[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 618 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 618

   To authorize the Secretary of Education to enter into voluntary, 
    flexible agreements with certain guarantee agencies to provide 
delinquency prevention and default aversion services for borrowers and 
potential borrowers of Federal Direct Loans under the Higher Education 
                  Act of 1965, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 12, 2013

 Mr. Michaud (for himself, Mr. Price of North Carolina, Ms. Bordallo, 
  and Ms. Pingree of Maine) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To authorize the Secretary of Education to enter into voluntary, 
    flexible agreements with certain guarantee agencies to provide 
delinquency prevention and default aversion services for borrowers and 
potential borrowers of Federal Direct Loans under the Higher Education 
                  Act of 1965, 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 ``Student Loan Default Prevention 
Act''.

SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY, FLEXIBLE AGREEMENTS.

    (a) In General.--Section 428A of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1078-1) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (d) as subsection (e); and
            (2) by inserting after subsection (c), the following:
    ``(d) Supplemental Student Loan Services.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 9 months after the date 
        of enactment of the Student Loan Default Prevention Act and 
        notwithstanding any other provision of this part, the Secretary 
        shall, upon the request of an eligible guarantee agency, enter 
        into a voluntary, flexible agreement with the guarantee agency, 
        or revise the voluntary, flexible agreement previously entered 
        into with the guarantee agency under this section, to provide 
        for the services described in paragraph (3) for borrowers 
        (including potential borrowers, if applicable) of loans made 
        under this part or part D.
            ``(2) Eligibility.--For the purposes of this subsection, an 
        eligible guarantee agency is a guarantee agency that has 
        extensive and relevant experience and demonstrated 
        effectiveness in providing the services described in paragraph 
        (3).
            ``(3) Services.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The services described in this 
                paragraph for borrowers (including potential borrowers, 
                if applicable) of loans made under this part or part D 
                may include--
                            ``(i) delinquency prevention and default 
                        aversion activities;
                            ``(ii) collection of defaulted loans;
                            ``(iii) monitoring of institutions 
                        participating in the program under part D;
                            ``(iv) training of financial aid officials; 
                        and
                            ``(v) informational outreach to schools and 
                        students in support of access to higher 
                        education and financial literacy.
                    ``(B) Existing local services.--In carrying out the 
                services described in subparagraph (A), an eligible 
                guarantee agency shall provide localized services 
                directly or through partnerships with other eligible 
                guarantee agencies to assist borrowers and institutions 
                of higher education.
            ``(4) Reasonable fees.--An agreement entered into or 
        revised under this subsection shall include a provision 
        regarding the fees that the Secretary shall pay to an eligible 
        guarantee agency for carrying out services under the agreement. 
        The determination of such fees shall be cost neutral and take 
        into account savings resulting from the provision of such 
        services as reasonably projected by the Secretary.
            ``(5) Public notice.--The Secretary shall publish in the 
        Federal Register a notice to all guarantee agencies that sets 
        forth--
                    ``(A) an invitation for the guarantee agencies to 
                enter into or revise agreements under this subsection; 
                and
                    ``(B) the criteria that the Secretary will use for 
                selecting the guarantee agencies with which the 
                Secretary will enter into, or revise, agreements under 
                this subsection.
            ``(6) Agreement notice.--The Secretary shall notify the 
        members of the authorizing committees not later than 30 days 
        prior to concluding an agreement under this subsection.
            ``(7) Public availability.--The text of any voluntary 
        flexible agreements entered into or revised under this 
        subsection shall be readily available to the public.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 456 of the Higher Education Act 
of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087f) is amended by inserting ``or section 
428A(d)'' after ``sections 428(b)) and (c)''.
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