I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2621 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand the loan forgiveness 

program for teachers, to provide a loan forgiveness program for nurses, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 7, 2007 

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself and Mr. PORTER) 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 expand 

the loan forgiveness program for teachers, to provide 

a loan forgiveness program for nurses, 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 ‘‘Teacher and Nurse 

5 Support Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) According to the National Center for Edu2 cation Statistics, over the next 10 years, the United 

3 States will need more than 2,000,000 new teachers 

4 to replace the teachers who are retiring or leaving 

5 the classroom for other careers. 

6 (2) The Hart-Rudman National Security Re7 port on education recommended that the President 

8 direct the Department of Education to work with 

9 the States to devise a comprehensive plan to avert 

10 a looming shortage of high-quality teachers. 

11 (3) According to the National Center for Edu12 cation Statistics, 20 percent of all new teachers leave 

13 the teaching profession within 3 years. Providing 

14 loan forgiveness or loan cancellation is one step that 

15 would help retain high-quality teachers in schools 

16 that need teachers. 

17 (4) The American Hospital Association has re18 ported more than 118,000 unfilled registered nurse 

19 positions in hospitals in the United States. Addition20 ally, the National Commission on Nursing Work21 force for Long-Term Care released a report in May, 

22 2005, stating that there are nearly 100,000 vacant 

23 nursing positions in long-term care facilities on any 

24 given day, and the nurse turnover rate exceeds 50 

25 percent. The shortage is costing long-term care faVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:17 Jun 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2621.IH H2621

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1 cilities an estimated $4 billion a year in recruitment 

2 and training expenses. 

3 (5) College loans are more of a burden than 

4 ever for students and families. According to a recent 

5 United States Public Interest Research Group re6 port, average student loan debt almost doubled from 

7 $9,200 in 1992–1993 to $16,928 in 1999–2000. 

8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to improve 

9 access to, and the delivery of, high-quality educational and 

10 health services throughout the United States by reducing 

11 the shortage of qualified teachers and nurses. 

12 SEC. 3. LOAN FORGIVENESS. 

13 (a) LOAN FORGIVENESS.—Section 428J of the High14 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10) is amend15 ed to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 428J. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR TEACHERS AND 

17 NURSES. 

18 ‘‘(a) STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of 

19 this section to encourage individuals to enter and continue 

20 in the teaching and nursing professions. 

21 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

23 out a program to forgive, in accordance with this 

24 section, the student loan debt of any borrower who 


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1 has one or more loans described under paragraph 

2 (2) made on or after October 1, 1998, and who— 

3 ‘‘(A) has been employed— 

4 ‘‘(i) as a full-time teacher— 

5 ‘‘(I) in a school that qualifies 

6 under section 465(a)(2)(A) for loan 

7 cancellation for Perkins loan recipi8 ents who teach in those schools; 

9 ‘‘(II) if employed as a secondary 

10 school teacher, is teaching a subject 

11 area that is relevant to the borrower’s 

12 academic major as certified by the 

13 chief administrative officer of the pub14 lic or nonprofit private secondary 

15 school in which the borrower is em16 ployed; and 

17 ‘‘(III) if employed as an elemen18 tary school teacher, has demonstrated, 

19 as certified by the chief administrative 

20 officer of the public or nonprofit pri21 vate elementary school in which the 

22 borrower is employed, knowledge and 

23 teaching skills in reading, writing, 

24 mathematics, and other areas of the 

25 elementary school curriculum; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) as a full-time eligible nurse— 

2 ‘‘(I) in a clinical setting; or 

3 ‘‘(II) as a member of the nursing 

4 faculty at an accredited school of 

5 nursing (as those terms are defined in 

6 section 801 of the Public Health Serv7 ice Act (42 U.S.C. 296)); and 

8 ‘‘(B) is not in default on a loan for which 

9 the borrower seeks forgiveness. 

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

11 provide the loan forgiveness authorized in paragraph 

12 (1), the Secretary shall, subject to paragraph (3), 

13 carry out a program— 

14 ‘‘(A) through the holder of the loan, to as15 sume the obligation to repay a qualified loan 

16 amount (as determined under subsection (c)) 

17 for a loan made under section 428 or 428H of 

18 this part; and 

19 ‘‘(B) to cancel a qualified loan amount (as 

20 so determined) for a Federal Direct Stafford 

21 Loan or a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf22 ford Loan made under part D of this title; 

23 ‘‘(3) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.— 

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

25 or section 455(g) may be a qualified loan amount for 


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1 the purposes of paragraph (2) only to the extent 

2 that such loan amount was used to repay a loan 

3 made under section 428 or 428H, a Federal Direct 

4 Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

5 Stafford Loan for a borrower who meets the require6 ments of paragraph (1), as determined in accordance 

7 with regulations prescribed by the Secretary. 

8 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED LOAN AMOUNT.— 

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

10 ‘‘(A) AGGREGATE AMOUNT.—The Sec11 retary shall, in installments in accordance with 

12 subparagraph (B), forgive under this section 

13 not more than $17,500 in the aggregate of the 

14 student loan obligation of a borrower. 

15 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL INSTALLMENTS.—The Sec16 retary shall forgive the student loan obligation 

17 of a borrower in annual installments after each 

18 of 5 years of service described in clause (i) or 

19 (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(A)(i) in an amount not 

20 to exceed the lesser of the remaining out21 standing obligation of the borrower or— 

22 ‘‘(i) $2,000 at the completion of the 

23 first year of such service; 

24 ‘‘(ii) $2,500 at the completion of the 

25 second year of such service; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) $3,500 at the completion of the 

2 third year of such service; 

3 ‘‘(iv) $4,500 at the completion of the 

4 fourth year of such service; and 

5 ‘‘(v) $5,000 at the completion of the 

6 fifth year of such service. 

7 ‘‘(2) FORBEARANCE ON QUALIFIED LOAN

8 AMOUNT.—A holder of a loan on which a borrower 

9 is seeking forgiveness under this section— 

10 ‘‘(A) shall grant forbearance, at the re11 quest of the borrower, in annual increments for 

12 each of the years of qualifying service if the 

13 holder believes, at the time of the borrower’s 

14 annual request, that the amount expected to be 

15 forgiven under this section at the completion of 

16 the period of qualifying service will satisfy the 

17 anticipated remaining outstanding balance on 

18 the loan; and 

19 ‘‘(B) may offer other forbearance options 

20 to the borrower. 

21 ‘‘(d) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to 

22 issue such regulations as may be necessary to carry out 

23 the provisions of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(e) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall 

2 be construed to authorize any refunding of any repayment 

3 of a loan. 

4 ‘‘(f) LIST OF SCHOOLS.—If the list of schools in 

5 which a teacher may perform service pursuant to sub6 section (b)(1)(A)(i) is not available before May 1 of any 

7 year, the Secretary may use the list for the year preceding 

8 the year for which the determination is made to make the 

9 service determination. 

10 ‘‘(g) ADDITIONAL ELIGIBILITY PROVISIONS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) CONTINUED ELIGIBILITY FOR TEACH12 ERS.—Any teacher who performs service in a school 

13 that— 

14 ‘‘(A) meets the requirements of subsection 

15 (b)(1)(A)(i)(I) in any year during such service; 

16 and 

17 ‘‘(B) in a subsequent year fails to meet the 

18 requirements of that subsection, 

19 may continue to teach in the school and shall be eli20 gible for loan forgiveness pursuant to subsection (b). 

21 ‘‘(2) PREVENTION OF DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No 

22 borrower may, for the same service, receive a benefit 

23 under both this subsection and— 


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1 ‘‘(A) subtitle D of title I of the National 

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

3 12571 et seq.); or 

4 ‘‘(B) section 846 of the Public Health 

5 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297n). 

6 ‘‘(h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) ELIGIBLE NURSE.—The term ‘eligible 

8 nurse’ means a nurse who meets all of the following: 

9 ‘‘(A) The nurse graduated from— 

10 ‘‘(i) an accredited school of nursing 

11 (as those terms are defined in section 801 

12 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 296)); 

14 ‘‘(ii) a nursing center; or 

15 ‘‘(iii) an academic health center that 

16 provides nurse training. 

17 ‘‘(B) The nurse holds a valid and unre18 stricted license to practice nursing in the State 

19 in which the nurse practices in a clinical set20 ting. 

21 ‘‘(C) The nurse holds 1 or more of the fol22 lowing: 

23 ‘‘(i) A graduate degree in nursing or 

24 equivalent degree. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) A nursing degree from a colle2 giate school of nursing (as defined in sec3 tion 801 of the Public Health Service Act 

4 (42 U.S.C. 296)). 

5 ‘‘(iii) A nursing degree from an asso6 ciate degree school of nursing (as defined 

7 in section 801 of the Public Health Service 

8 Act (42 U.S.C. 296)). 

9 ‘‘(iv) A nursing degree from a diploma 

10 school of nursing (as defined in section 

11 801 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

12 U.S.C. 296)). 

13 ‘‘(2) YEAR.—The term ‘year’, where applied to 

14 service as a teacher (or service as a member of the 

15 nursing faculty at an accredited school of nursing 

16 (as those terms are defined in section 801 of the 

17 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 296))), means 

18 an academic year as defined by the Secretary.’’. 

19 (b) REPEAL OF LOAN CANCELLATION PROVISION.— 

20 Section 460 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

21 U.S.C. 1087j) is repealed. 

22 SEC. 4. PHASE OUT OF CURRENT PROGRAM. 

23 An individual who began the required period of teach24 ing described in section 428J(b)(1) or 460(b)(1)(A) of the 

25 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–10 and 


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1 1087j) as such sections were in effect on the day before 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, shall— 

3 (1) be eligible to receive loan forgiveness or loan 

4 cancellation in the amount described in, and in ac5 cordance with the requirements of, such sections as 

6 in effect on the day before the date of enactment of 

7 this Act; and 

8 (2) not be eligible to receive loan forgiveness 

9 under section 428J of the Higher Education Act of 

10 1965 as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

11 Act. 

Æ 


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