Streamlining Accountability and Value in Education for Students Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1971 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for loan repayment simplification and income-driven repayment reform. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. CORNYN (for himself and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for loan repayment simplification and income-driven re- payment reform. 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 ‘‘Streamlining Account- 4 ability and Value in Education for Students Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. LOAN REPAYMENT SIMPLIFICATION AND INCOME- 6 DRIVEN REPAYMENT REFORM. 7 Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 8 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1971 IS (1) in subsection (d)— 1 (A) in paragraph (1)— 2 (i) in subparagraph (B), by inserting 3 ‘‘not later than June 30, 2024,’’ before ‘‘a 4 graduated’’; 5 (ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting 6 ‘‘not later than June 30, 2024,’’ before 7 ‘‘an extended’’; 8 (iii) in subparagraph (D)— 9 (I) by inserting ‘‘not later than 10 June 30, 2024,’’ before ‘‘an income 11 contingent’’; and 12 (II) by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 13 semicolon; 14 (iv) in subparagraph (E)— 15 (I) by inserting ‘‘and not later 16 than June 30, 2024,’’ after ‘‘begin- 17 ning on July 1, 2009’’; and 18 (II) by striking the period at the 19 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 20 (v) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(F) beginning on July 1, 2024, an income 22 contingent repayment plan known as the ‘Re- 23 vised Pay As You Earn Repayment plan’, con- 24 sistent with subsection (e)(9).’’; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1971 IS (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘in sub- 1 paragraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1)’’ 2 and inserting ‘‘in subparagraph (A) or (F) of 3 paragraph (1)’’; and 4 (C) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘not 5 later than June 30, 2024 and’’ after ‘‘The Sec- 6 retary may provide,’’; and 7 (2) in subsection (e), by adding at the end the 8 following: 9 ‘‘(9) REVISED PAY AS YOU EARN REPAYMENT 10 PLAN.— 11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 12 carry out a Revised Pay As You Earn Repay- 13 ment plan in accordance with section 14 685.209(c) of title 34, Code of Federal Regula- 15 tions, as in effect on December 17, 2015, ex- 16 cept as otherwise provided in this paragraph as 17 follows: 18 ‘‘(i) A borrower may complete loan re- 19 habilitation on a defaulted loan through 20 making eligible payments in accordance 21 with this paragraph for 9 consecutive 22 months. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1971 IS ‘‘(ii) A borrower who no longer wishes 1 to repay under the REPAYE plan may 2 change only to a standard repayment plan. 3 ‘‘(iii) In addition to that provided 4 under paragraph (5)(iv) of such section 5 685.209(c), a qualifying monthly payment 6 may also include a month for which the 7 borrower received— 8 ‘‘(I) deferment under subsection 9 (f)(3) due to receiving treatment for 10 cancer; 11 ‘‘(II) deferment under subsection 12 (f)(2) for rehabilitation training; 13 ‘‘(III) deferment under sub- 14 section (f)(2) for unemployment; 15 ‘‘(IV) deferment under subsection 16 (f)(2) for economic hardship, includ- 17 ing any period of deferment for Peace 18 Corps service; 19 ‘‘(V) deferment under subsection 20 (f)(2) for military service; 21 ‘‘(VI) deferment under subsection 22 (f)(2) for post-active duty service; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1971 IS ‘‘(VII) forbearance under section 1 428(c)(3)(A)(i)(III), for national serv- 2 ice; 3 ‘‘(VIII) forbearance under section 4 685.205(a)(7) of title 34, Code of 5 Federal Regulations, for National 6 Guard Duty; 7 ‘‘(IX) forbearance under section 8 428(c)(3)(A)(i)(IV), for service for 9 which the borrower would qualify for 10 a partial repayment of his or her loan 11 under the Student Loan Repayment 12 Programs administered by the De- 13 partment of Defense; or 14 ‘‘(X) administrative forbearance 15 under paragraph (8) or (9) of section 16 685.205(b) of title 34, Code of Fed- 17 eral Regulations. 18 ‘‘(iv) A borrower shall be automati- 19 cally enrolled in a Revised Pay As You 20 Earn Repayment plan for a loan at 75 21 days delinquent on such loan. 22 ‘‘(v) A borrower who missed quali- 23 fying payments during a forbearance or 24 deferment period not listed in clause (iii), 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1971 IS shall have the opportunity to provide a 1 back payment for the missed payments in 2 order have those payments counted toward 3 the 20-year or 25-year forgiveness period, 4 except there shall be no opportunity to pro- 5 vide a back payment for periods of in- 6 school deferment. 7 ‘‘(vi) For a borrower who is solely an 8 undergraduate borrower— 9 ‘‘(I) who has borrowed $10,000 10 or less in total in loans under this 11 part, not including loan fees, the Sec- 12 retary may determine that the bor- 13 rower has met the loan forgiveness re- 14 quirements after 120 payments under 15 the Revised Pay As You Earn Repay- 16 ment plan; 17 ‘‘(II) who has borrowed more 18 than $10,000 but $11,000 or less in 19 total in loans under this part, not in- 20 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 21 determine that the borrower has met 22 the loan forgiveness requirements 23 after 132 payments under the Revised 24 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1971 IS ‘‘(III) who has borrowed more 1 than $11,000 but $12,000 or less in 2 total in loans under this part, not in- 3 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 4 determine that the borrower has met 5 the loan forgiveness requirements 6 after 144 payments under the Revised 7 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 8 ‘‘(IV) who has borrowed more 9 than $12,000 but $13,000 or less in 10 total in loans under this part, not in- 11 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 12 determine that the borrower has met 13 the loan forgiveness requirements 14 after 156 payments under the Revised 15 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 16 ‘‘(V) who has borrowed more 17 than $13,000 but $14,000 or less in 18 total in loans under this part, not in- 19 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 20 determine that the borrower has met 21 the loan forgiveness requirements 22 after 168 payments under the Revised 23 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1971 IS ‘‘(VI) who has borrowed more 1 than $14,000 but $15,000 or less in 2 total in loans under this part, not in- 3 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 4 determine that the borrower has met 5 the loan forgiveness requirements 6 after 180 payments under the Revised 7 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 8 ‘‘(VII) who has borrowed more 9 than $15,000 but $16,000 or less in 10 total in loans under this part, not in- 11 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 12 determine that the borrower has met 13 the loan forgiveness requirements 14 after 192 payments under the Revised 15 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 16 ‘‘(VIII) who has borrowed more 17 than $16,000 but $17,000 or less in 18 total in loans under this part, not in- 19 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 20 determine that the borrower has met 21 the loan forgiveness requirements 22 after 204 payments under the Revised 23 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1971 IS ‘‘(IX) who has borrowed more 1 than $17,000 but $18,000 or less in 2 total in loans under this part, not in- 3 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 4 determine that the borrower has met 5 the loan forgiveness requirements 6 after 216 payments under the Revised 7 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan; 8 and 9 ‘‘(X) who has borrowed more 10 than $18,000 but $19,000 or less in 11 total in loans under this part, not in- 12 cluding loan fees, the Secretary may 13 determine that the borrower has met 14 the loan forgiveness requirements 15 after 228 payments under the Revised 16 Pay As You Earn Repayment plan. 17 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER OF BORROWERS IN RE- 18 PAYMENT.—Notwithstanding any other provi- 19 sion of this Act, on July 1, 2024, the Secretary 20 shall transfer each borrower who is in repay- 21 ment on a loan made under this part under an 22 income contingent repayment plan pursuant to 23 subsection (d)(1)(D) to the Revised Pay As You 24 Earn Repayment plan under this paragraph.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1971 IS SEC. 3. TAXPAYER AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ON STU- 1 DENT LOANS. 2 Section 487(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 3 (20 U.S.C. 1094(a)) is amended by adding at the end the 4 following: 5 ‘‘(30)(A) The institution certifies that no funds 6 available under this title may be used by an under- 7 graduate student for enrollment in an educational 8 program offered by the institution that is described 9 in subparagraph (B). 10 ‘‘(B) An educational program at an institution 11 is described in this subparagraph if the program is 12 a program— 13 ‘‘(i) in the case of a program that awards 14 an associate’s degree or a lesser degree or cre- 15 dential, in which the median earnings of stu- 16 dents 6 years after the date of entry into the 17 program who are no longer enrolled in the pro- 18 gram and are working is, for not less than 2 of 19 the 3 years preceding the date of the deter- 20 mination, less than the median earnings of a 21 working adult who is aged 25 to 34 with only 22 a high school diploma or its recognized equiva- 23 lent, as determined under subparagraph (C) 24 and in accordance with subparagraph (D); or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1971 IS ‘‘(ii) in the case of a program that awards 1 a bachelor’s degree, in which the median earn- 2 ings of students 10 years after the date of entry 3 into the program who are no longer enrolled in 4 the program and are working is, for not less 5 than 2 of the 3 years preceding the date of the 6 determination, less than the median earnings of 7 a working adult who is aged 25 to 34 with only 8 a high school diploma or its recognized equiva- 9 lent, as determined under subparagraph (C) 10 and in accordance with subparagraph (D). 11 ‘‘(C) The median earnings of a working adult 12 who is aged 25 to 34 with only a high school di- 13 ploma or its recognized equivalent shall be based on 14 data from the Census Bureau— 15 ‘‘(i) for the State in which the institution 16 is located; or 17 ‘‘(ii) if fewer than 50 percent of the stu- 18 dents enrolled in the institution reside in the 19 State where the institution is located, for the 20 entire United States. 21 ‘‘(D) For any year for which the programmatic 22 cohort is fewer than 30 individuals, the Secretary 23 shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1971 IS ‘‘(i) first, aggregate additional years of 1 programmatic data in order to achieve a cohort 2 of at least 30 individuals; 3 ‘‘(ii) second, aggregate additional cohort 4 years of programmatic data for degrees or cer- 5 tificates of equivalent length in order to achieve 6 a cohort of at least 30 individuals; and 7 ‘‘(iii) if such data cannot be aggregated, 8 use an institution-based undergraduate-level 9 measure, in lieu of a programmatic measure. 10 ‘‘(E) An educational program shall not lose eli- 11 gibility under subparagraph (A) unless the institu- 12 tion has had the opportunity to appeal the pro- 13 grammatic median earnings of students working and 14 not enrolled determination. During such appeal, the 15 Secretary may permit the educational program to 16 continue to participate in a program under this title. 17 If an educational program continues to participate 18 in a program under title, and the institution’s appeal 19 of the loss of eligibility is unsuccessful, the institu- 20 tion shall pay to the Secretary an amount equal to 21 the amount of interest, and any related payments 22 made by the Secretary (or which the Secretary is ob- 23 ligated to make) with respect to loans made under 24 this title to students attending, or planning to at- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1971.IS S1971 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 1971 IS tend, that educational program during the pendency 1 of such appeal. 2 ‘‘(31)(A) The institution certifies that no funds 3 available under this title may be used by a graduate 4 student for enrollment in an educational program of- 5 fered by the institution that is described in subpara- 6 graph (B). 7 ‘‘(B) An educational program at an institution 8 is described in this subparagraph if the program is 9 a program— 10 ‘‘(i) in the case of a program that awards 11 a master’s degree or a lesser degree or creden- 12 tial, in which the median earnings of students 13 6 years after the date of entry into the program 14 who are no longer enrolled in the program and 15 are working is, for not less than 2 of the 3 16 years preceding the date of the determination, 17 less than the median earnings of a working 18 adult who is aged 25 to 34 with only a bach- 19 elor’s degree, as determined under subpara- 20 graph (C) and in accordance with subparagraph 21 (D); or 22 ‘‘(ii) in the case of program that awards a 23 professional degree or doctoral degree, in which 24 the median earnings of students 10 years after 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:10 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 0 [Text truncated for display. 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