Education officials aim at college junk fees

Another change would end automatic book fees

The Biden administration is considering new regulations on colleges to curb hidden fees for things such as food and textbooks.

The changes are part of a bundle of reforms the Education Department is debating this week during a fresh round of policy discussions. The talks largely are centered on heightening federal scrutiny of the higher education industry − a priority President Joe Biden has indicated is a piece of his efforts to bring down the cost of college and ease the student loan debt it causes.

“The president told me directly that he wants us to be equally as aggressive with debt relief and accountability,” said Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on a call with reporters in October.

Under some of the proposed changes to federal law, universities would be barred from pocketing some of the leftover money they get for lowincome students whose school meal plans are paid for using federal financial aid.

At many colleges, students use special meal funds − called “flex” accounts − to help cover part of their food expenses, at grocery stores, for example.

Money in those accounts can come from the federal government, which helps colleges with financial aid programs. But students don’t always use all their “flex” money by the end of the year, and in some cases, schools end up keeping the difference.

That’s not fair, the department argues.

The agency says schools should give money back to students who need it.

“Our concern is that, collectively, it does represent a lot of money,” Greg Martin, an Education Department official, said in Monday’s discussions. “That is student money.”

A separate change would prevent most colleges and universities from automatically charging students for books and supplies. Under current rules, schools can include fees for books and supplies as part of required bills for “tuition and fees,” even when students can find materials at cheaper prices from other sources.

“The department is concerned that lack of disclosure and transparency limits students’ ability to find less expensive materials or assess if their school is offering the most affordable arrangement,” the proposed rule says.

Advocates for textbook affordability lauded the move. The current state of automatic billing programs means that in some cases, students are charged for resources they could have gotten for a better price, said Daniel Williamson, managing director of the education nonprofit OpenStax.

“Getting charged for something you can get for free, that’s the definition of a junk fee,” he said in an email.

In a statement last week, Undersecretary James Kvaal, another official in Biden’s Education Department, called the proposed rules “consumer-friendly policies” and said they will help more college students pay for school.

“These efforts are another step in improving the higher education system and ensuring colleges are providing all students with high-quality opportunities for upward social and economic mobility,” he said.

Opponents: New college dining rules could raise costs

Federal negotiators brought in by the Education Department were divided Monday on the merits of some of the changes.

David Cohen, a representative for proprietary institutions, said the proposed changes to meal plan policies are a “bad idea.”

“Colleges offer meal plans, not restaurants,” he said.

Others warned the proposal could end up raising prices for students in other ways. Robert Nelson, president of the National Association of College and University Food Services, said that although his organization hasn’t taken a stance on the plan and was still studying it, it could end up hurting students’ bottom lines.

“It does, on its surface, appear to be something that is going to increase costs for students,” he told USA TODAY. “Today, I don’t think we need to be increasing the cost of getting an education.”

With any change to federal education policy, there are always pros and cons, said Emmanual Guillory, the senior director of government relations for the American Council on Education, a higher ed lobbying group. His group hasn’t taken a position on the proposals either. But he cautioned that colleges often use that leftover federal money to offset other prices for students. Some use them to cover food services labor or pay for vendor contracts.

Schools could pass the buck back to students, he said.

“We understand the department’s intent,” he told USA TODAY. “What’s going untold is how institutions are using these resources.”

Yet the extra money would have been welcome for Magin Misael Sanchez, a negotiator in the talks representing civil rights organizations and consumer advocates. He said that as a poor college student, he could have put the financial help toward moving expenses − one of the many hidden costs of college that can make higher education unaffordable, and unexpectedly so, for many Americans.

“It’s important,” he said. “It’s returning students money so they can have their own choice.”

The Education Department will continue discussing policies over the next few months and must publish a final version of the new rules by November.