College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form

The College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form (CATEF) is web-based online collection system. It was designed to facilitate the collection of additional information regarding costs at the institution to the Secretary of Education in an effort to explain why charges to students are increasing at the rate they are . Using this online form, institutions are required to respond to a series of targeted questions designed to identify which institutional expenses increased the most, the reasons behind the increases, and what the institution is doing to address these rising costs. It includes a user-friendly summary page of each institution’s responses designed for public release upon completion of each collection period. The system also includes numerous administrative utilities to assist with the survey review and approval process, such as a complex user/institution search functionality and a bulk email functionality.

The College Affordability and Transparency Explanation Form can be accessed online at https://surveys.ope.ed.gov/CATEF/.

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