H. R. 1911 

One Hundred Thirteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen 

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. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013’’. 

SEC. 2. INTEREST RATES. 

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

Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(b)) is amended— 

(1) in paragraph (7)— 

(A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting ‘‘AND

BEFORE JULY 1, 2013’’ after ‘‘ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 2006’’; 

(B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and before July 

1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 2006,’’; 

(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and before July 

1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 2006,’’; and 

(D) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and before July 

1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 2006,’’; 

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

(9) and (10), respectively; and 

(3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following: 

‘‘(8) INTEREST RATE PROVISIONS FOR NEW LOANS ON OR

AFTER JULY 1, 2013.— 

‘‘(A) RATES FOR UNDERGRADUATE FDSL AND FDUSL.— 

Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this subsection, for Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Federal 

Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans issued to undergraduate students, for which the first disbursement is made 

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

shall, for loans disbursed during any 12-month period 

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

on the preceding June 1 and be equal to the lesser of— 

‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year 

Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior 

to such June 1 plus 2.05 percent; or 

‘‘(ii) 8.25 percent. 
H. R. 1911—2 

‘‘(B) RATES FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL FDUSL.— 

Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this subsection, for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans 

issued to graduate or professional students, for which the 

first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 2013, the 

applicable rate of interest shall, for loans disbursed during 

any 12-month period beginning on July 1 and ending on 

June 30, be determined on the preceding June 1 and be 

equal to the lesser of— 

‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year 

Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior 

to such June 1 plus 3.6 percent; or 

‘‘(ii) 9.5 percent. 

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

paragraphs of this subsection, for Federal Direct PLUS 

Loans, for which the first disbursement is made on or 

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

for loans disbursed during any 12-month period beginning 

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

preceding June 1 and be equal to the lesser of— 

‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year 

Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior 

to such June 1 plus 4.6 percent; or 

‘‘(ii) 10.5 percent. 

‘‘(D) CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this subsection, any Federal Direct 

Consolidation Loan for which the application is received 

on or after July 1, 2013, shall bear interest at an annual 

rate on the unpaid principal balance of the loan that is 

equal to the weighted average of the interest rates on 

the loans consolidated, rounded to the nearest higher oneeighth of one percent. 

‘‘(E) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall determine 

the applicable rate of interest under this paragraph after 

consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and shall 

publish such rate in the Federal Register as soon as practicable after the date of determination. 

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

under this paragraph for a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, 

a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a Federal 

Direct PLUS Loan shall be fixed for the period of the 

loan.’’. 

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by subsection 

(a) shall take effect as if enacted on July 1, 2013. 

SEC. 3. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 

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

not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant 

to section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay- As-You-Go Act of 2010. 

(b) SENATE PAYGO SCORECARD.—The budgetary effects of this 

Act shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained 

for purposes of section 201 of S. Con. Res. 21 (110th Congress). 

SEC. 4. STUDY ON THE ACTUAL COST OF ADMINISTERING THE FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS. 

Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 

Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall— 
H. R. 1911—3 

(1) complete a study that determines the actual cost to 

the Federal Government of carrying out the Federal student 

loan programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), which shall— 

(A) provide estimates relying on accurate information 

based on past, current, and projected data as to the appropriate index and mark-up rate for the Federal Government’s cost of borrowing that would allow the Federal 

Government to effectively administer and cover the cost 

of the Federal student programs authorized under title 

IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 

et seq.) under the scoring rules outlined in the Federal 

Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.); 

(B) provide the information described in this section 

in a way that separates out administrative costs, interest 

rate, and other loan terms and conditions; and 

(C) set forth clear recommendations to the relevant 

authorizing committees of Congress as to how future legislation can incorporate the results of the study described 

in this section to allow for the administration of the Federal 

student loan programs authorized under title IV of the 

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

without generating any additional revenue to the Federal 

Government except revenue that is needed to carry out 

such programs; and 

(2) prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 

the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 

of Representatives setting forth the conclusions of the study 

described in this section in such a manner that the recommendations included in the report can inform future 

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

1001 et seq.). 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.