I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3793 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include interest rate 

provisions for Federal loans made on or after July 1, 2020. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 17, 2019 

Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma 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 include 

interest rate provisions for Federal loans made on or 

after July 1, 2020. 

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 Accrual 

5 Support and Help Act’’ or the ‘‘SLASH Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN INTEREST RATES. 

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

8 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(b)) is amended— 

9 (1) in the header of paragraph (8), by inserting 

10 ‘‘, and before July 1, 2020’’ after ‘‘July 1, 2013’’; 


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1 (2) in subparagraphs (A), (B), (C), and (D) of 

2 paragraph (8), by inserting ‘‘and before July 1, 

3 2020,’’ after ‘‘July 1, 2013,’’ each place it appears; 

4 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (9) and (10) 

5 as paragraphs (10) and (11), respectively; and 

6 (4) by inserting at the end of paragraph (8) the 

7 following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(9) INTEREST RATE PROVISIONS FOR NEW

9 LOANS ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 2020.— 

10 ‘‘(A) RATE FOR ALL NEW FEDERAL DI11 RECT LOANS.—Notwithstanding the preceding 

12 paragraphs of this subsection, for Federal Di13 rect Stafford Loans, Federal Direct Unsub14 sidized Stafford Loans, and Federal Direct 

15 PLUS Loans, for which the first disbursement 

16 is made on or after July 1, 2020, the applicable 

17 rate of interest shall, for loans disbursed during 

18 any 12-month period beginning on July 1 and 

19 ending on June 30, be determined on the pre20 ceding June 1 and be equal to the lesser of— 

21 ‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of 

22 the 10-year Treasury note auctioned at the 

23 final auction held prior to such June 1; or 

24 ‘‘(ii) 5.0 percent, 


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1 except that the applicable rate of interest for 

2 any 12-month period (beginning on July 1 and 

3 ending on June 30) shall not exceed the appli4 cable rate of interest for the preceding 12- 

5 month period by more than 0.5 percent. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—Notwith7 standing the preceding paragraphs of this sub8 section, any Federal Direct Consolidation Loan 

9 for which the application is received on or after 

10 July 1, 2020, shall bear interest at an annual 

11 rate on the unpaid principal balance of the loan 

12 that is equal to the lesser of— 

13 ‘‘(i) the weighted average of the inter14 est rates on the loans consolidated, round15 ed to the nearest higher one-eighth of one 

16 percent; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) the applicable rate of interest, as 

18 determined on the preceding June 1 in ac19 cordance with subparagraph (A), for Fed20 eral Direct Stafford Loans disbursed dur21 ing the 12-month period (beginning on 

22 July 1 and ending on June 30) during 

23 which the application for consolidation is 

24 received. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall 

2 determine the applicable rate of interest under 

3 subparagraph (A) after consultation with the 

4 Secretary of the Treasury and shall publish 

5 such rate in the Federal Register as soon as 

6 practicable after the date of determination. 

7 ‘‘(D) RATE.—The applicable rate of inter8 est determined under this paragraph for a Fed9 eral Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Un10 subsidized Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct 

11 PLUS Loan, or a Federal Direct Consolidation 

12 Loan shall be fixed for the period of the loan.’’. 

Æ 


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