118th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To modify requirements relating to financial aid disclosures.
July 13, 2023
Mr. Grothman introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce
To modify requirements relating to financial aid disclosures.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Informed Student Borrowing Act of 2023”.
SEC. 2. Entrance counseling financial aid disclosures.
Section 485(l) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092(l)) is amended—
(1) in the subsection heading, by striking “Entrance”;
(A) in the matter preceding clause (i), by striking “a disbursement to a first-time borrower” and inserting “the first disbursement to a borrower in each award year”;
(B) in the matter preceding subclause (I) of paragraph clause (ii), by striking “may” and inserting “shall”;
(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (K) as subparagraphs (B) through (L);
(B) by inserting before subparagraph (B), as so redesignated, the following:
“(A) An explanation that the borrower will need to affirmatively determine and manually enter, in accordance with subsection (n), the Federal loan amount that the borrower will borrow (which may be equal to or less than the Federal loan amount for which the borrower is eligible) for each award year.”;
(C) by striking subparagraph (G) and inserting the following:
“(G) Sample monthly repayment amounts, under a standard repayment plan and under the income-driven repayment plan that had the highest enrollment in the previous year for borrowers (excluding parent borrowers), based on—
“(i) (I) the median levels of indebtedness, as appropriate, of—
“(aa) undergraduate borrowers of Federal Direct Stafford Loans or Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans who were enrolled in the institution;
“(bb) graduate borrowers of Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, or Federal Direct Plus Loans who were enrolled in the institution; and
“(cc) parent borrowers of Federal Direct Plus Loans made on behalf of dependent students who were enrolled at the institution;
“(II) the median cumulative indebtedness of borrowers of loans described in subclause (I) in the same program as the borrower at the same institution; and
“(ii) the median annual earnings for individuals who attended the institution, as described in subparagraph (N).”; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
“(M) A statement that the borrower does not have to accept the full amount of loans for which the borrower is eligible, and an explanation that loan eligibility calculations are determined based on a cost of attendance that may include expenses such as housing, food, and transportation.
“(N) The most recent College Scorecard information (or information from a similar successor website) that shows the median annual earnings of students who received Federal student aid and who are no longer enrolled at the institution and are working, at the time that is 10 years after the date of such students' entry to the institution—
“(i) for individuals who were enrolled in the institution; and
“(ii) if available through the College Scorecard (or similar successor website), for individuals who were enrolled in the borrower's undergraduate or graduate program.
“(O) The percentage of borrowers who attended the institution and have completed or are no longer enrolled that are in active repayment (as compared to all borrowers who attended the institution and have completed or are no longer enrolled).
“(P) For undergraduate borrowers, the completion rate of the institution, as available through the College Scorecard (or similar successor website), for the most recent year for which data are available.
“(i) the statistics provided under this paragraph are averages and median values based on past years;
“(ii) the borrower's repayment amounts, median earnings, and likelihood of completion may vary from such statistics; and
“(iii) as appropriate, parent borrowers should be aware that information about the median earnings, completion rate, and percentage of borrowers in active repayment is based on data that excludes parent borrowers.
“(R) A statement in writing and in a form the borrower may keep, of the annual percentage rate applicable to the loan based on a 10 year standard repayment plan, taking into account—
“(i) the amount of the loan;
“(ii) the stated interest rate of the loan;
“(iii) the standard term for a loan of the same type;
“(iv) any fees or additional costs associated with the loan; and
“(v) any capitalization of interest on the loan.”; and
(4) by adding at the end the following:
“(3) INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.—The Secretary shall provide institutions with the data and statistics necessary to enable institutions to carry out this subsection.”.
SEC. 3. Annual requirement to manually enter loan amount.
Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092), as amended by section 2, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(n) Annual requirement To manually enter loan amount.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—In addition to the other requirements of this section and in accordance with paragraph (2), each eligible institution shall ensure that, for each award year, each borrower enrolled in the institution who receives a Federal Direct Loan (other than a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan) and each parent borrower who is borrowing a Federal Direct PLUS Loan made on behalf of a student who is enrolled in the institution, for such year, shall manually enter, either in writing or through electronic means, the exact dollar amount of Federal Direct Loan funding that such borrower desires to borrow for such year.
“(2) METHOD.—The eligible institution shall ensure that the borrower carries out the activity described in paragraph (1)—
“(A) in the case of a student borrower, in the course of the process used by the institution for students to accept a student loan award;
“(B) prior to the institution certifying a Federal Direct Loan (other than a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan), including a Federal Direct PLUS Loan made on behalf of a student, for disbursement to a borrower; and
“(C) in the case of a student borrower, after ensuring that the student has completed all of the counseling requirements under subsection (l).”.
Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1092), as amended by sections 2 and 3, is further amended by adding at the end the following:
“(n) Work study.—If an institution provides a student or a prospective student with a financial aid award notification that includes work study, the institution shall ensure that the notification includes an explanation that any work study funds are not directly awarded to the student or institution, and such amounts must be earned through the student's completion of work over time.”.