Newly sworn in Senator Donna Lowenthal (R-Mississippi) introduced the Higher Education Cost Transparency Act as her first bill in the United States Senate today. 

The legislation caps future Federal Direct Loan borrowing at $50,000 for undergraduate/certificate programs, $100,000 for graduate programs, $150,000 for professional graduate programs, and $200,000 total while providing a grandfather provision for current students.

“Before coming to the Senate, I spent years leading the National Responsibility Monitor, where our job was to ask one simple question: are our institutions making decisions that serve the people they're supposed to serve?" Lowenthal said. " Higher education is no different. Colleges should open doors to opportunity, not encourage young Americans to take on unlimited debt without a clear understanding of the financial consequences. This bill restores accountability to the federal student loan system, protects taxpayers, and helps ensure students can pursue their education without being buried under debt for decades.”

The legislation also will require colleges to face program-level consequences when borrowers from a program repeatedly fail to make progress repaying federal loans.

Each institution would face an annual program-level assessment based on the share of borrowers who are “not making progress toward repayment.” That includes borrowers whose balance has not fallen below original principal, borrowers more than 90 days delinquent, or borrowers in default.

“We don’t want to punish an entire school because one program has poor repayment outcomes,” Lowenthal said. “If a college has a strong nursing, engineering, or accounting program, those graduates are likely getting value for their degree and paying back their loans. But if another program at that same school is leaving students with debt they can’t manage and credentials that don’t pay off, then that program needs to improve."