In the Senate of the United States, 

July 24, 2013. 

Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 1911) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the Higher 

Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates for new 

loans made on or after July 1, 2013, to direct the Secretary 

of Education to convene the Advisory Committee on Improving Postsecondary Education Data to conduct a study on improvements to postsecondary education transparency at the 

Federal level, and for other purposes.’’, do pass with the following 

AMENDMENT: 

Strike all after the first word and insert the following: 

1 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Student 

3 Loan Certainty Act of 2013’’. 

4 SEC. 2. INTEREST RATES. 

5 (a) INTEREST RATES.—Section 455(b) of the Higher 

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(b)) is amended— 
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† HR 1911 EAS 

1 (1) in paragraph (7)— 

2 (A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting 

3 ‘‘AND BEFORE JULY 1, 2013’’ after ‘‘ON OR AFTER

4 JULY 1, 2006’’; 

5 (B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and 

6 before July 1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 

7 2006,’’; 

8 (C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and 

9 before July 1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 

10 2006,’’; and 

11 (D) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and 

12 before July 1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 

13 2006,’’; 

14 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as 

15 paragraphs (9) and (10), respectively; and 

16 (3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(8) INTEREST RATE PROVISIONS FOR NEW

19 LOANS ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 2013.— 

20 ‘‘(A) RATES FOR UNDERGRADUATE FDSL

21 AND FDUSL.—Notwithstanding the preceding 

22 paragraphs of this subsection, for Federal Direct 

23 Stafford Loans and Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

24 Stafford Loans issued to undergraduate students, 

25 for which the first disbursement is made on or 
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† HR 1911 EAS 

1 after July 1, 2013, the applicable rate of interest 

2 shall, for loans disbursed during any 12-month 

3 period beginning on July 1 and ending on June 

4 30, be determined on the preceding June 1 and 

5 be equal to the lesser of— 

6 ‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of 

7 the 10-year Treasury note auctioned at the 

8 final auction held prior to such June 1 plus 

9 2.05 percent; or 

10 ‘‘(ii) 8.25 percent. 

11 ‘‘(B) RATES FOR GRADUATE AND PROFES12 SIONAL FDUSL.—Notwithstanding the preceding 

13 paragraphs of this subsection, for Federal Direct 

14 Unsubsidized Stafford Loans issued to graduate 

15 or professional students, for which the first dis16 bursement is made on or after July 1, 2013, the 

17 applicable rate of interest shall, for loans dis18 bursed during any 12-month period beginning 

19 on July 1 and ending on June 30, be determined 

20 on the preceding June 1 and be equal to the less21 er of— 

22 ‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of 

23 the 10-year Treasury note auctioned at the 

24 final auction held prior to such June 1 plus 

25 3.6 percent; or 
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† HR 1911 EAS 

1 ‘‘(ii) 9.5 percent. 

2 ‘‘(C) PLUS LOANS.—Notwithstanding the 

3 preceding paragraphs of this subsection, for Fed4 eral Direct PLUS Loans, for which the first dis5 bursement is made on or after July 1, 2013, the 

6 applicable rate of interest shall, for loans dis7 bursed during any 12-month period beginning 

8 on July 1 and ending on June 30, be determined 

9 on the preceding June 1 and be equal to the less10 er of— 

11 ‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of 

12 the 10-year Treasury note auctioned at the 

13 final auction held prior to such June 1 plus 

14 4.6 percent; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) 10.5 percent. 

16 ‘‘(D) CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—Notwith17 standing the preceding paragraphs of this sub18 section, any Federal Direct Consolidation Loan 

19 for which the application is received on or after 

20 July 1, 2013, shall bear interest at an annual 

21 rate on the unpaid principal balance of the loan 

22 that is equal to the weighted average of the inter23 est rates on the loans consolidated, rounded to 

24 the nearest higher one-eighth of one percent. 
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1 ‘‘(E) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall 

2 determine the applicable rate of interest under 

3 this paragraph after consultation with the Sec4 retary of the Treasury and shall publish such 

5 rate in the Federal Register as soon as prac6 ticable after the date of determination. 

7 ‘‘(F) RATE.—The applicable rate of interest 

8 determined under this paragraph for a Federal 

9 Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsub10 sidized Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct 

11 PLUS Loan shall be fixed for the period of the 

12 loan.’’. 

13 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by sub14 section (a) shall take effect as if enacted on July 1, 2013. 

15 SEC. 3. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

16 (a) PAYGO SCORECARD.—The budgetary effects of this 

17 Act shall not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard main18 tained pursuant to section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay- As19 You-Go Act of 2010. 

20 (b) SENATE PAYGO SCORECARD.—The budgetary ef21 fects of this Act shall not be entered on any PAYGO score22 card maintained for purposes of section 201 of S. Con. Res. 

23 21 (110th Congress). 
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† HR 1911 EAS 

1 SEC. 4. STUDY ON THE ACTUAL COST OF ADMINISTERING 

2 THE FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS. 

3 Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States 

5 shall— 

6 (1) complete a study that determines the actual 

7 cost to the Federal Government of carrying out the 

8 Federal student loan programs authorized under title 

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

10 1070 et seq.), which shall— 

11 (A) provide estimates relying on accurate 

12 information based on past, current, and pro13 jected data as to the appropriate index and 

14 mark-up rate for the Federal Government’s cost 

15 of borrowing that would allow the Federal Gov16 ernment to effectively administer and cover the 

17 cost of the Federal student programs authorized 

18 under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

19 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) under the scoring 

20 rules outlined in the Federal Credit Reform Act 

21 of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.); 

22 (B) provide the information described in 

23 this section in a way that separates out adminis24 trative costs, interest rate, and other loan terms 

25 and conditions; and 
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† HR 1911 EAS 

1 (C) set forth clear recommendations to the 

2 relevant authorizing committees of Congress as to 

3 how future legislation can incorporate the results 

4 of the study described in this section to allow for 

5 the administration of the Federal student loan 

6 programs authorized under title IV of the Higher 

7 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) 

8 without generating any additional revenue to the 

9 Federal Government except revenue that is need10 ed to carry out such programs; and 

11 (2) prepare and submit a report to the Com12 mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of 

13 the Senate and the Committee on Education and the 

14 Workforce of the House of Representatives setting 

15 forth the conclusions of the study described in this sec16 tion in such a manner that the recommendations in17 cluded in the report can inform future reauthoriza18 tions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

19 1001 et seq.). 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H.R. 1911 

AMENDMENT