[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7137 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7137

To authorize a loan forgiveness program for students of institutions of 
          higher education who volunteer to serve as mentors.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 26, 2008

 Mr. Crowley introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To authorize a loan forgiveness program for students of institutions of 
          higher education who volunteer to serve as mentors.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Supporting Mentors, Supporting Our 
Youth Act of 2008''.

SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR VOLUNTEER MENTORING.

    Part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1071 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 428L the following 
new section:

``SEC. 428M. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR VOLUNTEER MENTORING.

    ``(a) Program Authorized.--
            ``(1) Loan forgiveness authorized.--The Secretary shall 
        forgive, in accordance with this section, the student loan 
        obligation of a borrower, in the amount specified in subsection 
        (c), who--
                    ``(A) commits to volunteering as a mentor, as 
                described in subsection (b), for a period of at least 
                one year;
                    ``(B) is enrolled in an institution of higher 
                education during the period the borrower is 
                volunteering as a mentor; and
                    ``(C) is not in default on a loan for which the 
                borrower seeks forgiveness.
            ``(2) Method of loan forgiveness.--To provide loan 
        forgiveness under paragraph (1), the Secretary is authorized to 
        carry out a program--
                    ``(A) through the holder of the loan, to assume the 
                obligation to repay a qualified loan amount for a loan 
                made, insured, or guaranteed under this part (other 
                than an excepted PLUS loan (as such term is defined in 
                section 493C(a))); and
                    ``(B) to cancel a qualified loan amount for a loan 
                made under part D of this title (other than such an 
                excepted PLUS loan).
            ``(3) Regulations.--The Secretary is authorized to issue 
        such regulations as may be necessary to carry out the 
        provisions of this section.
    ``(b) Volunteer Mentoring.--For purposes of this section, an 
individual shall be treated as volunteering as a mentor if the 
individual--
            ``(1) commits to mentoring an at-risk child for a period of 
        not less than one year; and
            ``(2) completes the minimum number of hours of volunteering 
        as a mentor during such year, as determined by the Secretary by 
        regulation.
    ``(c) Qualified Loan Amount.--At the end of each year of 
volunteering as a mentor, as described in subsection (b), on or after 
the date of enactment of the Supporting Mentors, Supporting Our Youth 
Act of 2008, not to exceed 5 years, the Secretary shall forgive, for 
every hour of mentoring completed, $10 of the student loan obligation 
of a borrower that is outstanding after the completion of each such 
year of volunteering as a mentor, not to exceed $10,000 in the 
aggregate for any borrower.
    ``(d) Priority.--The Secretary shall grant loan forgiveness under 
this section on a first-come, first-served basis, and subject to the 
availability of appropriations.
    ``(e) Evaluation and Report.--Not later than one year after the 
date of the enactment of the Supporting Mentors, Supporting Our Youth 
Act of 2008, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall evaluate the 
effectiveness of the program authorized under this section, and shall 
submit to Congress a report on such evaluation. Such report shall 
include--
            ``(1) the number and percentage of borrowers who 
        participate in the program under this section for multiple 
        academic years; and
            ``(2) the number of borrowers who continue to volunteer as 
        mentors after graduation from an institution of higher 
        education.''.
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