[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3281 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3281

     To expand student loan forgiveness, to provide loan repayment 
                  assistance, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             April 29, 2010

  Mr. Specter introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
  referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To expand student loan forgiveness, to provide loan repayment 
                  assistance, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

    (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Student Loan 
Forgiveness and Repayment Assistance Act of 2010''.
    (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents of this Act is the 
following:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Findings.
                  TITLE I--INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT PLAN

Sec. 101. Income-based repayment plan.
           TITLE II--PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM

Sec. 201. Public service loan forgiveness program.
      TITLE III--LOWERING OF INTEREST RATES FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS

Sec. 301. Lowering of interest rates for health professions.
            TITLE IV--ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINORITIES

Sec. 401. Enhancing opportunities for minorities.
   TITLE V--ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE EVALUATION AND PROMOTION OF 
          ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Sec. 501. Assistant Secretary for the evaluation and promotion of 
                            accessibility and affordability in higher 
                            education.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that, according to information compiled by Campus 
Progress--
            (1) total Federal student debt in the United States, as of 
        2008, is more than $617,000,000,000, according to the 
        Department of Education;
            (2) in 2008, the Advisory Committee on Student Financial 
        Assistance estimated that between 1,700,000 to 3,200,0000 
        baccalaureate degrees will be lost this decade among 
        academically qualified students because of financial barriers;
            (3) the average student today graduates college with 
        student debt 25 percent higher than that of college graduates a 
        decade ago, and enters the job market where the average job 
        pays college graduates less than the job would have in 2000;
            (4) the average college senior graduated with $4,100 in 
        credit card debt in 2008, according to a study by Sallie Mae, 
        Inc., and $23,200 in student loans, according to the Institute 
        for College Access and Success;
            (5) according to the Institute for College Access and 
        Success, almost 7 in 10 college graduates are burdened with 
        educational debt;
            (6) according to a 2006 report by the United States Public 
        Interest Research Group, student debt is outpacing the starting 
        salaries of jobs in teaching and social work, making it 
        virtually impossible for many debt-laden college graduates to 
        pursue careers in fields where they are desperately needed;
            (7) according to the same report, nearly \1/4\ of all 
        graduates from public colleges, and almost 4 in 10 graduates 
        from private colleges, have levels of student debt that would 
        become unmanageable on the average salary of a starting 
        teacher;
            (8) a 2002 report by the Nellie Mae Corporation found that 
        students delay major life decisions as a result of increased 
        student debt--38 percent of college graduates delay buying 
        their first house because of debt, 14 percent delay marriage, 
        and 21 percent delay having children;
            (9) according to a 2006 report by the Education Trust, the 
        highest achieving low-income high school graduates go to 
        college at nearly the same rate as the lowest achieving 
        students from wealthy families; and
            (10) more than 60 percent of African-American, Hispanic, 
        Native American, and Asian students face a gap between their 
        expected family contribution, grants, and nonprivate loans and 
        the cost of their education, according to the 2007-2008 
        National Postsecondary Student Aid Study.

                  TITLE I--INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT PLAN

SEC. 101. INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT PLAN.

    Section 493C(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1098e(e)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``10 percent'' and 
        inserting ``7 percent''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by striking ``20 years'' and 
        inserting ``15 years''.

           TITLE II--PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM

SEC. 201. PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM.

    Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(m)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``120''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking ``120''; 
                and
            (2) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the following:
            ``(2) Loan cancellation amount.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In the case of a borrower 
                described in paragraph (1) who has made monthly 
                payments as described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 
                shall cancel the obligation to repay 5 percent of the 
                balance of principal and interest due as of the time of 
                such cancellation, on the eligible Federal Direct Loans 
                made to the borrower under this part after the borrower 
                has made each of the following number of monthly 
                payments:
                            ``(i) After 60 monthly payments.
                            ``(ii) After 72 monthly payments.
                            ``(iii) After 84 monthly payments.
                            ``(iv) After 96 monthly payments.
                            ``(v) After 108 monthly payments.
                    ``(B) Remaining balance cancelled.--In the case of 
                a borrower described in paragraph (1) who has made 120 
                monthly payments as described in paragraph (1), the 
                Secretary shall cancel the obligation to repay the 
                balance of principal and interest due as of the time of 
                such cancellation, on the eligible Federal Direct Loans 
                made to the borrower under this part.''.

      TITLE III--LOWERING OF INTEREST RATES FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS

SEC. 301. LOWERING OF INTEREST RATES FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS.

    (a) Health Professions Student Loans.--
            (1) In general.--Section 705(b) of the Public Health 
        Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292d(b)) is amended by striking ``the 
        average of'' and all that follows and inserting ``3.5 
        percent.''.
            (2) Physician assistants.--Section 719(1) of the Public 
        Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292o(1)) is amended by inserting 
        before the period the following: ``, or an entity providing 
        programs for the training of physician assistants''.
    (b) Primary Care Loans.--Section 722(e) of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292r(e)) is amended by striking ``5 percent'' 
and inserting ``3.5 percent''.
    (c) Nursing Loan Program.--Section 836(b)(5) of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297b(b)(5)) is amended by striking ``5 percent'' 
and inserting ``3.5 percent''.

            TITLE IV--ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINORITIES

SEC. 401. ENHANCING OPPORTUNITIES FOR MINORITIES.

    (a) Program Authorized.--From amounts appropriated under this 
section, the Secretary of Education shall carry out a pilot program of 
awarding grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible institutions to 
enable the eligible institutions to enhance opportunities for students 
attending such institutions.
    (b) Eligible Institutions.--In this section, the term ``eligible 
institution'' has the meaning given the term in section 371(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q(a)).
    (c) Applications.--
            (1) In general.--An eligible institution desiring a grant 
        under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary 
        of Education at such time, in such manner, and containing such 
        information as the Secretary may require.
            (2) Contents.--The application described in paragraph (1) 
        shall include an outline of the eligible institution's plan for 
        the grant that takes into consideration--
                    (A) increasing the eligible institution's 
                educational program capacity for degree-granting, 
                certificate-granting, adult education, and noncredit 
                programs;
                    (B) increasing the eligible institution's student 
                graduation rates; and
                    (C) how to achieve the purposes of the grant 
                without increasing the costs to students attending the 
                eligible institution.
    (d) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out this section $100,000,000 for each of the 
fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

   TITLE V--ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE EVALUATION AND PROMOTION OF 
          ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION

SEC. 501. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE EVALUATION AND PROMOTION OF 
              ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION.

    Section 202 of the Department of Education Organization Act (20 
U.S.C. 3412) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(j) Assistant Secretary for the Evaluation and Promotion of 
Accessibility and Affordability in Higher Education.--There shall be in 
the Department an Assistant Secretary for the Evaluation and Promotion 
of Accessibility and Affordability in Higher Education, who shall be 
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the 
Senate. The Assistant Secretary shall--
            ``(1) evaluate periodically what has been done thus far and 
        what further actions should still be taken, to increase--
                    ``(A) accessibility to higher education;
                    ``(B) higher education opportunities for 
                underserved minorities;
                    ``(C) capacity to educate more medical personnel; 
                and
                    ``(D) debt forgiveness to encourage graduates of 
                institutions of higher education to pursue public 
                service;
            ``(2) evaluate periodically the impact of the Healthcare 
        and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152) 
        in order to determine the effectiveness of the educational 
        grants and financial assistance programs modified by such Act;
            ``(3) promote higher education, including higher education 
        accessibility, affordability, and completion options, to 
        prospective and current students of institutions of higher 
        education; and
            ``(4) not later than 30 days after the end of each quarter 
        of a fiscal year, submit to the appropriate committees of 
        Congress a report that--
                    ``(A) describes current trends regarding the 
                accessibility and affordability of higher education in 
                the United States, including the impact of the 
                educational grants and financial assistance programs 
                established under or modified by the Student Loan 
                Forgiveness and Repayment Assistance Act of 2010; and
                    ``(B) includes the Assistant Secretary's 
                recommendations to Congress regarding how to increase 
                the accessibility and affordability of higher 
                education.''.
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