By: Seliger S.B. No. 887
(In the Senate - Filed February 14, 2017; February 28, 2017,
read first time and referred to Committee on Higher Education;
March 13, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; March 13, 2017,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 887 By: Seliger
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a requirement that certain participating institutions
under the student loan program administered by the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating Board provide loan debt information to
certain students.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 52, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 52.335 to read as follows:
Sec. 52.335. REQUIRED LOAN DEBT DISCLOSURE. (a) This
section applies to a participating higher educational institution
that enrolls one or more students receiving state financial aid
administered by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
(b) At least annually a participating higher educational
institution to which this section applies that receives education
loan information for a student enrolled at the institution shall
provide to that student in an electronic communication the
following information:
(1) an estimate of the total amount of state and
federal education loans incurred by the student;
(2) an estimate of the total payoff amount, or a range
for that amount, for the amount described by Subdivision (1),
including principal and interest; and
(3) an estimate of the monthly repayment amount that
the student may incur for the repayment of the amount described by
Subdivision (1), including principal and interest.
(c) A participating higher educational institution is
required to include in the disclosure only education loan debt
information regarding the student that the institution:
(1) receives or otherwise obtains from the United
States Department of Education's central database for student aid;
and
(2) may reasonably collect from its own records.
(d) The disclosure required under this section must:
(1) identify the types of education loans included in
the institution's estimates; and
(2) include:
(A) a statement that the disclosure is not a
complete and official record of the student's education loan debt;
(B) an explanation regarding why the disclosure
may not be complete or accurate, including an explanation that for a
transfer student, the institution's estimates regarding state
loans reflect only state loans incurred by the student for
attendance at the institution; and
(C) a statement that the institution's estimates
are general in nature and are not intended as a guarantee or
promise.
(e) A participating higher educational institution does not
incur liability for any representation made under this section.
(f) The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board shall
adopt rules for the administration of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 52.335, Education Code, as added by this
Act, applies beginning with the 2018-2019 academic year.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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