New DECIDE Act Demands Colleges Publish Program-Specific Debt and Earnings Data for Borrowers

The new Debt, Earnings, and Cost Information Disclosure for Education Act (DECIDE Act) is taking aim at one of the biggest blind spots in higher education: knowing what you’ll actually earn versus what you’ll actually owe. Essentially, this bill forces the Department of Education to radically upgrade the College Scorecard with granular, program-specific data. Think beyond institution-wide averages; they’ll now have to report on the outcomes of individual degree and certificate programs that receive federal student aid, making it much harder for low-value programs to hide behind the success of others.

The Real Cost of That Degree, Finally

For the first time, prospective students will get a clear, data-driven answer to the question, "What is this specific degree worth?" Under Section 2, the Scorecard must now annually publish several key metrics for every single program. This includes the median earnings ten years after students received federal aid—and here’s the kicker—this data must include students who didn’t finish the program. So, if you drop out of the expensive widget-making certification program, your financial outcome will still be counted, giving a much clearer picture of the risk involved.

This transparency extends directly to your student loan balance. The bill mandates the disclosure of the median debt load for completers of that program, broken down by loan type: Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Graduate PLUS Loans (for grad students), and even Parent PLUS Loans. Before you enroll, you’ll be able to see the average debt other students just like you walked away with. If the median debt for a specialized master’s program is $120,000, you’ll know exactly the financial mountain you are choosing to climb.

Repayment Rates: Who’s Actually Paying It Back?

Beyond just debt and earnings, the DECIDE Act requires the Scorecard to publish program-specific default and repayment rates. The Repayment Rate is defined as the percentage of federal borrowers who graduated and are in a repayment status two years after they were supposed to start paying. This is crucial because it tells you how financially sustainable the program is for the average graduate. If a program has a high debt load and a low repayment rate, that’s a massive red flag that the degree isn’t translating into jobs that pay enough to cover the bills.

While the goal is fantastic—giving consumers the data they need to make a $50,000 investment decision—there are a couple of practical notes. First, the earnings data relies on cohorts from ten years prior, which is necessary for longitudinal tracking but means the numbers won’t reflect the absolute latest market conditions. Second, the Secretary of Education gets some discretion in defining exactly which statuses count toward that “Repayment Rate.” We’ll need to watch to ensure that definition isn't too broad, potentially counting people in extensive forbearance or deferment as “successfully repaying,” which could mask actual financial distress.

Overall, the DECIDE Act is a huge win for transparency and accountability. It shifts the burden of proof onto colleges to demonstrate that their programs offer a return on investment, forcing them to compete not just on prestige, but on concrete financial outcomes for the busy people footing the bill.