Us Congress 2023-2024 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1971 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	118THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1971
5	5	To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for loan repayment
6	6	simplification and income-driven repayment reform.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	JUNE14, 2023
9	9	Mr. C
10	10	ORNYN(for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill;
11	11	which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu-
12	12	cation, Labor, and Pensions
13	13	A BILL
14	14	To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide
15	15	for loan repayment simplification and income-driven re-
16	16	payment reform.
17	17	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
18	18	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
19	19	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
20	20	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Streamlining Account-4
21	21	ability and Value in Education for Students Act’’. 5
22	22	SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT SIMPLIFICATION AND INCOME- 6
23	23	DRIVEN REPAYMENT REFORM. 7
24	24	Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 8
25	25	U.S.C. 1087e) is amended— 9
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28	28	•S 1971 IS
29	29	(1) in subsection (d)— 1
30	30	(A) in paragraph (1)— 2
31	31	(i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 3
32	32	‘‘not later than June 30, 2024,’’ before ‘‘a 4
33	33	graduated’’; 5
34	34	(ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 6
35	35	‘‘not later than June 30, 2024,’’ before 7
36	36	‘‘an extended’’; 8
37	37	(iii) in subparagraph (D)— 9
38	38	(I) by inserting ‘‘not later than 10
39	39	June 30, 2024,’’ before ‘‘an income 11
40	40	contingent’’; and 12
41	41	(II) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 13
42	42	semicolon; 14
43	43	(iv) in subparagraph (E)— 15
44	44	(I) by inserting ‘‘and not later 16
45	45	than June 30, 2024,’’ after ‘‘begin-17
46	46	ning on July 1, 2009’’; and 18
47	47	(II) by striking the period at the 19
48	48	end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20
49	49	(v) by adding at the end the following: 21
50	50	‘‘(F) beginning on July 1, 2024, an income 22
51	51	contingent repayment plan known as the ‘Re-23
52	52	vised Pay As You Earn Repayment plan’, con-24
53	53	sistent with subsection (e)(9).’’; 25
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56	56	•S 1971 IS
57	57	(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘in sub-1
58	58	paragraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1)’’ 2
59	59	and inserting ‘‘in subparagraph (A) or (F) of 3
60	60	paragraph (1)’’; and 4
61	61	(C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘not 5
62	62	later than June 30, 2024 and’’ after ‘‘The Sec-6
63	63	retary may provide,’’; and 7
64	64	(2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 8
65	65	following: 9
66	66	‘‘(9) R
67	67	EVISED PAY AS YOU EARN REPAYMENT 10
68	68	PLAN.— 11
69	69	‘‘(A) I
70	70	N GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 12
71	71	carry out a Revised Pay As You Earn Repay-13
72	72	ment plan in accordance with section 14
73	73	685.209(c) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula-15
74	74	tions, as in effect on December 17, 2015, ex-16
75	75	cept as otherwise provided in this paragraph as 17
76	76	follows: 18
77	77	‘‘(i) A borrower may complete loan re-19
78	78	habilitation on a defaulted loan through 20
79	79	making eligible payments in accordance 21
80	80	with this paragraph for 9 consecutive 22
81	81	months. 23
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84	84	•S 1971 IS
85	85	‘‘(ii) A borrower who no longer wishes 1
86	86	to repay under the REPAYE plan may 2
87	87	change only to a standard repayment plan. 3
88	88	‘‘(iii) In addition to that provided 4
89	89	under paragraph (5)(iv) of such section 5
90	90	685.209(c), a qualifying monthly payment 6
91	91	may also include a month for which the 7
92	92	borrower received— 8
93	93	‘‘(I) deferment under subsection 9
94	94	(f)(3) due to receiving treatment for 10
95	95	cancer; 11
96	96	‘‘(II) deferment under subsection 12
97	97	(f)(2) for rehabilitation training; 13
98	98	‘‘(III) deferment under sub-14
99	99	section (f)(2) for unemployment; 15
100	100	‘‘(IV) deferment under subsection 16
101	101	(f)(2) for economic hardship, includ-17
102	102	ing any period of deferment for Peace 18
103	103	Corps service; 19
104	104	‘‘(V) deferment under subsection 20
105	105	(f)(2) for military service; 21
106	106	‘‘(VI) deferment under subsection 22
107	107	(f)(2) for post-active duty service; 23
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110	110	•S 1971 IS
111	111	‘‘(VII) forbearance under section 1
112	112	428(c)(3)(A)(i)(III), for national serv-2
113	113	ice; 3
114	114	‘‘(VIII) forbearance under section 4
115	115	685.205(a)(7) of title 34, Code of 5
116	116	Federal Regulations, for National 6
117	117	Guard Duty; 7
118	118	‘‘(IX) forbearance under section 8
119	119	428(c)(3)(A)(i)(IV), for service for 9
120	120	which the borrower would qualify for 10
121	121	a partial repayment of his or her loan 11
122	122	under the Student Loan Repayment 12
123	123	Programs administered by the De-13
124	124	partment of Defense; or 14
125	125	‘‘(X) administrative forbearance 15
126	126	under paragraph (8) or (9) of section 16
127	127	685.205(b) of title 34, Code of Fed-17
128	128	eral Regulations. 18
129	129	‘‘(iv) A borrower shall be automati-19
130	130	cally enrolled in a Revised Pay As You 20
131	131	Earn Repayment plan for a loan at 75 21
132	132	days delinquent on such loan. 22
133	133	‘‘(v) A borrower who missed quali-23
134	134	fying payments during a forbearance or 24
135	135	deferment period not listed in clause (iii), 25
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138	138	•S 1971 IS
139	139	shall have the opportunity to provide a 1
140	140	back payment for the missed payments in 2
141	141	order have those payments counted toward 3
142	142	the 20-year or 25-year forgiveness period, 4
143	143	except there shall be no opportunity to pro-5
144	144	vide a back payment for periods of in- 6
145	145	school deferment. 7
146	146	‘‘(vi) For a borrower who is solely an 8
147	147	undergraduate borrower— 9
148	148	‘‘(I) who has borrowed $10,000 10
149	149	or less in total in loans under this 11
150	150	part, not including loan fees, the Sec-12
151	151	retary may determine that the bor-13
152	152	rower has met the loan forgiveness re-14
153	153	quirements after 120 payments under 15
154	154	the Revised Pay As You Earn Repay-16
155	155	ment plan; 17
156	156	‘‘(II) who has borrowed more 18
157	157	than $10,000 but $11,000 or less in 19
158	158	total in loans under this part, not in-20
159	159	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 21
160	160	determine that the borrower has met 22
161	161	the loan forgiveness requirements 23
162	162	after 132 payments under the Revised 24
163	163	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 25
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166	166	•S 1971 IS
167	167	‘‘(III) who has borrowed more 1
168	168	than $11,000 but $12,000 or less in 2
169	169	total in loans under this part, not in-3
170	170	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 4
171	171	determine that the borrower has met 5
172	172	the loan forgiveness requirements 6
173	173	after 144 payments under the Revised 7
174	174	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 8
175	175	‘‘(IV) who has borrowed more 9
176	176	than $12,000 but $13,000 or less in 10
177	177	total in loans under this part, not in-11
178	178	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 12
179	179	determine that the borrower has met 13
180	180	the loan forgiveness requirements 14
181	181	after 156 payments under the Revised 15
182	182	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 16
183	183	‘‘(V) who has borrowed more 17
184	184	than $13,000 but $14,000 or less in 18
185	185	total in loans under this part, not in-19
186	186	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 20
187	187	determine that the borrower has met 21
188	188	the loan forgiveness requirements 22
189	189	after 168 payments under the Revised 23
190	190	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 24
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193	193	•S 1971 IS
194	194	‘‘(VI) who has borrowed more 1
195	195	than $14,000 but $15,000 or less in 2
196	196	total in loans under this part, not in-3
197	197	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 4
198	198	determine that the borrower has met 5
199	199	the loan forgiveness requirements 6
200	200	after 180 payments under the Revised 7
201	201	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 8
202	202	‘‘(VII) who has borrowed more 9
203	203	than $15,000 but $16,000 or less in 10
204	204	total in loans under this part, not in-11
205	205	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 12
206	206	determine that the borrower has met 13
207	207	the loan forgiveness requirements 14
208	208	after 192 payments under the Revised 15
209	209	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 16
210	210	‘‘(VIII) who has borrowed more 17
211	211	than $16,000 but $17,000 or less in 18
212	212	total in loans under this part, not in-19
213	213	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 20
214	214	determine that the borrower has met 21
215	215	the loan forgiveness requirements 22
216	216	after 204 payments under the Revised 23
217	217	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 24
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220	220	•S 1971 IS
221	221	‘‘(IX) who has borrowed more 1
222	222	than $17,000 but $18,000 or less in 2
223	223	total in loans under this part, not in-3
224	224	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 4
225	225	determine that the borrower has met 5
226	226	the loan forgiveness requirements 6
227	227	after 216 payments under the Revised 7
228	228	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 8
229	229	and 9
230	230	‘‘(X) who has borrowed more 10
231	231	than $18,000 but $19,000 or less in 11
232	232	total in loans under this part, not in-12
233	233	cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 13
234	234	determine that the borrower has met 14
235	235	the loan forgiveness requirements 15
236	236	after 228 payments under the Revised 16
237	237	Pay As You Earn Repayment plan. 17
238	238	‘‘(B) T
239	239	RANSFER OF BORROWERS IN RE -18
240	240	PAYMENT.—Notwithstanding any other provi-19
241	241	sion of this Act, on July 1, 2024, the Secretary 20
242	242	shall transfer each borrower who is in repay-21
243	243	ment on a loan made under this part under an 22
244	244	income contingent repayment plan pursuant to 23
245	245	subsection (d)(1)(D) to the Revised Pay As You 24
246	246	Earn Repayment plan under this paragraph.’’. 25
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249	249	•S 1971 IS
250	250	SEC. 3. TAXPAYER AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ON STU-1
251	251	DENT LOANS. 2
252	252	Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 3
253	253	(20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 4
254	254	following: 5
255	255	‘‘(30)(A) The institution certifies that no funds 6
256	256	available under this title may be used by an under-7
257	257	graduate student for enrollment in an educational 8
258	258	program offered by the institution that is described 9
259	259	in subparagraph (B). 10
260	260	‘‘(B) An educational program at an institution 11
261	261	is described in this subparagraph if the program is 12
262	262	a program— 13
263	263	‘‘(i) in the case of a program that awards 14
264	264	an associate’s degree or a lesser degree or cre-15
265	265	dential, in which the median earnings of stu-16
266	266	dents 6 years after the date of entry into the 17
267	267	program who are no longer enrolled in the pro-18
268	268	gram and are working is, for not less than 2 of 19
269	269	the 3 years preceding the date of the deter-20
270	270	mination, less than the median earnings of a 21
271	271	working adult who is aged 25 to 34 with only 22
272	272	a high school diploma or its recognized equiva-23
273	273	lent, as determined under subparagraph (C) 24
274	274	and in accordance with subparagraph (D); or 25
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277	277	•S 1971 IS
278	278	‘‘(ii) in the case of a program that awards 1
279	279	a bachelor’s degree, in which the median earn-2
280	280	ings of students 10 years after the date of entry 3
281	281	into the program who are no longer enrolled in 4
282	282	the program and are working is, for not less 5
283	283	than 2 of the 3 years preceding the date of the 6
284	284	determination, less than the median earnings of 7
285	285	a working adult who is aged 25 to 34 with only 8
286	286	a high school diploma or its recognized equiva-9
287	287	lent, as determined under subparagraph (C) 10
288	288	and in accordance with subparagraph (D). 11
289	289	‘‘(C) The median earnings of a working adult 12
290	290	who is aged 25 to 34 with only a high school di-13
291	291	ploma or its recognized equivalent shall be based on 14
292	292	data from the Census Bureau— 15
293	293	‘‘(i) for the State in which the institution 16
294	294	is located; or 17
295	295	‘‘(ii) if fewer than 50 percent of the stu-18
296	296	dents enrolled in the institution reside in the 19
297	297	State where the institution is located, for the 20
298	298	entire United States. 21
299	299	‘‘(D) For any year for which the programmatic 22
300	300	cohort is fewer than 30 individuals, the Secretary 23
301	301	shall— 24
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304	304	•S 1971 IS
305	305	‘‘(i) first, aggregate additional years of 1
306	306	programmatic data in order to achieve a cohort 2
307	307	of at least 30 individuals; 3
308	308	‘‘(ii) second, aggregate additional cohort 4
309	309	years of programmatic data for degrees or cer-5
310	310	tificates of equivalent length in order to achieve 6
311	311	a cohort of at least 30 individuals; and 7
312	312	‘‘(iii) if such data cannot be aggregated, 8
313	313	use an institution-based undergraduate-level 9
314	314	measure, in lieu of a programmatic measure. 10
315	315	‘‘(E) An educational program shall not lose eli-11
316	316	gibility under subparagraph (A) unless the institu-12
317	317	tion has had the opportunity to appeal the pro-13
318	318	grammatic median earnings of students working and 14
319	319	not enrolled determination. During such appeal, the 15
320	320	Secretary may permit the educational program to 16
321	321	continue to participate in a program under this title. 17
322	322	If an educational program continues to participate 18
323	323	in a program under title, and the institution’s appeal 19
324	324	of the loss of eligibility is unsuccessful, the institu-20
325	325	tion shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to 21
326	326	the amount of interest, and any related payments 22
327	327	made by the Secretary (or which the Secretary is ob-23
328	328	ligated to make) with respect to loans made under 24
329	329	this title to students attending, or planning to at-25
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332	332	•S 1971 IS
333	333	tend, that educational program during the pendency 1
334	334	of such appeal. 2
335	335	‘‘(31)(A) The institution certifies that no funds 3
336	336	available under this title may be used by a graduate 4
337	337	student for enrollment in an educational program of-5
338	338	fered by the institution that is described in subpara-6
339	339	graph (B). 7
340	340	‘‘(B) An educational program at an institution 8
341	341	is described in this subparagraph if the program is 9
342	342	a program— 10
343	343	‘‘(i) in the case of a program that awards 11
344	344	a master’s degree or a lesser degree or creden-12
345	345	tial, in which the median earnings of students 13
346	346	6 years after the date of entry into the program 14
347	347	who are no longer enrolled in the program and 15
348	348	are working is, for not less than 2 of the 3 16
349	349	years preceding the date of the determination, 17
350	350	less than the median earnings of a working 18
351	351	adult who is aged 25 to 34 with only a bach-19
352	352	elor’s degree, as determined under subpara-20
353	353	graph (C) and in accordance with subparagraph 21
354	354	(D); or 22
355	355	‘‘(ii) in the case of program that awards a 23
356	356	professional degree or doctoral degree, in which 24
357	357	the median earnings of students 10 years after 25
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360	360	•S 1971 IS
361	361	the date of entry into the program who are no 1
362	362	longer enrolled in the program and are working 2
363	363	is, for not less than 2 of the 3 years preceding 3
364	364	the date of the determination, less than the me-4
365	365	dian earnings of a working adult who is aged 5
366	366	25 to 34 with only a bachelor’s degree, as de-6
367	367	termined under subparagraph (C) and in ac-7
368	368	cordance with subparagraph (D). 8
369	369	‘‘(C) The median earnings of a working adult 9
370	370	who is aged 25 to 34 with only a bachelor’s degree 10
371	371	shall be based on data from the Census Bureau— 11
372	372	‘‘(i) for the State in which the institution 12
373	373	is located; or 13
374	374	‘‘(ii) if fewer than 50 percent of the stu-14
375	375	dents enrolled in the institution reside in the 15
376	376	State where the institution is located, for the 16
377	377	entire United States. 17
378	378	‘‘(D) For any year for which the programmatic 18
379	379	cohort is fewer than 30 individuals, the Secretary 19
380	380	shall— 20
381	381	‘‘(i) first, aggregate additional years of 21
382	382	programmatic data in order to achieve a cohort 22
383	383	of at least 30 individuals; 23
384	384	‘‘(ii) second, aggregate additional cohort 24
385	385	years of programmatic data for degrees or cer-25
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388	388	•S 1971 IS
389	389	tificates of equivalent length in order to achieve 1
390	390	a cohort of at least 30 individuals; and 2
391	391	‘‘(iii) if such data cannot be aggregated, 3
392	392	use an institution-based graduate-level measure, 4
393	393	in lieu of a programmatic measure. 5
394	394	‘‘(E) An educational program shall not lose eli-6
395	395	gibility under subparagraph (A) unless the institu-7
396	396	tion has had the opportunity to appeal the pro-8
397	397	grammatic median earnings of students working and 9
398	398	not enrolled determination. During such appeal, the 10
399	399	Secretary may permit the educational program to 11
400	400	continue to participate in a program under this title. 12
401	401	If an educational program continues to participate 13
402	402	in a program under title, and the institution’s appeal 14
403	403	of the loss of eligibility is unsuccessful, the institu-15
404	404	tion shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to 16
405	405	the amount of interest, and any related payments 17
406	406	made by the Secretary (or which the Secretary is ob-18
407	407	ligated to make) with respect to loans made under 19
408	408	this title to students attending, or planning to at-20
409	409	tend, that educational program during the pendency 21
410	410	of such appeal.’’. 22
411	411	SEC. 4. PHASE OUT OF INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT. 23
412	412	Section 493C of the Higher Education Act of 1965 24
413	413	(20 U.S.C. 1098e) is amended— 25
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416	416	•S 1971 IS
417	417	(1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘who en-1
418	418	ters repayment on such loan before July 1, 2024 2
419	419	and’’ after ‘‘a borrower of any loan made, insured, 3
420	420	or guaranteed under part B or D (other than an ex-4
421	421	cepted PLUS loan or excepted consolidation loan)’’; 5
422	422	and 6
423	423	(2) in subsection (e)— 7
424	424	(A) in the subsection heading by inserting 8
425	425	‘‘
426	426	ANDBEFOREJULY1, 2024’’ after ‘‘JULY1, 9
427	427	2014’’; and 10
428	428	(B) by inserting ‘‘, and before July 1, 11
429	429	2024’’ after ‘‘July 1, 2014’’. 12
430	430	Æ
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