[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3414 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3414

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize institutions of 
higher education to limit the amount of a Federal loan that an enrolled 
                          student may borrow.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2023

 Mr. Grothman (for himself, Ms. Tenney, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Tiffany, and 
  Mr. Owens) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize institutions of 
higher education to limit the amount of a Federal loan that an enrolled 
                          student may borrow.

    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 ``Responsible Borrowing Act of 2023''.

SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINED LIMITS.

    Section 455(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(a)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) Institutional determined limits.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of this Act, an institution of higher 
                education (at the discretion of a financial aid 
                administrator at the institution) may prorate or limit 
                the amount of a loan any student enrolled in a program 
                of study at that institution may borrow under this part 
                for an academic year or in the aggregate--
                            ``(i) if the institution can reasonably 
                        demonstrate that student debt levels are or 
                        would be excessive for such program, based on--
                                    ``(I) the most recently available 
                                data from the Bureau of Labor 
                                Statistics for the average or median 
                                starting salary in the region in which 
                                the institution is located for typical 
                                occupations pursued by graduates of 
                                such program; or
                                    ``(II) the most recently available 
                                data from the College Scorecard (or 
                                successor website) on the median 
                                earnings of students who complete such 
                                program;
                            ``(ii) in a case in which the student is 
                        enrolled on a less than full-time basis or the 
                        student is enrolled for less than the period of 
                        enrollment to which the annual loan limit 
                        applies under this part, based on the student's 
                        enrollment status;
                            ``(iii) based on the credential level (such 
                        as a degree, certificate, or other recognized 
                        educational credential) that the student would 
                        attain upon completion of such program; or
                            ``(iv) based on the year of the program for 
                        which the student is seeking such loan.
                    ``(B) Increases for individual students.--Upon the 
                request of a student whose loan amount for an academic 
                year has been prorated or limited under subparagraph 
                (A), an eligible institution (at the discretion of the 
                financial aid administrator at the institution) may 
                increase such loan amount to an amount not exceeding 
                the annual loan amount applicable to such student under 
                this part for such academic year at the discretion of 
                the financial aid administrator at the institution.
                    ``(C) Rule of construction.--Nothing in this 
                paragraph shall be construed to authorize a proration 
                or limiting of loan amounts by an institution of higher 
                education because of a student's race, color, religion, 
                sex, marital status, age, disability, or national 
                origin.
                    ``(D) Exception for certain students.--This 
                paragraph shall not apply to any student enrolled in a 
                program of study at an eligible institution as of June 
                30, 2024, or any loans made under this part to such 
                student for such enrollment, during the period required 
                for the completion of such program.''.
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