What do you think of CFPB's student debt disclosure form?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week unveiled a model financial disclosure form for colleges and universities to provide to prospective students and their families. The draft "Know Before You Owe" disclosure is intended to give a snapshot of a student's expected costs at a given school, loan and work-study options, and estimated debt after graduation.

Take a look at the form here and tell the CFPB what you think.

Why is such a form needed? As Raj Date, special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the CFPB, told an audience in Minneapolis earlier this week, a challenge for students starting college is comparing financial-aid information from different schools. When the schools don't provide the information exactly the same way, it can be hard for students and their families to make good comparisons and choices.

And terms on financial aid letters aren't always transparent. One letter might talk of an "alternative loan" while another might call the same loan an "institutional loan." Or a letter might use an acronym that's totally mystifying.

"Because the terms are not clear, students and families might not be able to tell which school is more expensive over the long run," Date said. "Instead, too many students end up focused only on the immediate out-of-pocket costs."

Financial-aid letters also don't always disclose to students all the different sources of loans. The federal government, some states, and some non-profits offer loans that can be cheaper than what's available from private lenders, Date said. But student's don't always know their options. "Fifty-four percent of students who take out private loans haven't exhausted their federal loan options," he said. "That means that they may be taking out more expensive, less protected, less flexible loans than necessary."

For more on college financing, check out "Know the limits of the new college net price calculator," and "White House announces plan to cut some student loan payments."

—Tobie Stanger