I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5613 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow qualified entrepreneurs 

to temporarily defer Federal student loan payments after starting a 

new business. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2020 

Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Ms. HAALAND) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow qualified entrepreneurs to temporarily defer Federal student 

loan payments after starting a new business. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Relief and Investment 

5 for Student Entrepreneurs Act’’ or the ‘‘RISE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFERMENT OF FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PAY7 MENTS FOR QUALIFIED ENTREPRENEURS. 

8 Section 455(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(f)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

2 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara3 graph (A)(ii); 

4 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

5 subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

6 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘(C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) 

8 and (B), in the case of a deferment described 

9 in paragraph (2)(E), shall not accrue.’’; 

10 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

12 at the end; 

13 (B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 

14 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following new 

16 subparagraph: 

17 ‘‘(E) subject to paragraph (5), not in ex18 cess of 3 years during which the borrower is a 

19 qualified entrepreneur.’’; and 

20 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

21 paragraph: 

22 ‘‘(5) DEFERMENT FOR QUALIFIED ENTRE23 PRENEURS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED ENTRE25 PRENEUR.—For the purpose of this subsection, 


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1 the term ‘qualified entrepreneur’ means a bor2 rower who— 

3 ‘‘(i) receives a degree from an institu4 tion of higher education during the 10-year 

5 period ending on the date on which the 

6 borrower requests a deferment under para7 graph (2)(E); 

8 ‘‘(ii) registers at least 1 business enti9 ty in a State during the 18-month period 

10 ending on the date on which the borrower 

11 requests a deferment under paragraph 

12 (2)(E); 

13 ‘‘(iii) raises capital investment of not 

14 less than $15,000 for such business entity; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(iv) has an outstanding balance of 

17 principal and interest on a loan made 

18 under this part of not less than $5,000. 

19 ‘‘(B) MINIMUM EMPLOYEE REQUIRE20 MENT.—A borrower granted deferment under 

21 paragraph (2)(E) shall not be eligible to con22 tinue such deferment unless, on the date that is 

23 1 year after the date on which such deferment 

24 is granted, the borrower— 


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1 ‘‘(i) employs at the business entity de2 scribed in subparagraph (A)(ii) not fewer 

3 than 1 full-time employee who is not the 

4 borrower or relative of the borrower; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) pays such employees at a rate 

6 not less than the minimum wage pre7 scribed by the State or locality in which 

8 the business entity is located.’’. 

9 SEC. 3. LOAN CANCELLATION FOR ENTREPRENEURS. 

10 Part D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) is further amended by 

12 adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 460A. LOAN CANCELLATION FOR ENTREPRENEURS. 

14 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au15 thorized to carry out a program of canceling the obligation 

16 to repay a qualified loan amount in accordance with sub17 section (b) for Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Federal 

18 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans made under this part 

19 for any borrower who— 

20 ‘‘(1) for not less than a 3-year period and not 

21 more than a 10-year period ending on the date on 

22 which the borrower requests a cancellation under 

23 this section, has owned and controlled a qualified 

24 HUBZone small business concern (as determined by 

25 the Administrator of the Small Business AdministraVerDate Sep 11 2014 19:13 Jan 17, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5613.IH H5613

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1 tion), which has been registered as business in a 

2 State; and 

3 ‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the 

4 borrower seeks forgiveness. 

5 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall cancel 

7 not more than $17,500 in the aggregate of the loan 

8 obligation on a Federal Direct Stafford Loan or a 

9 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan that is 

10 outstanding. 

11 ‘‘(2) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.— 

12 A loan amount for a Federal Direct Consolidation 

13 Loan may be a qualified loan amount for the pur14 poses of this subsection only to the extent that such 

15 loan amount was used to repay a Federal Direct 

16 Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf17 ford Loan, or a loan made under section 428 or 

18 428H, for a borrower who meets the requirements of 

19 subsection (a), as determined in accordance with 

20 regulations prescribed by the Secretary. 

21 ‘‘(c) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall grant loan for22 giveness under this section on a first-come, first-served 

23 basis, and subject to the availability of appropriations. 


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1 ‘‘(d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec2 tion shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any 

3 repayment of a loan.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. PUBLICATION AND REPORT. 

5 (a) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary of Education and 

6 the Administrator of the Small Business Administration 

7 shall each make available, on publicly accessible websites 

8 of the Department of Education and the Small Business 

9 Administration, respectively, information on the student 

10 loan deferment program for qualified entrepreneurs under 

11 section 455(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

12 U.S.C. 1087e(f)), as amended by this Act. 

13 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 180 days 

14 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

15 of Education shall submit to Congress a report that in16 cludes— 

17 (1) an assessment of the progress of the Sec18 retary in carrying out the student loan deferment 

19 program for qualified entrepreneurs under section 

20 455(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 1087e(f)), as amended by this Act; and 

22 (2) a description of any ongoing efforts to in23 crease participation in such program. 

Æ 


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