The DECIDE Act is designed to give students and families better information about college programs and their financial outcomes. Right now, when people choose a college or program, they often don't know how much debt graduates end up with or how much they typically earn after finishing. This bill fixes that by requiring the Department of Education to add detailed information to the College Scorecard—a public tool that already shows college data.

Specifically, the bill requires colleges to report program-by-program information, including how much money graduates from each program earn ten years after starting (whether they finished or not), how much student loan debt they have when they start repaying loans, and how many borrowers are actually paying back their loans versus defaulting. For graduate programs, it also tracks Parent PLUS loans that parents take out for their kids' education. At the institution level, colleges must report overall default rates and repayment rates across all their programs.

The goal is straightforward: give prospective students concrete facts about whether a particular program is worth the cost. If a program leaves graduates with $100,000 in debt but they only earn $30,000 a year, that information would be visible to students before they enroll. This transparency is meant to help students make smarter decisions about their education and help hold colleges accountable for their graduates' financial outcomes.