1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Transparency in Student Loan Consultation Act of 2018 . 2. Findings Congress finds as follows: (1) Loopholes in Federal law allow institutions of higher education and third party consultants that contract with such institutions to provide borrowers with inaccurate or incomplete information, including with respect to borrower repayment options. (2) The Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) does not contain borrower-centered provisions that would allow the Secretary of Education to establish minimum standards governing communications that institutions of higher education and third party consultants may have with borrowers who are no longer enrolled at such an institution. (3) The Higher Education Act of 1965 requires that institutions of higher education provide certain information to borrowers about the borrower’s student loans when the borrower enters and exits the student loan program, but such Act does not require or permit the Department of Education to oversee communications between the institutions or third party consultants and the borrowers after the borrowers are no longer enrolled at an institution. (4) In a report released April, 26, 2018, the Government Accountability Office (hereinafter referred to as GAO ) found that some institutions of higher education hired third party consultants that encouraged student loan borrowers with past-due payments to put loans in forbearance, an option that allows borrowers to temporarily postpone payments. (5) Loan forbearance can help borrowers avoid default in the short-term, but ultimately increases loan costs over time. (6) The GAO found that 5 of the 9 third party consultants hired by institutions of higher education, that served about 800 out of 1,300 institutions, encouraged forbearance over potentially more beneficial options. (7) The GAO also found that 4 of the 5 third party consultants provided inaccurate or incomplete information to borrowers about their repayment options. Inaccurate information