I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2090 

To improve Federal student loan disclosures, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 19, 2021 

Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER (for herself, Ms. SPANBERGER, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. 

JOHNSON of Ohio, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. WALTZ, Ms. CRAIG, Miss 

GONZA ́LEZ-COLO ́N, Mr. STANTON, Ms. SCHRIER, and Mr. RUTHERFORD) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To improve Federal student loan disclosures, 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 ‘‘Student Loan Disclo5 sure Transparency Act of 2021’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REQUIRED DISCLOSURES BEFORE DISBURSEMENT. 

7 Section 433(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1083(a)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of paragraph 

2 (18); 

3 (2) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; and’’ 

4 at the end of paragraph (19); and 

5 (3) by adding at the end the following new 

6 paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(20) a separate written or electronic state8 ment, in simple and understandable terms, show9 ing— 

10 ‘‘(A) for the loan or loans being dis11 bursed— 

12 ‘‘(i) the principal amount of the loan, 

13 the stated interest rate on the loan, the 

14 number of required monthly payments to 

15 be made on the loan (which shall be based 

16 on a standard repayment plan or, in the 

17 case of a borrower who has selected an18 other repayment plan, on the repayment 

19 plan selected by the borrower), and the es20 timated number of months before the start 

21 of the repayment period for the loan 

22 (based on the expected date on which the 

23 repayment period is to begin or the 

24 deferment period under 428B(d)(1) is to 

25 end, as applicable); 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the estimated balance to be owed 

2 by the borrower on such loan (including, if 

3 applicable, the estimated amount of inter4 est to be capitalized) as of the scheduled 

5 date on which the repayment period is to 

6 begin or the deferment period under 

7 428B(d)(1) is to end, as applicable, and an 

8 estimate of the projected monthly payment; 

9 and 

10 ‘‘(iii) an estimate of the aggregate 

11 amount the borrower will pay for the loan 

12 or loans, including the total amount of 

13 monthly payments made over the life of 

14 the loan plus the amount of any charges 

15 for the loan, such as an origination fee; 

16 ‘‘(B) for each other loan owed by the bor17 rower to the lender, the information described 

18 in clauses (i) through (iii) of subparagraph (A); 

19 and 

20 ‘‘(C) an estimate of the total cumulative 

21 amount the borrower will pay for all loans owed 

22 by the borrower to that lender, including the 

23 loan being disbursed, as determined by calcu24 lating the sum of the estimated aggregate 


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1 amounts the borrower will pay for each loan in 

2 accordance with subparagraphs (A) and (B).’’. 

3 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF PROJECTED MONTHLY PAYMENT 

4 AMOUNTS. 

5 Section 433 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

6 U.S.C. 1083) is further amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (b), by amending paragraph 

8 (9) to read as follows: 

9 ‘‘(9) information of interest charges, accrual, 

10 and payments, including— 

11 ‘‘(A) the projected total of interest charges 

12 which the borrower will pay on the loan or 

13 loans, assuming that the borrower makes pay14 ments exactly in accordance with the repayment 

15 schedule; 

16 ‘‘(B) projections of the borrower’s monthly 

17 repayment amount, assuming interest accrual 

18 resulting from capitalization of interest while 

19 the borrower, or the student on whose behalf 

20 the loan is made, is in school (as applicable), 

21 which shall disclose the cost to the borrower 

22 of— 

23 ‘‘(i) capitalizing the interest; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) paying the interest as the inter25 est accrues; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) if the borrower has already paid in2 terest on the loan or loans, the amount of inter3 est paid;’’; and 

4 (2) by striking subsection (d), and redesig5 nating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections (d) and 

6 (e), respectively. 

7 SEC. 4. REQUIRED MONTHLY DISCLOSURES. 

8 Section 433(d) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, 

9 as so redesignated by section 3 of this Act, is amended— 

10 (1) in the subsection header, by striking ‘‘DUR11 ING REPAYMENT’’ and inserting ‘‘FOR THE LIFE OF

12 THE LOAN’’; and 

13 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol14 lows: 

15 ‘‘(1) PERTINENT INFORMATION ABOUT LOANS

16 PROVIDED ON A MONTHLY BASIS.—Each eligible 

17 lender shall provide the borrower of one or more 

18 loans made, insured, or guaranteed under this part 

19 or part D with a written monthly bill or statement 

20 (including through electronic means), in simple and 

21 understandable terms, of pertinent loan information 

22 described in this paragraph that— 

23 ‘‘(A) with respect to a borrower who is in 

24 repayment status, shall include a bill that corVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:58 May 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2090.IH H2090

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1 responds to each payment installment time pe2 riod in which a payment is due; 

3 ‘‘(B) with respect to a borrower who is not 

4 in repayment status, shall be a statement for 

5 each month of the period during which the bor6 rower is not required to make a payment to the 

7 eligible lender, including while the borrower is 

8 in school and during periods of deferment or 

9 forbearance; 

10 ‘‘(C) shall be provided to the borrower of 

11 a loan not more than 30 days after the first 

12 disbursement of the loan, and monthly there13 after for the life of the loan; and 

14 ‘‘(D) shall include, for all outstanding 

15 loans made, insured, or guaranteed under this 

16 part or part D by the eligible lender to the bor17 rower— 

18 ‘‘(i) the original principal amount of 

19 each of the borrower’s loans owed to that 

20 lender, and the original principal amount 

21 of those loans in the aggregate; 

22 ‘‘(ii) the borrower’s current balance 

23 on each loan and on all loans in the aggre24 gate, as of the time of the bill or state25 ment, as applicable; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) the interest rate on each loan; 

2 ‘‘(iv) the total amount the borrower 

3 has paid in interest on each loan and on 

4 all loans in the aggregate; 

5 ‘‘(v) the amount of interest that has 

6 accumulated on each loan and on all loans 

7 in the aggregate since the last statement, 

8 and the total interest accrued to date on 

9 each loan and on all loans in the aggregate 

10 during the life of the loans; 

11 ‘‘(vi) the aggregate amount the bor12 rower has paid for each loan and all loans 

13 in the aggregate, including the amount the 

14 borrower has paid in interest, the amount 

15 the borrower has paid in fees, and the 

16 amount the borrower has paid against the 

17 principal; 

18 ‘‘(vii) an estimate of the aggregate 

19 amount the borrower will pay during the 

20 life of the loan for each loan and on all 

21 loans in the aggregate, including the total 

22 amount of monthly payments made over 

23 the life of the loans plus the amount of any 

24 charges for the loans, such as origination 

25 fees; 


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1 ‘‘(viii) a description of each fee the 

2 borrower has been charged for the most re3 cently preceding installment time period; 

4 ‘‘(ix) the date by which the borrower 

5 needs to make a payment in order to avoid 

6 additional fees and the amount of such 

7 payment and the amount of such fees; 

8 ‘‘(x) with respect to a borrower who is 

9 not in repayment, the estimated balance to 

10 be owed by the borrower on each loan and 

11 on all loans in the aggregate, and an esti12 mate of the projected monthly payment on 

13 each loan and on all loans in the aggre14 gate, on the estimated date the borrower 

15 will enter (or re-enter) repayment status; 

16 ‘‘(xi) a reminder that the borrower 

17 has the option to change repayment plans, 

18 a list of the names of the repayment plans 

19 available to the borrower, a link to the ap20 propriate page of the Department’s website 

21 to obtain a more detailed description of the 

22 repayment plans, and directions for the 

23 borrower to request a change in repayment 

24 plan; 

25 ‘‘(xii) an explanation— 


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1 ‘‘(I) that the borrower has the 

2 option to pay the interest that accrues 

3 on each loan while the borrower is a 

4 student at an institution of higher 

5 education or during a period of 

6 deferment or forbearance, if applica7 ble; and 

8 ‘‘(II) if the borrower does not 

9 pay such interest while attending an 

10 institution or during a period of 

11 deferment or forbearance, any accu12 mulated interest on the loan will be 

13 capitalized when the loan goes into re14 payment, resulting in more interest 

15 being paid over the life of the loan; 

16 ‘‘(xiii) an explanation that making 

17 even small payments of any amount while 

18 the borrower is a student at an institution 

19 of higher education, or during a period of 

20 deferment or forbearance, if applicable, can 

21 help to offset interest accrual over the life 

22 of the loan; 

23 ‘‘(xiv) the lender’s or loan servicer’s 

24 address, toll-free phone number, and 

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1 poses, including information about how a 

2 borrower can make voluntary payments 

3 when a loan is not in repayment status; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(xv) an explanation to borrowers 

6 that loans made under this part of part D 

7 have significant protections for borrowers 

8 that aren’t offered by the private market, 

9 including a number of income-driven re10 payment options, which offer flexible re11 payments terms and loan forgiveness for 

12 struggling borrowers.’’. 

13 SEC. 5. REPORT TO CONGRESS ON CONSUMER TESTING. 

14 Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment 

15 of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

16 (1) conduct consumer testing by obtaining feed17 back from individuals, including borrowers and pro18 spective borrowers of loans under the Higher Edu19 cation Act of 1965, on the usefulness and effective20 ness of disclosing monthly terms of loans under sec21 tion 433 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

22 amended by this Act, to maximize borrowers’ under23 standing of the terms and conditions of such loans; 

24 and 


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1 (2) submit to Congress a report on the results 

2 of such consumer testing. 

3 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

4 The amendments made by this Act to the Higher 

5 Education Act of 1965 shall take effect 180 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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