NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A6155
SPONSOR: Meeks TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to a net price calculator
center for colleges
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To create a centralized net price calculator for every college in the
state
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one adds a new section 689-b to the Education Law to create a
net price calculator center, which would measure the cost of attending a
college after grants and scholarships but before loans, on the Higher
Education Services Corporation (HESC)'s website. Such net price calcula-
tor shall be capable of producing cost estimates for all colleges in the
state after requiring a user to submit household, income, asset, and
other financial information only once. Users shall not be required to
submit the same information anew for each college for which they wish to
receive an estimate.
Section two provides the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
While many public and private colleges boast that only a small fraction
of students wind up paying the published tuition, it can be difficult
for families and individuals to understand exactly how much they are on
the hook for, before they officially apply. This is where net price
calculators, which produce estimates for how much it costs to attend a
college after grants but before loans, come in. Net price calculators,
which many colleges provide online, are critical tools to help families
and individuals determine what kind of higher education they can truly
afford.
Unfortunately, however, the fact that these calculators are hosted on
individual college websites means that users must enter the same finan-
cial information on dependency status, household income, assets, divi-
dends, and more, anew each time they wish to receive an estimated net
price from a college. While the US Department of Education has created a
net price calculator center online, it simply links to individual
colleges' net price calculators on their webpages - limiting the conven-
ience, and thus use, of this tool.
This bill would mandate that the NYS Higher Education Services Corpo-
ration (HESC) partner with the State Department of Education (DOE) to
create and host a net price calculator center on HESC's webpage whiCh
produces estimates for any higher education institution in the state.
The HESC calculator could incorporate data and algorithms from existing
net price calculators, but would require users to enter their financial
information only once before producing net price estimates for any
college. The calculator center would thus act like a one-stop government
shop to help families determine exactly what kind of higher education
they can afford in New York. In the midst of a crippling college afford-
ability and enrollment crisis, easing the college search process by
centralizing transparency tools such as net price calculators is the
least we can do to help families and individuals pursue their dreams.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A10084 of 23-24: referred to higher education
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
TBD
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6155
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 26, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MEEKS -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to a net price calculator
center for colleges
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 689-b
2 to read as follows:
3 § 689-b. Net price calculator center. 1. For the purposes of this
4 section:
5 (a) "Estimated cost of attendance" shall mean the total amount, not
6 including grants and scholarships, that it costs to attend a college,
7 which may include, among other expenses, tuition and fees, housing and
8 meals, allowances for books, supplies, transportation, and dependent
9 care.
10 (b) "Net price" shall mean the estimated cost of attendance at a given
11 college after accounting for financial aid which does not require repay-
12 ment.
13 (c) "Net price calculator" shall mean a tool to calculate net price at
14 a college.
15 2. (a) The president shall, in conjunction with the commissioner,
16 create a net price calculator center which provides a net price calcula-
17 tor tool for all colleges in this state. Such net price calculator
18 center shall be prominently displayed on and easily accessed through the
19 corporation's website.
20 (b) The president and commissioner may incorporate information from
21 existing net price calculators on a college's website when designing the
22 net price calculator tool to be hosted on the corporation's website, but
23 such calculator shall exist as a singular calculator able to provide net
24 prices for all colleges in the state rather than linking to net price
25 calculators on each individual college's website.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08374-01-5
A. 6155 2
1 (c) Such calculator tool shall require a user to enter household
2 income, assets, and other pertinent information at the onset of the use
3 of such tool and then shall use such information to produce an estimated
4 net price for any college in this state. Such tool shall not require the
5 user to enter such information anew for each estimate that such calcula-
6 tor produces.
7 (d) The president and commissioner shall utilize the tuition and
8 related cost information most recently reported by a college when
9 designing the net price calculator described herein. If a college
10 updates its estimated cost of attendance, either on its website or
11 otherwise, the net price calculator shall incorporate such updated costs
12 into its calculations.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
14 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
15 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
16 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
17 on or before such effective date.
