II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5209 

To establish a grant program for States to fund community-based nonprofit 

student loan consumer assistance programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 7, 2022 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. PADILLA) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a grant program for States to fund communitybased nonprofit student loan consumer assistance programs, 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 ‘‘Student Loan Literacy 

5 Act of 2022’’. 

6 SEC. 2. STUDENT LOAN CONSUMER INFORMATION. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—From amounts made available to 

8 carry out this section, the Secretary of Education shall 

9 award grants to States to enable such States to establish, 


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1 expand, or provide support for community-based nonprofit 

2 student loan consumer assistance programs. 

3 (b) APPLICATION.—Each State desiring to receive a 

4 grant under this section shall submit to the Secretary of 

5 Education an application at such time and in such manner 

6 as the Secretary may require. Such application shall iden7 tify the community-based nonprofit student loan consumer 

8 assistance organization or organizations that will partici9 pate in the program funded under this section, and shall 

10 include a description of the program activities the State 

11 and such organization or organizations will carry out. 

12 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—With funds provided by a State 

13 under this section, a community-based nonprofit student 

14 loan consumer assistance program— 

15 (1) shall provide assistance to borrowers of 

16 Federal student loans, including— 

17 (A) receiving and responding to borrower 

18 inquiries and complaints concerning Federal 

19 student loans; 

20 (B) assisting borrowers with the filing of 

21 complaints and appeals with relevant Federal 

22 and State entities and Federal student loan 

23 lenders, holders, servicers, and collectors, as ap24 propriate; 


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1 (C) collecting, tracking, and quantifying 

2 problems and inquiries encountered by bor3 rowers of Federal student loans; 

4 (D) educating borrowers about their rights 

5 and responsibilities with respect to Federal stu6 dent loans; and 

7 (E) assisting borrowers with Federal stu8 dent loan needs by providing information, refer9 ral, and assistance, including assistance resolv10 ing problems regarding Federal student loans; 

11 (2) shall consult with relevant Federal and 

12 State entities to assist borrowers with reporting, 

13 processing, and resolving issues and complaints re14 lated to Federal student loans; 

15 (3) shall collect data required to comply with 

16 the reporting requirements under subsection (d); and 

17 (4) may file complaints and appeals on behalf 

18 of borrowers of Federal student loans in accordance 

19 with any regulations established by the Secretary of 

20 Education with respect to this paragraph. 

21 (d) DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING.— 

22 (1) ANNUAL REPORT TO STATES.—Each com23 munity-based nonprofit student loan consumer as24 sistance program receiving funds under this section 

25 shall provide to the State providing such funds an 


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1 annual report on the activities carried out by such 

2 program, which shall include— 

3 (A) the number of borrowers served by the 

4 program; 

5 (B) demographic data on the borrowers 

6 served by the program, including age, race, eth7 nicity, gender, and student or employment sta8 tus, and if available, the income of such bor9 rowers; 

10 (C) a list and description of the types of 

11 issues and complaints presented by borrowers 

12 served by the program, including identification 

13 of the most common problems encountered by 

14 such borrowers with respect to Federal student 

15 loans; 

16 (D) a description of the types of services 

17 provided to borrowers by the program; and 

18 (E) data related to the issues and com19 plaints presented by borrowers served by the 

20 program, including— 

21 (i) the number of borrower issues or 

22 complaints the program referred to, or fa23 cilitated borrower contact with, a Federal 

24 or State entity or Federal student loan 

25 lender, holder, servicer, or collector; 


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1 (ii) the number of such issues or com2 plaints the program filed, on behalf of a 

3 borrower, with a Federal or State entity or 

4 Federal student loan lender, holder, 

5 servicer, or collector; and 

6 (iii) data on the outcomes of such 

7 issues and complaints, including the num8 ber of such issues or complaints that have 

9 been resolved, and whether a borrower con10 siders an issue or complaint to be resolved 

11 satisfactorily. 

12 (2) STATE REPORTS.—Not later than 30 days 

13 after receipt of an annual report described in para14 graph (1), a State receiving funds under this section 

15 for one or more community-based nonprofit student 

16 loan consumer assistance programs shall provide to 

17 the Secretary of Education a summary of the annual 

18 reports received from all such programs. 

19 (3) REPORT BY THE SECRETARY.—Beginning 

20 18 months after the date of enactment of this sec21 tion, the Secretary of Education shall provide an an22 nual report on the grant program carried out under 

23 this section to the Committee on Health, Education, 

24 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the Com25 mittee on Education and Labor of the House of 


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1 Representatives, the entity in each State that is re2 sponsible for regulation of student loans, and any 

3 other Federal entity with responsibilities related to 

4 Federal student loans. Such report shall include 

5 areas of Federal student loan law, regulation, and 

6 administration that require increased enforcement or 

7 oversight, as identified by the Secretary using data 

8 reported by States in accordance with paragraph 

9 (2). 

10 (e) OUTREACH.— 

11 (1) NATIONAL WEBSITE.—Not later than 24 

12 months after the date of enactment of this section, 

13 the Secretary of Education shall establish, maintain, 

14 and make readily available to the public through the 

15 Department of Education’s website a list of the com16 munity-based nonprofit student loan consumer as17 sistance programs receiving funds under this section 

18 to assist borrowers with locating and contacting 

19 such a program in their community. 

20 (2) FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN LIAISONS.—The 

21 Secretary of Education shall take such steps as may 

22 be necessary to ensure that each holder, servicer, 

23 and collector of Federal student loans provides at 

24 least one individual representative of the holder, 


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1 servicer, or collector, referred to in this paragraph 

2 as a ‘‘Federal student loan liaison’’, who will— 

3 (A) coordinate with community-based non4 profit student loan consumer assistance pro5 grams receiving funds under this section with 

6 respect to inquiries, issues, and complaints from 

7 borrowers, including the resolution of such in8 quiries, issues, and complaints; and 

9 (B) provide community-based nonprofit 

10 student loan consumer assistance programs re11 ceiving funds under this section with a direct 

12 method of communication to the individual or 

13 department of the holder, servicer, or collector 

14 who is responsible for handling escalated issues 

15 or complaints. 

16 (f) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

17 (1) BORROWER.—The term ‘‘borrower’’ means 

18 a borrower or potential borrower of a Federal stu19 dent loan, including a parent who is a borrower of 

20 a loan made on behalf of a dependent student. 

21 (2) FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN.—The term 

22 ‘‘Federal student loan’’ means any Federal student 

23 loan made under title IV of the Higher Education 

24 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) or any other 

25 Federal law to cover the cost of attendance of a stuVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:52 Dec 09, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5209.IS S5209

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1 dent at an institution of higher education (as de2 fined in section 102 of such Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

3 1002)). 

4 (g) FUNDING.— 

5 (1) INITIAL FUNDING.—There is hereby appro6 priated to the Secretary of Education, out of any 

7 funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 

8 $80,000,000 for the first fiscal year beginning after 

9 the date of enactment of this section, to remain 

10 available until expended. 

11 (2) AUTHORIZATION FOR SUBSEQUENT

12 YEARS.—In addition to amounts appropriated under 

13 paragraph (1), there are authorized to be appro14 priated to the Secretary of Education, for each fiscal 

15 year following the fiscal year described in paragraph 

16 (1), such sums as may be necessary to carry out this 

17 section. 

Æ 


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