President Obama's plan to ease student debt by capping payments at 10 percent of discretionary income and forgiving loans after 20 years of payments is expected to benefit unemployed, or low-paid Americans struggling to repay student loans.

That same day, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau visited the University of Minnesota and announced the latest piece of its "Know Before You Owe" project — designed to help borrowers understand the student loans and mortgages they are committing to repay.

The agency introduced a one-page student loan disclosure sheet that would outline the costs of college before you send in your first tuition payment and is asking for comments. There is also a repayment assistant tool to help borrowers understand the various options for repaying student loans. Both are available at consumerfinance.gov.

In his remarks at the University, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Raj Date admits that transparency alone won't solve the problem of rising college costs, but it's a big step.

Sam Glover, a Minneapolis consumer attorney writing for the Consumer Law and Policy blog sponsored by consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, wonders, "To what end?