July 19, 2022
The Honorable Robert C. ScottChairman, House Committee on
Education and Labor
2176 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Virginia Foxx
Ranking Member, House Committee on
Education and Labor
2176 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Scott and Ranking Member Foxx:
The undersigned organizations respectfully ask the House Committee on Education and Labor
to advance the following student loan reform bills out of committee for consideration by the fullHouse of Representatives.
•H.R. 4631, the Protecting Our Students by Terminating Graduate Rates that Add toDebt Act (POST GRAD Act), would reinstate eligibility for graduate and professional
students with financial need to receive Direct Subsidized Stafford Loans, which are now
only available to undergraduate students.

•H.R. 4122/S. 3658, the Resident Education Deferred Interest Act (REDI Act), would
allow medical and dental residents to defer payments on their federal student loans—and delay the point at which interest begins to accrue—until after completing theirresidency.

•H.R. 2160, the Student Loan Refinancing Act, would enable borrowers to refinancetheir federal student loans on multiple occasions to take advantage of lower interest
rates.

•H.R. 1918, the Student Loan Refinancing and Recalculation Act, would provide achance for borrowers to refinance their federal student loans when interest rates arelower. It would also eliminate loan origination fees and allow medical and dental
residents to defer payments until after completing their residency programs. Additionally,
it would delay the accrual of interest for many low- and middle-income borrowers while
they are in school.

We also urge members of your committee to cosponsor the following bills, which have beenreferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means and/or the House Committee on Energyand Commerce.
•H.R. 4726, the Student Loan Interest Deduction Act of 2021, would double thestudent loan interest deduction (from $2,500 to $5,000) and eliminate the income limits
that prevent those with higher incomes from reaping the benefit.

•H.R. 7539/S. 2874, the Indian Health Service Health Professions Tax Fairness Actof 2022, would allow dentists participating in the Indian Health Service Loan Repayment
Program to exclude interest and principal payments from their federal income taxes, aswell as certain benefits received by those in the Indian Health Professions Scholarships
Program.

The Honorable Robert C. Scott
The Honorable Virginia Foxx
July 19, 2022
Page 2•

H.R. 1285/S. 449, the Dental Loan Repayment Assistance Act, would allow full-time
faculty members participating in the Dental Faculty Loan Repayment Program (DFLRP)
to exclude the amount of the loan forgiveness from their federal income taxes.

•H.R. 2295, the HIV Epidemic Loan-Repayment Program Act (HELP Act), would offerup to $250,000 in educational loan repayment to dentists, physicians, and other healthcare professionals in exchange for up to five years of service at Ryan White-fundedclinical sites and in health profession shortage areas.

Graduate student debt has been rising at abnormally high rates for decades, even after
adjusting for inflation. It has risen to the point that dental school graduates are now starting theircareers nearly $305,000 in debt ($270,125 for graduates from public dental schools and$349,730 for graduates from private dental schools). 1
Adding insult to injury are federal student loan interest rates that can reach as high as 9.5 or
10.5 percent, depending on the type of loan and market conditions. 2 And the interest begins
accruing immediately.
Educational debt is a particular challenge for the 37 percent 3 of dental school graduates withdebt who pursue (or are required to complete) several years of a low- or non-paying dental or
medical residency program. Those who are unable to begin paying their student loans
immediately may qualify to have their payments temporarily halted or reduced through adeferment or forbearance process, but the suspended/reduced payments are not automatic.
And the interest accrues regardless, adding tens of thousands of dollars to their debt.
We applaud your committee for considering this meaningful legislation. These reforms will not
eliminate the financial hardship for early career dentists, but they will help offset theunprecedented financial challenges these essential health care providers face at graduation.
Thank you for your leadership on this issue. If you have any questions, please contact
Ms. Megan Mortimer at the American Dental Association. Megan can be reached at202-898-2402 or mortimerm@ada.org.
Sincerely,
American Dental Association
Academy of General Dentistry
America Association of Endodontists
American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology
American Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American Academy of Periodontology
American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
American College of Prosthodontists
American Student Dental Association
Hispanic Dental Association

The Honorable Robert C. Scott
The Honorable Virginia Foxx
July 19, 2022
Page 3

1 Istrate EC, Slapar FJ, et al., Dentists of tomorrow 2020: An analysis of the results of the 2020 ADEA

Survey of U.S. Dental School Seniors, J Dent Educ, February 2021; 85: 427-440.
2 20 USC 1087e.
3 American Dental Education Association. (March 2020). ADEA Survey of Dental School Seniors, 2019
Graduating Class Tables Report Washington, DC. (Table 29. Respondents' Immediate Plans After
Graduation by Level of Educational Debt).