I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7872 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize institutions of 

higher education to limit the amount of a Federal loan that an enrolled 

student may borrow. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 30, 2020 

Mr. GROTHMAN 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 authorize 

institutions of higher education to limit the amount of 

a Federal loan that an enrolled student may borrow. 

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 ‘‘Responsible Borrowing 

5 Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINED LIMITS. 

7 Section 455(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

8 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)) is amended by adding at the end 

9 the following new paragraph: 


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1 ‘‘(4) INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINED LIMITS.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 

3 other provision of this Act, an institution of 

4 higher education (at the discretion of a finan5 cial aid administrator at the institution) may 

6 prorate or limit the amount of a loan any stu7 dent enrolled in a program of study at that in8 stitution may borrow under this part for an 

9 academic year— 

10 ‘‘(i) if the institution can reasonably 

11 demonstrate that student debt levels are or 

12 would be excessive for such program by 

13 using the most recently available data for 

14 the average starting salary in the region in 

15 which the institution is located for typical 

16 occupations pursued by graduates of such 

17 program from the Bureau of Labor Statis18 tics, the applicable State agency, or the in19 stitution; 

20 ‘‘(ii) in a case in which the student is 

21 enrolled on a less than full-time basis or 

22 the student is enrolled for less than the pe23 riod of enrollment to which the annual loan 

24 limit applies under this part, based on the 

25 student’s enrollment status; 


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1 ‘‘(iii) based on the credential level 

2 (such as a degree, certificate, or other rec3 ognized educational credential) that the 

4 student would attain upon completion of 

5 such program; or 

6 ‘‘(iv) based on the year of the pro7 gram for which the student is seeking such 

8 loan. 

9 ‘‘(B) INCREASES FOR INDIVIDUAL STU10 DENTS.—Upon the request of a student whose 

11 loan amount for an academic year has been 

12 prorated or limited under subparagraph (A), an 

13 eligible institution (at the discretion of the fi14 nancial aid administrator at the institution) 

15 may increase such loan amount to an amount 

16 not exceeding the annual loan amount applica17 ble to such student under this part for such 

18 academic year if such student demonstrates 

19 special circumstances or exceptional need. 

20 ‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 

21 in this paragraph shall be construed to author22 ize a proration or limiting of loan amounts by 

23 an institution of higher education because of a 


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1 student’s race, color, religion, sex, marital sta2 tus, age, disability, or national origin.’’. 

Æ 


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