II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4912 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require institutions of 

higher education to repay a portion of student law default, to make 

student loan debts dischargeable in bankruptcy, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 21, 2022 

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

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

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 

institutions of higher education to repay a portion of 

student law default, to make student loan debts dischargeable in bankruptcy, 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 ‘‘Make the Universities 

5 Pay Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION REPAYING A 

2 PORTION OF STUDENT LOAN DEBTS. 

3 Section 454 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1087d) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(d) INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION REPAY7 ING A PORTION OF STUDENT LOAN DEBTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each institution of higher 

9 education participating in the direct student loan 

10 program under this part for a fiscal year shall be 

11 liable for 50 percent of any student loan balance 

12 that is in default for a loan made under this part 

13 that was used towards the cost of attendance at the 

14 institution. 

15 ‘‘(2) OFFSET EXCEPTION.—An institution of 

16 higher education shall not increase the costs of tui17 tion at the institution, charge any additional fee to 

18 students, or otherwise increase the cost of attend19 ance at the institution in order to offset the liability 

20 of the institution under paragraph (1) unless there 

21 is an equivalent percentage decrease in administra22 tive expenses at the institution.’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. MAKING STUDENT LOAN DEBTS DISCHARGEABLE 

2 IN BANKRUPTCY. 

3 (a) EXCEPTIONS TO DISCHARGE.—Section 523(a) of 

4 title 11, United States Code, is amended by striking para5 graph (8) and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(8) for an educational benefit overpayment or 

7 loan made, insured, or guaranteed by a govern8 mental unit, or made under any program funded in 

9 whole or in part by a governmental unit or nonprofit 

10 institution, or for an obligation to repay funds re11 ceived as an educational benefit, scholarship, or sti12 pend received from a governmental unit or nonprofit 

13 institution, unless— 

14 ‘‘(A) excepting such debt from discharge 

15 under this paragraph would impose an undue 

16 hardship on the debtor and the debtor’s de17 pendents; 

18 ‘‘(B) in the case of such an education ben19 efit overpayment or loan for undergraduate 

20 education, the first payment on such debt be21 came due before the 5-year period (exclusive of 

22 any applicable suspension of the repayment pe23 riod) ending on the date of the filing of the pe24 tition; or 

25 ‘‘(C) in the case of such an education ben26 efit overpayment or loan for graduate eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Sep 24, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4912.IS S4912

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1 cation, the first payment on such debt became 

2 due before the 15-year period (exclusive of any 

3 applicable suspension of the repayment period) 

4 ending on the date of the filing of the peti5 tion;’’. 

6 (b) APPLICATION.—The amendment made by sub7 section (a) shall apply to any proceeding under title 11, 

8 United States Code, that is initiated on or after the date 

9 that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act. 

10 SEC. 4. ENSURING TRANSPARENCY OF STUDENT OUT11 COMES. 

12 Section 487 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

13 U.S.C. 1094) is amended— 

14 (1) in subsection (a), by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(30) The institution will, not later than Sep17 tember 30, 2023, and annually thereafter, comply 

18 with the following: 

19 ‘‘(A) Produce and transmit to the Sec20 retary statistical analysis using the statistical 

21 sampling method developed under subsection 

22 (k) that consists of the following measures of 

23 post-collegiate graduate outcomes for the insti24 tution as a whole and disaggregated by each de25 gree or program of study offered by the instituVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:26 Sep 24, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4912.IS S4912

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1 tion at time intervals of 1 year, 5 years, and 15 

2 years after graduation: 

3 ‘‘(i) Mean and median earnings of 

4 graduates. 

5 ‘‘(ii) Student loan default rates of 

6 graduates. 

7 ‘‘(B) Publish and make available to the 

8 public the statistical analysis produced under 

9 subparagraph (A) on the website of the institu10 tion, within 2 clicks of the homepage and with11 out a paywall, email login, or other restriction 

12 to access.’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(k) ENSURING TRANSPARENCY OF STUDENT OUT15 COMES.— 

16 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT OF STATISTICAL SAMPLING

17 METHOD.—The Secretary shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) develop a statistical sampling method 

19 to be used by institutions of higher education in 

20 fulfilling the requirement described in sub21 section (a)(30); and 

22 ‘‘(B) establish a searchable database acces23 sible to the public of all analyses transmitted to 

24 the Secretary pursuant to subsection (a)(30) 


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1 that can be sorted by institution and degree or 

2 program of study. 

3 ‘‘(2) AUDIT AND INVESTIGATION AUTHORITY.— 

4 The Inspector General of the Department may audit 

5 and investigate the veracity of statistical analysis 

6 transmitted to the Secretary by an institution of 

7 higher education.’’. 

Æ 


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