I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 9746 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow borrowers of Parent 

PLUS loans or loans under section 428B made on behalf of a dependent 

student to repay such loans pursuant to an income-contingent repayment 

plan or income-based repayment plan, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 20, 2024 

Ms. WATERS (for herself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. CARSON, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. THANEDAR, Mr. JACKSON of 

Illinois, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. STANSBURY, Ms. 

LEE of California, and Mr. SWALWELL) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow borrowers of Parent PLUS loans or loans under section 

428B made on behalf of a dependent student to repay 

such loans pursuant to an income-contingent repayment 

plan or income-based repayment plan, 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 ‘‘Affordable PLUS Re5 payment Options for Parents Act of 2024’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. INCOME-CONTINGENT REPAYMENT PLAN. 

2 Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

3 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (d)(1)(D), by striking ‘‘, ex5 cept that the plan described in this subparagraph 

6 shall not be available to the borrower of a Federal 

7 Direct PLUS loan made on behalf of a dependent 

8 student’’; and 

9 (2) in subsection (e)(1), by inserting at the end 

10 the following: ‘‘An income contingent repayment 

11 plan under this subsection shall be available to a 

12 borrower of a Federal Direct PLUS loan made on 

13 behalf of a dependent student or a Federal Direct 

14 Consolidation Loan the proceeds of which were used 

15 to discharge the liability on such a Federal Direct 

16 PLUS loan.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT PLAN. 

18 (a) CLARIFICATION OF IBR.—Section 455(d)(1)(E) 

19 of such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087e(d)(1)(E)) is amended by 

20 striking ‘‘, except that the plan described in this subpara21 graph shall not be available to the borrower of a Federal 

22 Direct PLUS Loan made on behalf of a dependent student 

23 or a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, if the proceeds 

24 of such loan were used to discharge the liability on such 

25 Federal Direct PLUS Loan or a loan under section 428B 

26 made on behalf of a dependent student’’. 


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•HR 9746 IH

1 (b) IBR.—Section 493C of the Higher Education Act 

2 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098e) is amended— 

3 (1) by amending subsection (a) to read as fol4 lows: 

5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘partial 

6 financial hardship’, when used with respect to a borrower, 

7 means that for such borrower— 

8 ‘‘(1) the annual amount due on the total 

9 amount of loans made, insured, or guaranteed under 

10 part B or D to a borrower as calculated under the 

11 standard repayment plan under section 

12 428(b)(9)(A)(i) or 455(d)(1)(A), based on a 10-year 

13 repayment period; exceeds 

14 ‘‘(2) 15 percent of the result obtained by calcu15 lating, on at least an annual basis, the amount by 

16 which— 

17 ‘‘(A) the borrower’s, and the borrower’s 

18 spouse’s (if applicable), adjusted gross income; 

19 exceeds 

20 ‘‘(B) 150 percent of the poverty line appli21 cable to the borrower’s family size as deter22 mined under section 673(2) of the Community 

23 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 9902(2)).’’; 

25 (2) in subsection (b)— 


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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(other 

2 than an excepted PLUS loan or excepted con3 solidation loan)’’; 

4 (B) in paragraph (6)(A), by striking 

5 ‘‘(other than an excepted PLUS loan or ex6 cepted consolidation loan)’’; and 

7 (C) in paragraph (7), by striking ‘‘(other 

8 than a loan under section 428B or a Federal 

9 Direct PLUS Loan)’’; and 

10 (3) in subsection (c)— 

11 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘(other 

12 than an excepted PLUS loan or excepted con13 solidation loan),’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking 

15 ‘‘(other than an excepted PLUS loan or ex16 cepted consolidation loan)’’. 

17 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE AND APPLICATION. 

18 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect 

19 on the date of enactment of this Act, and shall apply with 

20 respect to each borrower who, on or after such date— 

21 (1) has an outstanding balance on a Federal 

22 Direct PLUS Loan (or a loan under section 428B) 

23 made on behalf of a dependent student or a Federal 

24 Direct Consolidation Loan the proceeds of which 

25 were used to discharge the liability on such a FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:05 Oct 04, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H9746.IH H9746

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1 eral Direct PLUS loan (or on such a loan under sec2 tion 428B); and 

3 (2) is repaying or will repay such loan pursuant 

4 to an income-contingent repayment plan under sec5 tion 455(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

6 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(e)) or an income-based repayment 

7 plan under section 493C of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

8 1098e). 

Æ 


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