Responsible Borrowing Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3414 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize institutions of higher education to limit the amount of a Federal loan that an enrolled student may borrow. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. GROTHMAN (for himself, Ms. TENNEY, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. TIFFANY, and Mr. OWENS) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize institutions of higher education to limit the amount of a Federal loan that an enrolled student may borrow. 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 ‘‘Responsible Borrowing 4 Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINED LIMITS. 6 Section 455(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 7 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)) is amended by adding at the end 8 the following new paragraph: 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3414.IH H3414 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 3414 IH ‘‘(4) INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINED LIMITS.— 1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 2 other provision of this Act, an institution of 3 higher education (at the discretion of a finan- 4 cial aid administrator at the institution) may 5 prorate or limit the amount of a loan any stu- 6 dent enrolled in a program of study at that in- 7 stitution may borrow under this part for an 8 academic year or in the aggregate— 9 ‘‘(i) if the institution can reasonably 10 demonstrate that student debt levels are or 11 would be excessive for such program, based 12 on— 13 ‘‘(I) the most recently available 14 data from the Bureau of Labor Sta- 15 tistics for the average or median 16 starting salary in the region in which 17 the institution is located for typical 18 occupations pursued by graduates of 19 such program; or 20 ‘‘(II) the most recently available 21 data from the College Scorecard (or 22 successor website) on the median 23 earnings of students who complete 24 such program; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3414.IH H3414 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 3414 IH ‘‘(ii) in a case in which the student is 1 enrolled on a less than full-time basis or 2 the student is enrolled for less than the pe- 3 riod of enrollment to which the annual loan 4 limit applies under this part, based on the 5 student’s enrollment status; 6 ‘‘(iii) based on the credential level 7 (such as a degree, certificate, or other rec- 8 ognized educational credential) that the 9 student would attain upon completion of 10 such program; or 11 ‘‘(iv) based on the year of the pro- 12 gram for which the student is seeking such 13 loan. 14 ‘‘(B) INCREASES FOR INDIVIDUAL STU- 15 DENTS.—Upon the request of a student whose 16 loan amount for an academic year has been 17 prorated or limited under subparagraph (A), an 18 eligible institution (at the discretion of the fi- 19 nancial aid administrator at the institution) 20 may increase such loan amount to an amount 21 not exceeding the annual loan amount applica- 22 ble to such student under this part for such 23 academic year at the discretion of the financial 24 aid administrator at the institution. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3414.IH H3414 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 3414 IH ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 1 in this paragraph shall be construed to author- 2 ize a proration or limiting of loan amounts by 3 an institution of higher education because of a 4 student’s race, color, religion, sex, marital sta- 5 tus, age, disability, or national origin. 6 ‘‘(D) EXCEPTION FOR CERTAIN STU- 7 DENTS.—This paragraph shall not apply to any 8 student enrolled in a program of study at an el- 9 igible institution as of June 30, 2024, or any 10 loans made under this part to such student for 11 such enrollment, during the period required for 12 the completion of such program.’’. 13 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:10 Jun 02, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3414.IH H3414 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS