[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1334 Placed on Calendar Senate (PCS)]

                                                       Calendar No. 142
113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1334

   To establish student loan interest rates, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 18, 2013

 Mr. Manchin (for himself, Mr. Burr, Mr. King, Mr. Coburn, Mr. Carper, 
  Mr. Alexander, Mr. Harkin, and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following 
     bill; which was read twice and ordered placed on the calendar

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish student loan interest rates, 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 ``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. DETERMINATION OF BUDGETARY EFFECTS.

    The budgetary effects of this Act, for the purpose of complying 
with the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010, shall be determined by 
reference to the latest statement titled ``Budgetary Effects of PAYGO 
Legislation'' for this Act, submitted for printing in the Congressional 
Record by the Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, provided that 
such statement has been submitted prior to the vote on passage.

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.).
                                                       Calendar No. 142

113th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                                S. 1334

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To establish student loan interest rates, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                             July 18, 2013

             Read twice and ordered placed on the calendar