Perkins Access, Retention, and Completion (ARC) Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8904 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Federal Perkins ARC loan program, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 8, 2020 Mr. POCAN (for himself, Mr. DESAULNIER, and Ms. SEWELL of Alabama) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Federal Perkins ARC loan program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Perkins Access, Reten- 4 tion, and Completion (ARC) Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 (1) Since the inception of the Federal Perkins 8 Loan Program in 1958, over $28,000,000,000 in 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8904 IH loans have been made to students through more 1 than 25,000,000 aid awards. Millions of students 2 and families in need have been helped by Federal 3 Perkins Loans. 4 (2) The Federal Perkins Loan Program was a 5 revolving fund that utilized a model of risk sharing, 6 local control, and school based servicing that greatly 7 benefited students, borrowers, and institutions of 8 higher education for six decades. 9 (3) In the 2016–2017 academic year, the last 10 year that Federal Perkins Loans were authorized, 11 30 percent of families with dependent students re- 12 ceiving Federal Perkins Loans had annual incomes 13 below $30,000 and 8 percent of families with de- 14 pendent students receiving Federal Perkins Loans 15 had annual incomes below $12,000. 16 (4) Since the expiration of the Federal Perkins 17 Loan Program authorization in 2017, there has been 18 no substitute or replacement aid for college students 19 with need, which has resulted in many students hav- 20 ing to borrow higher cost student loans or withdraw 21 from college altogether. 22 SEC. 3. FEDERAL PERKINS ARC LOANS. 23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part E of title IV of the Higher 24 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) is 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8904 IH amended by inserting before section 461 the following new 1 section: 2 ‘‘SEC. 460A. FEDERAL PERKINS ACCESS, RETENTION, AND 3 COMPLETION ARC LOAN. 4 ‘‘(a) DESIGNATION OF LOANS.—The Secretary shall 5 carry out a program assisting in the maintenance of funds 6 at institutions of higher education for the making of loans 7 to undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in 8 need to pursue their courses of study in such institutions 9 or while engaged in programs of study abroad approved 10 for credit by such institutions. Loans made under this sec- 11 tion shall be known as ‘Federal Perkins ARC Loans’. 12 ‘‘(b) TERMS AND CONDITIONS.—Unless otherwise 13 specified in this section, all terms and conditions and other 14 requirements applicable to Federal Perkins Loans estab- 15 lished under section 461 shall apply to Federal Perkins 16 ARC Loans made pursuant to this section. 17 ‘‘(c) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary may not provide 18 assistance to an institution of higher education under this 19 section unless such institution enters into an agreement 20 with the Secretary under section 463(a). 21 ‘‘(d) ELIGIBLE BORROWERS.—A loan under this sec- 22 tion may only be made to a student who— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8904 IH ‘‘(1) is eligible under section 464(b) (including 1 graduate and professional students as defined in 2 regulations promulgated by the Secretary); 3 ‘‘(2) attends an eligible institution with an 4 agreement with the Secretary under section 463(a); 5 and 6 ‘‘(3) the institution uses its authority under 7 such agreement to award the student a loan.’’. 8 (b) REAUTHORIZATION OF PERKINS LOANS.—Sec- 9 tion 461(b) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 10 U.S.C. 1087aa(b)) is amended— 11 (1) by striking ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—’’; 12 (2) by redesignating subparagraphs (A), (B), 13 and (C) as paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), respectively; 14 and 15 (3) by striking paragraphs (2) and (3). 16 (c) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS FOR PERKINS ARC 17 LOAN.—Section 462 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 18 (20 U.S.C. 1087bb) is amended— 19 (1) by striking subsections (a) and (b); and 20 (2) by inserting before subsection (c) the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(a) AVAILABLE DIRECT PERKINS ARC ANNUAL 23 LOAN AUTHORITY.—There are hereby made available, 24 from funds made available for loans made under part D, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8904 IH not to exceed $6,000,000,000 of annual loan authority for 1 award year 2020–2021 and each succeeding award year 2 until the program is determined by the Secretary to be 3 self-sustaining, to be allocated under subsection (b). 4 ‘‘(b) ALLOCATION BASED ON PREVIOUS ALLOCA- 5 TION.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—From the amount appro- 7 priated pursuant to section 462(b), for each fiscal 8 year, the Secretary shall allocate to each eligible in- 9 stitution an amount equal to not less than 90 per- 10 cent and not more than 110 percent of the amount 11 that the eligible institution received under this sub- 12 section and subsection (a) (as such subsections were 13 in effect with respect to allocations for such fiscal 14 year) for the previous fiscal year for which that in- 15 stitution received funds under this section. 16 ‘‘(2) RATABLE REDUCTION.—If the amount ap- 17 propriated for any fiscal year is less than the 18 amount required to be allocated to all institutions 19 under paragraph (1), then the amount of the alloca- 20 tion to each such institution shall be ratably re- 21 duced. 22 ‘‘(3) NO PREVIOUS ALLOCATION.—In the case 23 of an institution that has not received a previous al- 24 location under this section, the Secretary shall allo- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8904 IH cate funds under this section solely on the basis of 1 the self-help need determination described under 2 subsection (c).’’. 3 (d) CONTINUED LOAN SERVICING.—Section 466 of 4 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ff) is 5 amended by adding at the end the following: 6 ‘‘(d) CONTINUED LOAN SERVICING.—The Secretary 7 shall continue to make payments for student loan servicing 8 to institutions of higher education that service outstanding 9 existing Federal Perkins Loans awarded under part E of 10 title IV prior to the date of the enactment of the Perkins 11 Access, Retention, and Completion (ARC) Act.’’. 12 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:17 Dec 22, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8904.IH H8904 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS