[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2561 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2561

 To amend section 484B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to forgive 
 certain loans for servicemembers who withdraw from an institution of 
higher education as a result of service in the uniformed services, and 
                          for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 21, 2009

   Mr. Kind (for himself, Mrs. Biggert, Mr. Altmire, and Mr. Hunter) 
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
                          Education and Labor

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend section 484B of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to forgive 
 certain loans for servicemembers who withdraw from an institution of 
higher education as a result of service in the uniformed services, and 
                          for other purposes.

    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 ``Help Student Soldiers Act''.

SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR SERVICEMEMBERS.

    Section 484B(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1091b(e)) is amended to read as follows--
    ``(e) Loan Forgiveness for Servicemembers.--
            ``(1) Loan forgiveness authorized.--Whenever a student's 
        withdrawal from an institution of higher education is 
        necessitated by reason of service in the uniformed services, 
        the Secretary shall, with respect to the payment period or 
        period of enrollment for which such student did not receive 
        academic credit as a result of such withdrawal--
                    ``(A) waive the amounts the student is required to 
                return for such payment period or period of enrollment 
                under subsection (b)(2); and
                    ``(B) carry out a program--
                            ``(i) through the holder of the loan, to 
                        assume the obligation to repay--
                                    ``(I) the outstanding principal and 
                                accrued interest on any loan assistance 
                                awarded to the student under part B for 
                                such payment period or period of 
                                enrollment; minus
                                    ``(II) any amount of such loan 
                                assistance returned by the institution 
                                in accordance with subsection (b)(1) 
                                for such payment period or period of 
                                enrollment; and
                            ``(ii) to cancel--
                                    ``(I) the outstanding principal and 
                                accrued interest on the loan assistance 
                                awarded to the student under part D or 
                                E for such payment period or period of 
                                enrollment; minus
                                    ``(II) any amount of such loan 
                                assistance returned by the institution 
                                in accordance with subsection (b)(1) 
                                for such payment period or period of 
                                enrollment.
            ``(2) PLUS loans.--Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the 
        Secretary may not provide loan forgiveness under this 
        subsection for any excepted PLUS loan.
            ``(3) Reimbursement for cancellation of perkins loans.--The 
        Secretary shall pay to each institution for each fiscal year an 
        amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts of Federal Perkins 
        loans in such institutions's student loan fund which are 
        cancelled pursuant to paragraph (1)(B)(ii) for such fiscal 
        year, minus an amount equal to the aggregate of the amounts of 
        any such loans so canceled which were made from Federal capital 
        contributions to its student loan fund provided by the 
        Secretary under section 468. None of the funds appropriated 
        pursuant to section 461(b) shall be available for payments 
        pursuant to this paragraph. To the extent feasible, the 
        Secretary shall pay the amounts for which any institution 
        qualifies under this paragraph not later than 3 months after 
        the institution files an institutional application for campus-
        based funds.
            ``(4) Loan eligibility and limits for students.--Any 
        amounts that are returned by an institution in accordance with 
        subsection (b)(1), or forgiven or waived by the Secretary under 
        this subsection, with respect to a payment period or period of 
        enrollment for which a student did not receive academic credit 
        as a result of withdrawal necessitated by reason of service in 
        the uniformed services, shall not be included in the 
        calculation of a student's annual or aggregate loan limits for 
        assistance under this title, or otherwise affect the student's 
        eligibility for grants or loans under this title.
            ``(5) Definitions.--In this subsection:
                    ``(A) Excepted plus loan.--The term `excepted PLUS 
                loan' has the meaning given such term in section 493C.
                    ``(B) Service in the uniformed services.--The term 
                `service in the uniformed services' has the meaning 
                given such term in section 484C(a).
            ``(6) Effective date.--This subsection shall take effect on 
        July 1, 2010.''.
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