II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4581 

To improve the public service loan forgiveness program under section 455(m) 

of the Higher Education Act of 1965, to improve loan forgiveness eligibility provisions under such Act for teachers, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 21, 2022 

Mr. MENENDEZ introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To improve the public service loan forgiveness program under 

section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 

to improve loan forgiveness eligibility provisions under 

such Act for teachers, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Second Chance at Pub5 lic Service Loan Forgiveness Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The public service loan forgiveness program 

2 under section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act 

3 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) was created in 2007 

4 to attract individuals to public service by forgiving 

5 an individual’s Federal loans under part D of title 

6 IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

7 1071 et seq.; 20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) after 10 

8 years of employment in areas of national need. 

9 (2) These public service careers, which include 

10 employment in military, emergency management, 

11 government, public safety, law enforcement, public 

12 health, education, child care, social work, services for 

13 individuals with disabilities, services for the elderly, 

14 public interest legal services, and library sciences, 

15 pay substantially less than similar careers in the pri16 vate sector. 

17 (3) The public sector also repeatedly experi18 ences workforce shortages, especially following the 

19 COVID–19 pandemic. 

20 (4) An undergraduate degree, certification, or 

21 advanced degree is a prerequisite to enter or ad22 vance in these public service careers. Yet, research 

23 suggests that the prospect of several decades of stu24 dent loan payments often deters individuals from 

25 pursuing careers in public service. 


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1 (5) The public service loan forgiveness program 

2 has substantially failed. In 2018, 99 percent of the 

3 borrowers who applied for relief under the program 

4 were denied due to improper type of loans, employ5 ment, or repayment plan, or the number of pay6 ments that they had made. 

7 (6) Advocates and enforcement agencies, includ8 ing 38 State Attorneys General and the Bureau of 

9 Consumer Financial Protection, have repeatedly 

10 found that all of the major Federal student loan 

11 servicers provided inaccurate information to bor12 rowers who were interested in or relying upon the 

13 public service loan forgiveness program. They also 

14 found that servicers repeatedly steered borrowers 

15 away from public service loan forgiveness into higher 

16 monthly payments and into deferment and 

17 forbearances. 

18 (7) This has caused millions of public servants 

19 irreparable economic harm, including preventing 

20 them from buying a home, opening a small business, 

21 starting a family, or retiring, because of their stu22 dent debt. 

23 (8) Despite the recent actions of President 

24 Biden’s administration to improve the public service 

25 loan forgiveness program, these actions are limited 


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1 and will not fully atone for the repeated, pervasive, 

2 and systemic actions by Federal student loan 

3 servicers to prevent public servants from fully bene4 fitting from this program. 

5 SEC. 3. MAKING FORGIVENESS ATTAINABLE FOR PUBLIC 

6 SECTOR WORKERS. 

7 Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is amended— 

9 (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 

10 following: 

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

12 the balance of interest and principal due, in accord13 ance with paragraph (2), on any eligible Federal Di14 rect Loan not in default for a borrower who— 

15 ‘‘(A) obtained an eligible Federal Direct 

16 Loan; and 

17 ‘‘(B) has been employed full-time in public 

18 service, beginning on or after January 1, 1994, 

19 for a total period of 10 years or more after the 

20 date on which the first eligible Federal Direct 

21 Loan was obtained.’’; 

22 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and (4) as 

23 paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; 

24 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol25 lowing: 


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1 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO EMPLOY2 MENT.—For purposes of this subsection, volunteer 

3 service as an AmeriCorps or Peace Corps volunteer, 

4 as described in subclause (III) or (IV) of paragraph 

5 (5)(C)(i), shall be deemed to be employment. 

6 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN LOANS AND

7 BORROWERS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) PARENT PLUS LOANS.—In the case of 

9 a borrower of an eligible Federal Direct Loan 

10 that is on behalf of a student, any public service 

11 employment required under this subsection may 

12 be completed by the borrower or by the student 

13 on whose behalf the loan was made. 

14 ‘‘(B) SPECIAL RULES FOR FEDERAL DI15 RECT CONSOLIDATION LOANS.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A borrower who 

17 has obtained an eligible Federal Direct 

18 Loan that is a Federal Direct Consolida19 tion Loan that includes a loan made, in20 sured, or guaranteed under part B or part 

21 E shall receive credit under paragraph (1) 

22 for any years of full-time employment in 

23 public service that occurred while the bor24 rower had a component loan of the Federal 

25 Direct Consolidation Loan. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) SPECIAL RULES FOR JOINT BOR2 ROWERS.—The Secretary shall allow the 

3 borrowers of a Joint Consolidation Loan or 

4 a Joint Direct Consolidation Loan who are 

5 employed in a public service job to consoli6 date such loan into a Federal Direct Con7 solidation Loan in order to receive loan 

8 cancellation pursuant to this subsection.’’; 

9 and 

10 (4) by striking paragraph (5), as redesignated 

11 by paragraph (2), and inserting the following: 

12 ‘‘(5) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

13 ‘‘(A) ELIGIBLE FEDERAL DIRECT LOAN.— 

14 The term ‘eligible Federal Direct Loan’ means 

15 a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, Federal Direct 

16 Unsubsidized Loan, Federal Direct PLUS Loan 

17 (including such loan made on behalf of a stu18 dent), or Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. 

19 ‘‘(B) FULL-TIME.—The term ‘full-time’, 

20 when used with respect to employment in public 

21 service, means working in public service employ22 ment in one or more jobs for a total of— 

23 ‘‘(i) not less than 30 hours a week; 

24 ‘‘(ii) in the case of any form of edu25 cational public service employment that is 


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1 under a contract for not less than 8 

2 months, not less than 30 hours per week 

3 during the contract period; or 

4 ‘‘(iii) in the case of employment as an 

5 adjunct, contingent, or part-time faculty 

6 member, teacher, or lecturer who is paid 

7 solely for the credit hours taught at an in8 stitution of higher education, the equiva9 lent of 30 hours per week determined by 

10 multiplying each credit or contract hour 

11 taught per week by 3.35. 

12 ‘‘(C) PUBLIC SERVICE.— 

13 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘public 

14 service’ means— 

15 ‘‘(I) employment with a quali16 fying employer described in clause (i) 

17 or (ii) of subparagraph (D); 

18 ‘‘(II) employment with a quali19 fying employer described in subpara20 graph (D)(iii) that— 

21 ‘‘(aa) provides direct serv22 ices to the public through its em23 ployees; and 

24 ‘‘(bb) has devoted a majority 

25 of its full-time equivalent employVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:38 Jul 25, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4581.IS S4581

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1 ees to working in not less than 1 

2 of the following areas: 

3 ‘‘(AA) Early childhood 

4 education programs. 

5 ‘‘(BB) Emergency man6 agement. 

7 ‘‘(CC) Law enforce8 ment. 

9 ‘‘(DD) Military service. 

10 ‘‘(EE) Other school11 based services. 

12 ‘‘(FF) Public education 

13 (including higher education). 

14 ‘‘(GG) Public health. 

15 ‘‘(HH) Public interest 

16 law services. 

17 ‘‘(II) Public library 

18 services. 

19 ‘‘(JJ) Public safety. 

20 ‘‘(KK) Public services 

21 for individuals with disabil22 ities or public services for 

23 the elderly. 

24 ‘‘(LL) School library 

25 services; 


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1 ‘‘(III) satisfactory service as a 

2 Peace Corps volunteer in accordance 

3 with section 5 of the Peace Corps Act 

4 (22 U.S.C. 2504); or 

5 ‘‘(IV) successful service as a par6 ticipant in a position described in sec7 tion 123 of the National and Commu8 nity Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 

9 12573). 

10 ‘‘(ii) ADDITIONAL DEFINITIONS.—For 

11 purposes of clause (i): 

12 ‘‘(I) EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

13 SERVICES.—The term ‘emergency 

14 management services’ means services 

15 that help remediate, lessen, or elimi16 nate the effects or potential effects of 

17 emergencies that threaten human life 

18 or health or real property. 

19 ‘‘(II) LAW ENFORCEMENT.—The 

20 term ‘law enforcement’ means services 

21 performed by an employee of a public 

22 service organization that is publicly 

23 funded and whose principal activities 

24 pertain to crime prevention, control or 


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1 reduction of crime, or the enforcement 

2 of criminal law. 

3 ‘‘(III) MILITARY SERVICE.—The 

4 term ‘military service’ means pro5 viding service to or on behalf of mem6 bers, veterans, or the families or sur7 vivors of members or veterans of the 

8 Armed Forces, including the National 

9 Guard, that is provided to a person 

10 because of the person’s status in the 

11 Armed Forces or National Guard. 

12 ‘‘(IV) OTHER SCHOOL-BASED

13 SERVICES.—The term ‘other school14 based services’ means an employee of 

15 a State, or of any political division of 

16 a State, or an employee of a nonprofit 

17 organization, who works in any grade 

18 from prekindergarten through grade 

19 12 in any of the following occupa20 tional specialties: 

21 ‘‘(aa) Paraprofessional serv22 ices, including paraeducator serv23 ices. 

24 ‘‘(bb) Clerical and adminis25 trative services. 


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1 ‘‘(cc) Transportation serv2 ices. 

3 ‘‘(dd) Food and nutrition 

4 services. 

5 ‘‘(ee) Custodial and mainte6 nance services. 

7 ‘‘(ff) Security services. 

8 ‘‘(gg) Health and student 

9 services. 

10 ‘‘(hh) Technical services. 

11 ‘‘(ii) Skilled trades. 

12 ‘‘(V) PUBLIC EDUCATION.—The 

13 term ‘public education’ means— 

14 ‘‘(aa) the provision of edu15 cational enrichment or support to 

16 students in a school or a school17 like setting, including teaching; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(bb) teaching as a full-time 

20 faculty member at a Tribal Col21 lege or University, as defined in 

22 section 316(b), and other faculty 

23 teaching in high-needs subject 

24 areas or areas of shortage (in25 cluding nurse faculty, foreign 


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1 language faculty, and part-time 

2 faculty at community colleges), 

3 as determined by the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(VI) The term ‘public health’ 

5 means— 

6 ‘‘(aa) services provided by 

7 physicians, nurses (including 

8 nurses in a clinical setting), and 

9 nurse practitioners; and 

10 ‘‘(bb) services provided by 

11 health care practitioner occupa12 tions, health care support occu13 pations, and counselors, social 

14 workers, and other community 

15 and social service specialist occu16 pations, as those terms are de17 fined by the Bureau of Labor 

18 Statistics. 

19 ‘‘(VII) The term ‘public interest 

20 law’ means legal services or legal ad21 vocacy provided by a nonprofit organi22 zation, but excludes services provided 

23 by individuals who are registered lob24 byists at the Federal, State, or local 

25 level. 


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1 ‘‘(VIII) The term ‘public library 

2 services’ means the operation of public 

3 libraries or services that support their 

4 operation. 

5 ‘‘(IX) The term ‘public safety 

6 services’ means services that seek to 

7 prevent the need for emergency man8 agement services. 

9 ‘‘(X) The term ‘public services 

10 for individuals with disabilities’ means 

11 services performed for, or to assist, 

12 individuals with disabilities (as de13 fined in section 3 of the Americans 

14 with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 

15 U.S.C. 12102)) that is provided to an 

16 individual because of the individual’s 

17 status as an individual with a dis18 ability. 

19 ‘‘(XI) The term ‘public service 

20 for the elderly’ means services that 

21 are provided to individuals who are 

22 aged 59.5 years or older and that are 

23 provided to an individual because of 

24 the individual’s status as an individual 

25 of that age, including services related 


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1 to retirement plans, pensions, social 

2 security, retiree health plans, or Med3 icaid. 

4 ‘‘(XII) The term ‘school library 

5 services’ means the operations of 

6 school libraries or services that sup7 port their operation. 

8 ‘‘(D) QUALIFYING EMPLOYER.—The term 

9 ‘qualifying employer’ means— 

10 ‘‘(i) a Federal, State, Tribal, local, 

11 intergovernmental, or regional govern12 mental organization, agency, or entity 

13 based or headquartered in the United 

14 States, including the Armed Forces, Na15 tional Guard, Merchant Marines, or Coast 

16 Guard; 

17 ‘‘(ii) a nonprofit organization that is 

18 qualified under section 501(c)(3) of the In19 ternal Revenue Code of 1986; or 

20 ‘‘(iii) a nonprofit organization that is 

21 qualified under section 501(a) of such 

22 Code, with respect to an employee in public 

23 service employment.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TEACHERS. 

2 The Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 

3 et seq.) is amended— 

4 (1) in section 428J(g)(2) (20 U.S.C. 1078– 

5 10(g)(2))— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

7 after the semicolon at the end; 

8 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

9 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

10 subparagraph (B); 

11 (2) in paragraph (7) of section 455(m) (20 

12 U.S.C. 1087e(m)), as amended by section 3(2), by 

13 striking ‘‘both this subsection and section 428J, 

14 428K, 428L, or 460’’ and inserting ‘‘both this sub15 section and section 428K or 428L’’; and 

16 (3) in section 460(g)(2) (20 U.S.C. 

17 1087j(g)(2))— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

19 after the semicolon at the end; 

20 (B) by striking subparagraph (B); and 

21 (C) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 

22 subparagraph (B). 

Æ 


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