I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2572 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish a student loan 

forgiveness program for nurses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 5, 2007 

Ms. LORETTA SANCHEZ of California introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish 

a student loan forgiveness program for nurses. 

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 ‘‘Nurse Loan Forgive5 ness Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) According to 2005 statistics from the Amer9 ican Hospital Association, 118,000 nurses are need10 ed to fill vacancies at our nation’s hospitals, and 


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1 more than 75 percent of all hospital personnel va2 cancies are for nurses. 

3 (2) According to a study by the Department of 

4 Health and Human Services in 2002, the United 

5 States will experience a 29 percent shortage in the 

6 number of nurses needed in the United States health 

7 care system by the year 2020, which translates into 

8 a shortage of more than 400,000 registered nurses 

9 nationwide. 

10 (3) Research indicates that there is a great 

11 need for health care services, especially hospitals and 

12 prescription drugs, but there continues to be a 28 

13 percent decrease in national licensure examination 

14 for all entry-level registered nurses. 

15 (4) The Department of Labor projects a 29 

16 percent increase in the need for nurses nationwide 

17 from 2004 to 2014, compared with a 13 percent in18 crease for all other occupations. 

19 (5) The General Accounting Office estimates 

20 that 40 percent of all registered nurses will be older 

21 than age 50 by the year 2010. 

22 (6) Of those registered nurses in 2004, an esti23 mated 16 percent have chosen to not practice in the 

24 field. 


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1 SEC. 3. LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM ESTABLISHED. 

2 Part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965 is amended by inserting after section 428K (20 

4 U.S.C. 1078–11) the following new section: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 428L. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR NURSES. 

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this section are— 

7 ‘‘(1) to encourage— 

8 ‘‘(A) individuals to enter and continue in 

9 the nursing profession; and 

10 ‘‘(B) experienced nurses to instruct nurses 

11 entering the profession; and 

12 ‘‘(2) to reward such individuals for their service 

13 in the nursing profession by reducing the burden of 

14 student debt. 

15 ‘‘(b) LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) LOAN FORGIVENESS AUTHORIZED.—The 

17 Secretary is authorized to forgive, in accordance 

18 with this section, the student loan debt of an eligible 

19 borrower in the amount specified in subsection (d) 

20 for each of the first 5 complete years of service de21 scribed in subsection (c)(1) by such eligible borrower 

22 that occur after the date of enactment of this sec23 tion. 

24 ‘‘(2) METHOD OF LOAN FORGIVENESS.—To 

25 provide the loan forgiveness authorized in paragraph 


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1 (1), the Secretary is authorized to carry out a pro2 gram— 

3 ‘‘(A) through the holder of the loan, to as4 sume the obligation to repay a qualified loan 

5 amount for a loan made under this part; and 

6 ‘‘(B) to cancel a qualified loan amount for 

7 a loan made under part D of this title. 

8 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION ON CONSOLIDATION LOANS.— 

9 A loan amount for a loan made under section 428C 

10 may be a qualified loan amount for the purposes of 

11 this section only to the extent that such loan amount 

12 was used to repay a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, 

13 a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a 

14 loan made under section 428 or 428H for an eligible 

15 borrower, as determined in accordance with regula16 tions prescribed by the Secretary. 

17 ‘‘(c) ELIGIBLE BORROWER.—The Secretary is au18 thorized to provide loan forgiveness under this section to 

19 any individual who— 

20 ‘‘(1) has been employed for at least one cal21 endar year— 

22 ‘‘(A) as a full-time registered nurse in a 

23 health care facility or a health care setting ap24 proved by the Secretary of Health and Human 

25 Services for the purposes of this section; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) as a nursing instructor in a school of 

2 nursing as defined by the Public Health Service 

3 Act (42 U.S.C. 296); 

4 ‘‘(2) if qualifying on the basis of the employ5 ment described in paragraph (1)(B), has received a 

6 Masters of Science in Nursing; and 

7 ‘‘(3) is not in default on a loan for which the 

8 borrower seeks forgiveness. 

9 ‘‘(d) LOAN FORGIVENESS AMOUNTS.—The Secretary 

10 shall, from funds appropriated under subsection (j), for11 give the loan obligation of an eligible borrower in accord12 ance with subsection (b)(2) and in the following incre13 ments: 

14 ‘‘(1) After the first calendar year of employ15 ment described in subsection (c)(1), not more than 

16 $2,000. 

17 ‘‘(2) After the second such year of employment, 

18 not more than $2,500. 

19 ‘‘(3) After the third such year of employment, 

20 not more than $3,000. 

21 ‘‘(4) After the fourth such year of employment, 

22 not more than $4,500. 

23 ‘‘(5) After the fifth such year of employment, 

24 not more than $5,000. 


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1 ‘‘(e) APPLICATION FOR LOAN FORGIVENESS.—An el2 igible borrower desiring loan forgiveness under this section 

3 shall submit a complete and accurate application to the 

4 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and containing 

5 such information as the Secretary may require. 

6 ‘‘(f) PRIORITY.—The Secretary shall grant loan for7 giveness under this section on a first-come, first-served 

8 basis, and subject to the availability of appropriations. 

9 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

10 prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry 

11 out the provisions of this section. 

12 ‘‘(h) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

13 be construed to authorize the refunding of any repayment 

14 of any loan. 

15 ‘‘(i) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No bor16 rower may, for the same service, receive a benefit under 

17 both this section and subtitle D of title I of the National 

18 and Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12571 

19 et seq.). No borrower may receive a benefit under this sec20 tion for both employment described in subsection (c)(1)(A) 

21 and employment described in subsection (c)(1)(B). 

22 ‘‘(j) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 


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1 such sums as may be necessary for fiscal year 2008 and 

2 each of the 5 succeeding fiscal years.’’. 

Æ 


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