[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1911 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.1911
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE FIRST SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday,
the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen
An Act
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates
for new loans made on or after July 1, 2013, to direct the Secretary of
Education to convene the Advisory Committee on Improving Postsecondary
Education Data to conduct a study on improvements to postsecondary
education transparency at the Federal level, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty
Act of 2013''.
SEC. 2. INTEREST RATES.
(a) Interest Rates.--Section 455(b) of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(b)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (7)--
(A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting ``and before
july 1, 2013'' after ``on or after july 1, 2006'';
(B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ``and before July 1,
2013,'' after ``on or after July 1, 2006,'';
(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ``and before July 1,
2013,'' after ``on or after July 1, 2006,''; and
(D) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``and before July 1,
2013,'' after ``on or after July 1, 2006,'';
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as paragraphs (9)
and (10), respectively; and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following:
``(8) Interest rate provisions for new loans on or after july
1, 2013.--
``(A) Rates for undergraduate fdsl and fdusl.--
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this subsection,
for Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Federal Direct
Unsubsidized Stafford Loans issued to undergraduate students,
for which the first disbursement is made on or after July 1,
2013, the applicable rate of interest shall, for loans
disbursed during any 12-month period beginning on July 1 and
ending on June 30, be determined on the preceding June 1 and be
equal to the lesser of--
``(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year
Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior to
such June 1 plus 2.05 percent; or
``(ii) 8.25 percent.
``(B) Rates for graduate and professional fdusl.--
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this subsection,
for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans issued to
graduate or professional students, for which the first
disbursement is made on or after July 1, 2013, the applicable
rate of interest shall, for loans disbursed during any 12-month
period beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30, be determined
on the preceding June 1 and be equal to the lesser of--
``(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year
Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior to
such June 1 plus 3.6 percent; or
``(ii) 9.5 percent.
``(C) PLUS loans.--Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs
of this subsection, for Federal Direct PLUS Loans, for which
the first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 2013, the
applicable rate of interest shall, for loans disbursed during
any 12-month period beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30,
be determined on the preceding June 1 and be equal to the
lesser of--
``(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year
Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior to
such June 1 plus 4.6 percent; or
``(ii) 10.5 percent.
``(D) Consolidation loans.--Notwithstanding the preceding
paragraphs of this subsection, any Federal Direct Consolidation
Loan for which the application is received on or after July 1,
2013, shall bear interest at an annual rate on the unpaid
principal balance of the loan that is equal to the weighted
average of the interest rates on the loans consolidated,
rounded to the nearest higher one-eighth of one percent.
``(E) Consultation.--The Secretary shall determine the
applicable rate of interest under this paragraph after
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and shall
publish such rate in the Federal Register as soon as
practicable after the date of determination.
``(F) Rate.--The applicable rate of interest determined
under this paragraph for a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct
PLUS Loan shall be fixed for the period of the loan.''.
(b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by subsection (a) shall
take effect as if enacted on July 1, 2013.
SEC. 3. BUDGETARY EFFECTS.
(a) Paygo Scorecard.--The budgetary effects of this Act shall not
be entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant to section
4(d) of the Statutory Pay- As-You-Go Act of 2010.
(b) Senate Paygo Scorecard.--The budgetary effects of this Act
shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained for purposes of
section 201 of S. Con. Res. 21 (110th Congress).
SEC. 4. STUDY ON THE ACTUAL COST OF ADMINISTERING THE FEDERAL STUDENT
LOAN PROGRAMS.
Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act,
the Comptroller General of the United States shall--
(1) complete a study that determines the actual cost to the
Federal Government of carrying out the Federal student loan
programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), which shall--
(A) provide estimates relying on accurate information based
on past, current, and projected data as to the appropriate
index and mark-up rate for the Federal Government's cost of
borrowing that would allow the Federal Government to
effectively administer and cover the cost of the Federal
student programs authorized under title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) under the
scoring rules outlined in the Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990
(2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.);
(B) provide the information described in this section in a
way that separates out administrative costs, interest rate, and
other loan terms and conditions; and
(C) set forth clear recommendations to the relevant
authorizing committees of Congress as to how future legislation
can incorporate the results of the study described in this
section to allow for the administration of the Federal student
loan programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) without generating any
additional revenue to the Federal Government except revenue
that is needed to carry out such programs; and
(2) prepare and submit a report to the Committee on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Committee on
Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives setting
forth the conclusions of the study described in this section in
such a manner that the recommendations included in the report can
inform future reauthorizations of the Higher Education Act of 1965
(20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.