SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1295        FILED ON: 2/15/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 843

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

PRESENTED BY:

Eric P. Lesser

_________________

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act requiring institutions of higher education to provide uniform financial aid information to accepted applicants.

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PETITION OF:

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1295        FILED ON: 2/15/2021

SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 843

[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 754 OF 2019-2020.]

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_______________

In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)

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An Act requiring institutions of higher education to provide uniform financial aid information to accepted applicants.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 15A of the General Laws, as so appearing in the 2018 official edition, is hereby amended by adding following section:-

Section 45. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

“Accepted applicant”, an individual who has been accepted to a full-time undergraduate program at an institution of higher education and applied for financial aid; provided however, that “accepted applicant” shall include a transfer student accepted into a full-time undergraduate program at an institution of higher education.

“Institution of higher education”, a public or private college, university, community college, junior college or other institution of higher education chartered, located, offering courses or otherwise doing business within the commonwealth or authorized by the commonwealth to grant degrees.

“Uniform financial aid information shopping sheet”, the financial aid shopping sheet developed by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the United States Department of Education under 20 U.S.C. 1001 et. seq.

(b) An institution of higher education shall provide each accepted applicant with a uniform financial aid information shopping sheet to assist the accepted applicant with the applicant’s decision to enroll in the institution of higher education. The uniform financial aid information shopping sheet shall be provided to an accepted applicant within a reasonable time prior to the institution’s enrollment deadline. An institution of higher education may additionally provide: (i) an electronic version of the uniform financial aid information shopping sheet in a printable format; (ii) an electronic version of the uniform financial aid information shopping sheet that is readable on a mobile device; or (iii) both.

(c) An institution of higher education may provide additional financial aid information on the uniform financial aid information shopping sheet beyond the required information; provided, however, that any term defined within the uniform financial aid information shopping sheet shall have the same meaning in any additional financial aid information provided by an institution of higher education.

(d) The department of higher education may promulgate regulations to implement this section.

SECTION 2. The uniform financial aid information shopping sheet shall be provided to all accepted applicants as required by section 45 of chapter 15A of the General Laws, as so appearing, beginning in the 2021-2022 academic year.