II 111th CONGRESS 2d Session S. 3281 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.

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.

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.