Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1968 To modify the annual and aggregate limits of Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans for graduate and professional students, and to terminate Federal Direct PLUS Loans for graduate and professional students, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 14, 2023 Mr. TUBERVILLE (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 modify the annual and aggregate limits of Federal Un- subsidized Stafford Loans for graduate and professional students, and to terminate Federal Direct PLUS Loans for graduate and professional students, 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 ‘‘Graduate Opportunity 4 and Affordable Loans Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1968 IS SEC. 2. LOAN REFORMS. 1 Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 2 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended— 3 (1) in subsection (a)— 4 (A) in paragraph (3)(A)— 5 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 6 by striking ‘‘part B’’ and inserting ‘‘part 7 B—’’; 8 (ii) beginning in the matter preceding 9 clause (i), by striking ‘‘for any period’’ and 10 all that follows through ‘‘professional stu- 11 dent’’ and inserting the following: 12 ‘‘(i) for any period of instruction be- 13 ginning on or after July 1, 2012, a grad- 14 uate or professional student’’; and 15 (iii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘for 16 any period of instruction beginning on July 17 1, 2012 and ending on June 30, 2024 18 (subject to paragraph (4)(C)),’’ before ‘‘the 19 maximum annual’’; and 20 (B) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(4) GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL ANNUAL 22 AND AGGREGATE LIMITS FOR UNSUBSIDIZED STAF- 23 FORD LOANS BEGINNING JULY 1, 2024.— 24 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL LIMITS BEGINNING JULY 1, 25 2024.—Subject to subparagraph (C), beginning 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1968 IS on July 1, 2024, the maximum annual amount 1 of Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 2 loans— 3 ‘‘(i) a graduate student, who is not a 4 professional student, may borrow in any 5 academic year (as defined in section 6 481(a)(2)) or its equivalent shall be 7 $20,500; and 8 ‘‘(ii) a professional student may bor- 9 row in any academic year (as defined in 10 section 481(a)(2)) or its equivalent shall be 11 $40,500. 12 ‘‘(B) AGGREGATE LIMITS BEGINNING JULY 13 1, 2024.—Subject to subparagraph (C), begin- 14 ning on July 1, 2024, the maximum aggregate 15 amount of Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf- 16 ford loans— 17 ‘‘(i) a graduate student, who is not a 18 professional student, may borrow is 19 $65,000, in addition to the amount bor- 20 rowed for undergraduate education; and 21 ‘‘(ii) a professional student may bor- 22 row is $130,000, in addition to the amount 23 borrowed for undergraduate education. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1968 IS ‘‘(C) PHASE OUT PROVISIONS.—Notwith- 1 standing the date of the applicability of the lim- 2 its set forth in this paragraph, an eligible grad- 3 uate student, including a professional student, 4 who received a disbursement of a Federal Di- 5 rect Unsubsidized Stafford loan after June 30, 6 2023, and before July 1, 2024, for the 2023– 7 2024 award year, may receive a Federal Direct 8 Unsubsidized Stafford loan for the 2024–2025 9 award year in amounts that are subject to the 10 annual and aggregate loan limits applicable 11 prior to July 1, 2024, if the borrower did not 12 graduate prior to the 2024–2025 award year. 13 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 14 ‘‘(i) GRADUATE STUDENT.—The term 15 ‘graduate student’ means a student en- 16 rolled in a program at the 17 postbaccalaureate level, such as a 18 postbaccalaureate certificate, a master’s 19 degree, or a doctor’s degree. 20 ‘‘(ii) PROFESSIONAL STUDENT.—The 21 term ‘professional student’ means a stu- 22 dent enrolled in a doctor’s degree-profes- 23 sional practice program. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1968 IS ‘‘(iii) POSTBACCALAUREATE CERTIFI- 1 CATE; MASTER’S DEGREE; DOCTOR’S DE- 2 GREE; DOCTOR’S DEGREE PROFESSIONAL- 3 PRACTICE.—The terms ‘postbaccalaureate 4 certificate’, ‘master’s degree’, ‘doctor’s de- 5 gree’, and ‘doctor’s degree professional- 6 practice’ shall have the meaning provided 7 in the 2022–2023 glossary of the Inte- 8 grated Postsecondary Education Data Sys- 9 tem (OMB NO. 1859–0582 v. 30). 10 ‘‘(5) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY TO MAKE 11 FEDERAL DIRECT PLUS LOANS TO GRADUATE AND 12 PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS.— 13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 14 other provision of law, for any period of instruc- 15 tion beginning on or after July 1, 2024, a grad- 16 uate student (including a professional student) 17 shall not be eligible to receive a Federal Direct 18 PLUS Loan under this part for enrollment in 19 a program of graduate or doctor’s degree pro- 20 fessional-practice education. 21 ‘‘(B) PHASE OUT PROVISIONS.—Not later 22 than 30 days after the date of enactment of the 23 ‘Graduate Opportunity and Affordable Loans 24 Act’, each institution of higher education that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1968 IS enrolls graduate students or professional stu- 1 dents shall notify prospective and enrolled grad- 2 uate students and professional students that 3 the Federal Direct PLUS Loan program will 4 end for graduate students and professional stu- 5 dents on June 30, 2024. 6 ‘‘(C) DEFINITIONS.—The definitions in 7 paragraph (4)(D) shall apply to this paragraph. 8 ‘‘(6) INSTITUTIONALLY-DETERMINED LIMITS.— 9 Notwithstanding any other provision of this part, an 10 eligible institution (at the discretion of a financial 11 aid administrator at the institution) may prorate or 12 limit the amount of a loan a student who is enrolled 13 in a program of study at that institution for a pe- 14 riod of instruction beginning on or after July 1, 15 2024, may borrow under this part for an academic 16 year, as long as any proration or limit is applied 17 consistently to all borrowers entering such program 18 of study.’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:09 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1968.IS S1968 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS