduation rates, student loan debt, employment prospects and potential future earnings as they make important decisions about higher education.

...

"Many high school seniors who are heading to college this fall have just paid their tuition deposits, and they likely have real questions about what value they are getting for their money," Sen. Warner said. "This bipartisan legislation will combine relevant information in a rational way so that students and their families can access comparative information on which colleges and which majors will result in a good job.

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“A college education is one of the most important investments an American can make in their lifetime, so it’s critical that we equip potential students and their families with as much information as possible,” Sen. Rubio said. “With this legislation we can finally provide meaningful, easily accessible data to make higher education decisions easier for the 21st century student.”

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“There’s been a needed focus on access to higher education, but it’s time to bring value into the equation,” Sen. Wyden said. “Instead of forcing students to make blind decisions on such a huge investment, this bill would empower them with a wide range of information about what their choices will mean in working world.”

...

Rising educational costs and uncertainty in the job market have made the stakes higher than ever for individuals looking to invest in higher education. According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2012–2013 school year was $29,056 at private colleges, $8,655 for state residents at public colleges, and $21,706 for out-of-state residents attending public universities. Two-thirds of college seniors who graduated in 2011 had student loan debt, with an average of $26,600 per borrower.

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This USA Today article, "Column: Learning blind" by Senators Wyden and Rubio, dated 19th September 2012, is about the same topic and very interesting (to me, at least).

Indian students *must* also have access to similar information about Indian institutions of higher education.

I am deeply thankful to USA senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) for bringing in this legislation. [I wonder whether it is law now.] Readers may wonder why I should be thankful for this law which has been introduced in the USA and not India. Well, I think this USA law can be a model for other countries in the world like India to emulate. I think it will be far easier for Indian legislators to bring in similar laws in India and convince Indian academic administrators and academics about its need, now that the USA has introduced it.