Mentor: Rep. Bonamici [D-OR]
Cosponsors: 7 (7D; 0R)
Lead:
NASFAA Summation & Studies: This bill would require the Secretary of Education to create an outreach program to borrowers who will be entering repayment after the payment pause created by the COVID-19 pandemic, slated to begin would start at least 60 days prior to the restart of payments, and would include a minimum of 6 reach out attempts, including information like, when the borrower’s normal payment will begin and that the borrower may be eligible to enroll in an IDR plan. Special priority for notifications would be given to borrowers who had in the past five years missed a payment in the first three months of entering repayment, or had been in a non-administrative forbearance or deferment.
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski [R-AK]
Cosponsors: 4
Introduced:
NASFAA Conclusion & Research: This bill would eliminate penalties and deterrents that prevent institutions from informing students about student loans offered by non-profit state agency lenders.
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski [R-AK]
Cosponsors: 2
Introduced:
NASFAA Conclusion & Study: This bill would allow borrowers to switch between different repayment plans based on their situation without first being put into a forbearance payday loans Warsaw IN or standard repayment plan while the transfer is made.
Sponsor: Rep. Van Duyne [R-TX]
Cosponsors: 0
Introduced:
NASFAA Conclusion & Analysis: This bill would now include PLUS loans made to graduate students and parents in the calculation for an institution’s Cohort Default Rate (CDR) so that any default in these loans is now included in the calculation.
Sponsor: Rep. Turner [R-OH]
Cosponsors: 1 (1D; 0R)
Introduced:
NASFAA Bottom line & Analysis: After completing an application for refinancing for an eligible federal student loan, the borrower would be able to refinance their loan’s interest rate to the interest rate for current new borrowers at the same time of the application. The bill would also ensure that refinancing loans does not affect a borrower’s monthly payment count on IDR repayment plans and PSLF plans.
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio [R-FL]
Cosponsors: 0
Introduced:
NASFAA Bottom line & Analysis: This bill would eliminate interest and replace it with a one-time, non-compounding origination fee that borrowers will pay over the life of the loan. For borrowers who pay off their loans faster than the established repayment plan’s time limit, ED could credit or refund borrowers a calculated amount of the financing fee. The bill would also allow only two repayment plan options, the standard 10-year repayment plan, and an income driven repayment plan, to be created with this bill. Borrowers would automatically be placed in the IDR plan, but can elect to move to the standard repayment plan.
Sponsor: Rep. Carter [D-LA]
Cosponsors: 0
Introduced:
NASFAA Conclusion & Analysis: This bill would require the Department of Education to forgive $50,000, or the aggregate of a borrower’s balance, whichever is less, of federal student loan debt for all borrowers. If the borrower has more than $50,000 in student loan debt, the Department is instructed to forgive the loans with the highest interest rates first. Any amount forgiven would be excluded from taxable income. Members of Congress would be ineligible for this program.
Sponsor: Rep. Swalwell [D-CA]
Cosponsors: 1 (1D; 0R)
Introduced:
NASFAA Summary & Analysis: This bill seeks to open pathways to STEM careers for students and professionals. This bill would provide federal student loan forgiveness to elementary and secondary teachers who teach science, technology, engineering, or math. It would also permanently extend the $250 tax credit for teachers who buy school supplies for their classrooms and adds an additional $250 for STEM supplies. Additionally, it would offer certain employers a tax credit to employ paid STEM interns and apprentices. Lastly, it would require higher education institutions participating in the federal work study program to allocate at least seven percent of these funds to pay students working in STEM jobs.