This week on a special episode of “Off The Cuff,” Justin is joined by Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education (ACE), to discuss the College Cost Transparency Initiative (CCT) — a coalition of hundreds of institutions aimed at improving transparency of student financial aid offers. Justin and Ted dive into the formation of the CCT task force last year, how higher education advocacy groups and institutions have engaged in the process, the rollout of the initiative’s principles and standards, and future plans for promoting transparency in student financial aid offers. Justin and Ted then go on to discuss what makes them most optimistic about the state of higher education as well as their concerns — and the general landscape of the federal student aid system.