Recruit: Sen. Murkowski [R-AK] Cosponsors: 4 Delivered: NASFAA Realization & Study: This bill would eliminate penalties and deterrents that prevent institutions from informing students about student loans offered by non-profit state agency lenders.
Sponsor: Sen. Murkowski [R-AK] Cosponsors: 2 Introduced: NASFAA Conclusion & Investigation: This bill would allow borrowers to switch between different repayment plans based on their situation without first being put into a forbearance or standard repayment plan while the transfer is made.
Sponsor: Rep. Van Duyne [R-TX] Cosponsors: 0 Introduced: NASFAA Bottom line & Analysis: This bill would now include PLUS loans made to graduate students and parents in the calculation for an institution’s Cohort Default Rate (CDR) so that any default in these loans is now included in the calculation.
Sponsor: Rep. Turner [R-OH] Cosponsors: 1 (1D; 0R) Introduced: NASFAA Bottom line & Analysis: After completing an application for refinancing for an eligible federal student loan, the borrower would be able to refinance their loan’s interest rate to the interest rate for current new borrowers at the same time of the application. The bill would also ensure that refinancing loans does not affect a borrower’s monthly payment count on IDR repayment plans and PSLF plans.
Sponsor: Sen. Rubio [R-FL] Cosponsors: 0 Introduced: NASFAA Summary & Analysis: This bill would eliminate interest and replace it with a one-time, non-compounding origination fee that borrowers will pay over the life of the loan. For borrowers who pay off their loans faster than the established repayment plan’s time limit, ED could credit or refund borrowers a calculated amount of the financing fee. The bill would also allow only two repayment plan options, the standard 10-year repayment plan, and an income driven repayment plan, to be created with this bill. Borrowers would automatically be placed in the IDR plan, but can elect to move to the standard repayment plan.
Sponsor: Rep. Carter [D-LA] Cosponsors: 0 Introduced: NASFAA Bottom line & Analysis: This bill would require the Department of Education to forgive $50,000, or the aggregate of a borrower’s balance, whichever is less, of federal student loan debt for all borrowers. If the borrower has more than $50,000 in student loan debt, the Department is instructed to forgive the loans with the highest interest rates first. Any amount forgiven would be excluded from taxable income. Members of Congress would be ineligible for this program.
Sponsor: Rep. Swalwell [D-CA] Cosponsors: 1 (1D; 0R) Introduced: NASFAA Conclusion & Analysis: This bill seeks to open pathways to STEM careers for students and professionals. This bill would provide federal student loan forgiveness to elementary and secondary teachers who teach science, technology, engineering, or math. It would also permanently extend the $250 tax credit for teachers who buy school supplies for their classrooms and adds an additional $250 for STEM supplies. Additionally, it would offer certain employers a tax credit to employ paid STEM interns and apprentices. Lastly, it would require higher education institutions participating in the federal work study program to allocate at least seven percent of these funds to pay students working in STEM jobs.
Sponsor: Rep. Swalwell [D-CA] Cosponsors: 2 (2D; 0R) Introduced: NASFAA Realization & Analysis: This bill seeks to significantly reduce the burden of interest charges on student loan borrowers. This bill would eliminate and forgive all interest charged on new and existing federal student loans and lower the interest rate to zero, effective .