I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1429 

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

higher education to provide students with annual estimates of student 

loan borrowing costs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 8, 2017 

Mr. MESSER (for himself, Ms. STEFANIK, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. 

BROOKS of Indiana, Mr. BUCSHON, Mr. ROKITA, and Ms. MCSALLY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require 

institutions of higher education to provide students with 

annual estimates of student loan borrowing costs. 

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 ‘‘Letter of Estimated 

5 Annual Debt for Students Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘LEADS 

6 Act of 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ANNUAL ESTIMATE OF STUDENT LOAN BORROWING 

2 COSTS. 

3 Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1092) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(n) ANNUAL ESTIMATE OF STUDENT LOAN BOR7 ROWING COSTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on July 1, 2019, 

9 each eligible institution shall provide a cost estimate 

10 described in paragraph (2) to each enrolled student 

11 who receives an education loan to attend the institu12 tion, not later than 30 days before the first day of 

13 each academic year beginning after the academic 

14 year for which the student first received such a loan 

15 to attend such institution. 

16 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF ESTIMATE.—The estimate 

17 under paragraph (1) shall contain the following in18 formation: 

19 ‘‘(A) CUMULATIVE BALANCES AND MONTH20 LY PAYMENTS.—A notice to the student of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the cumulative balance of edu22 cation loans owed by the student as of the 

23 date of the notice; and 

24 ‘‘(ii) projected monthly payment 

25 amounts based on the cumulative balances 


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1 described in clause (i), assuming a stand2 ard repayment schedule. 

3 ‘‘(B) INTEREST RATES.—The interest rate 

4 of each education loan, except that interest 

5 rates for a private education loan may be based 

6 on average private education loan interest rates 

7 if the institution cannot reasonably determine 

8 the actual interest rate of such loan. 

9 ‘‘(C) DISCLAIMER.—A clear and con10 spicuous notice stating that any information 

11 provided under paragraph (1) is an estimate, 

12 accurate to the best of the institution’s knowl13 edge, and that an interest rate provided under 

14 subparagraph (B)— 

15 ‘‘(i) in the case of a loan described in 

16 paragraph (6)(A)(i), is the applicable rate 

17 of interest of such loan; 

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a private education 

19 loan, may be based on average private edu20 cation loan interest rates; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) does not include private edu22 cation loans of which the institution is not 

23 aware. 

24 ‘‘(3) FORM OF ESTIMATE.—The estimate under 

25 paragraph (1) shall be— 


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1 ‘‘(A) provided to the student in hard copy 

2 format on the letterhead of the institution, by 

3 electronic mail or by another method the Sec4 retary may prescribe; and 

5 ‘‘(B) delivered to the student separately 

6 from any other disclosures required under this 

7 Act. 

8 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—An institution 

9 that provides the estimate under paragraph (1) in 

10 good faith shall not be liable to any person for inac11 curacies contained in such estimate. 

12 ‘‘(5) STUDENT DEBT LETTER TEMPLATE.—Not 

13 later than July 1, 2018, and as necessary thereafter, 

14 the Secretary shall provide the following to eligible 

15 institutions: 

16 ‘‘(A) Examples of estimates required under 

17 paragraph (2). 

18 ‘‘(B) Technical assistance on how to com19 ply with the requirements of this subsection. 

20 ‘‘(C) Preliminary approvals in a timely 

21 manner of estimate formats proposed for use by 

22 an institution, at the request of the institution. 

23 ‘‘(D) The formula (which shall take into 

24 consideration a student’s past borrowing rates 

25 and other criteria the Secretary may determine) 


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1 to be used in making the projections under 

2 clauses (iii) and (iv) of paragraph (2)(A) with 

3 respect to loans described in paragraph 

4 (6)(A)(i). 

5 ‘‘(E) Encryption technology software to en6 able institutions to provide the estimate under 

7 paragraph (2) to students in a secure format 

8 for institutions that choose to provide the esti9 mate to students in an electronic format. 

10 ‘‘(6) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

11 ‘‘(A) EDUCATION LOAN.—The term ‘edu12 cation loan’ means— 

13 ‘‘(i) a loan made under part D (other 

14 than a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan 

15 or a Federal Direct PLUS loan made on 

16 behalf of a student); 

17 ‘‘(ii) a loan made under a State-spon18 sored loan program for the purpose of pay19 ing a student’s cost of attendance at an in20 stitution of higher education; and 

21 ‘‘(iii) a private education loan with re22 spect to which the institution should rea23 sonably be aware. 

24 ‘‘(B) PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.—The 

25 term ‘private education loan’ has the meaning 


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1 given the term in section 140 of the Truth in 

2 Lending Act. 

3 ‘‘(C) STUDENT.—The term ‘student’, when 

4 used with respect to an eligible institution, does 

5 not include any student who has transferred to 

6 the institution more than 60 days before the 

7 first day of the academic year involved.’’. 

8 SEC. 3. ANNUAL PROVISION OF INFORMATION BY THE SEC9 RETARY OF EDUCATION. 

10 Not later than April 1, 2019, and annually thereafter, 

11 the Secretary of Education shall provide to institutions of 

12 higher education (as defined in section 102 of the Higher 

13 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1002)) the following 

14 information: 

15 (1) The amount of any loans made under part 

16 D of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

17 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et seq.) (other than a Federal Di18 rect Consolidation Loan or a Federal Direct PLUS 

19 loan made on behalf of a student) expected to be 

20 disbursed to any borrower for the next academic 

21 year. 

22 (2) The projected cumulative balance of such 

23 loans, as determined in accordance with section 

24 485(n)(5)(D) of such Act (20 U.S.C. 

25 1092(n)(5)(D)), as added by this Act, that will be 


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1 owed by any borrower after the completion of the 

2 borrower’s course of study at an institution of higher 

3 education. 

4 (3) The projected monthly payment amounts of 

5 such loans, as determined in accordance with section 

6 485(n)(5) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

7 U.S.C. 1092(n)(5)), assuming a standard repayment 

8 schedule (as described in section 455(d)(1)(A) of 

9 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087e(d)(1)(A))). 

Æ 


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