II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 3524 

To establish an interactive online dashboard to improve public access to 

information about student loan forgiveness programs, repayment programs, and repayment plans. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

DECEMBER 14, 2023 

Mr. MANCHIN (for himself and Mr. BRAUN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish an interactive online dashboard to improve public access to information about student loan forgiveness 

programs, repayment programs, and repayment plans. 

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 ‘‘Streamlining More Ac5 cessible, Reliable and Transparent Educational Resources 

6 for Debt Act’’ or the ‘‘SMARTER Debt Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. INTERACTIVE DASHBOARD. 

8 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

3 Education (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Sec4 retary’’) shall establish and operate an interactive, 

5 internet website-based dashboard (referred to in this 

6 section as the ‘‘dashboard’’) that improves public ac7 cess to information about student loan forgiveness 

8 and cancellation programs, repayment programs, 

9 and repayment plans, that are authorized under 

10 Federal law, including for potential applicants for 

11 such programs and plans. 

12 (2) DESIGN.—The dashboard shall be designed 

13 in a manner that complies with the Americans with 

14 Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.) 

15 and section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 

16 (29 U.S.C. 794d). 

17 (3) CONSULTATION.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—In establishing the 

19 dashboard under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

20 may consult with— 

21 (i) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, 

22 the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 

23 Health and Human Services, the Secretary 

24 of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, the 

25 Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation 

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1 for National and Community Service, the 

2 Secretary of each military department, the 

3 Attorney General, the Director of the Of4 fice of Personnel Management, the Capitol 

5 Police Board, the President pro tempore of 

6 the Senate, the Chief Administrative Offi7 cer of the House of Representatives, and 

8 heads of other relevant agencies, as the 

9 Secretary determines appropriate; 

10 (ii) Indian Tribes and Tribal organi11 zations (as defined in section 4 of the In12 dian Self-Determination and Education 

13 Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)); and 

14 (iii) relevant entities who may use the 

15 dashboard, including— 

16 (I) students and prospective stu17 dents at institutions of higher edu18 cation; 

19 (II) institutions of higher edu20 cation, including historically Black 

21 colleges and universities (as defined 

22 for purposes of section 322 of the 

23 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

24 U.S.C. 1061), Tribal colleges or uni25 versities (as defined in section 316(b) 

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1 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

2 (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b)), and other mi3 nority-serving institutions, as such in4 stitutions are described in section 

5 371(a) of the Higher Education Act 

6 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1067q)); 

7 (III) local educational agencies 

8 and secondary schools (as such terms 

9 are defined in section 8101 of the Ele10 mentary and Secondary Education 

11 Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 

12 (IV) State educational agencies 

13 (as defined in such section 8101); 

14 (V) nonprofit organizations; and 

15 (VI) any other entities that the 

16 Secretary determines are relevant. 

17 (B) TOPICS.—The consultation with stake18 holders and entities described in subparagraph 

19 (A)(ii) shall be with respect to elements of the 

20 dashboard, such as search functions, grant 

21 data, user-friendly design, and any other ele22 ments that the Secretary determines are appro23 priate for purposes of this subsection. 

24 (4) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN.—The Secretary, 

25 in consultation with representatives of relevant agenVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Dec 30, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3524.IS S3524
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1 cies described in paragraph (3)(A), shall, not later 

2 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, publicly issue a plan to launch the dashboard, 

4 including opportunities to improve upon existing 

5 publicly accessible websites that may be updated by 

6 the Secretary to meet the requirements under sub7 section (c). 

8 (b) UPDATES.—The Secretary shall continually main9 tain the dashboard established under subsection (a) to 

10 keep up-to-date information about all relevant programs 

11 posted. 

12 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—The dashboard established 

13 under subsection (a) shall, at a minimum, meet the fol14 lowing requirements: 

15 (1) Provide the following information: 

16 (A) The name of each program authorized 

17 under Federal law that— 

18 (i) provides for the cancellation or for19 giveness of all, or a portion of, covered stu20 dent loans for certain eligible individuals; 

21 (ii) provides that an entity (such as 

22 an employing office) may agree to repay, 

23 by direct payments on behalf of certain eli24 gible individuals, some or all of the covered 

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1 student loan indebtedness of such eligible 

2 individuals that is outstanding; or 

3 (iii) provides for an income-driven re4 payment plan that sets monthly student 

5 loan payments at an amount that is in6 tended to be affordable based on income 

7 and family size. 

8 (B) An explanation about whether the au9 thorized program is currently operating. 

10 (C) An explanation of who may be eligible 

11 or qualify for that program, including require12 ments relating to employment, loan type, mili13 tary service, or other requirements. 

14 (2) Allow individuals to search the dashboard 

15 by key categories for which programs are available, 

16 including by career field, program of study, and loan 

17 type, and by location (if applicable). 

18 (3) Provide, as appropriate, access or links to 

19 the respective program information pages and online 

20 applications. 

21 (d) COVERED STUDENT LOAN.—In this Act, the 

22 term ‘‘covered student loan’’ means— 

23 (1) a loan made, insured, or guaranteed under 

24 title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), including Federal Family EduVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:51 Dec 30, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3524.IS S3524
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1 cation Loans under part B of such title, Federal Di2 rect Loans under part D of such title, and Federal 

3 Perkins Loans under part E of such title; 

4 (2) a health education assistance loan made or 

5 insured under part A of title VII of the Public 

6 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 292 et seq.), or under 

7 part E of title VIII of such Act (42 U.S.C. 297a et 

8 seq.); or 

9 (3) another loan for postsecondary education 

10 that is made, insured, or guaranteed by the Federal 

11 Government. 

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