I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4193 

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 16, 2019 

Ms. SHALALA (for herself, Mr. GAETZ, Mr. STEWART, Mr. MCADAMS, Ms. 

HERRERA BEUTLER, and Ms. SPANBERGER) 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 2019’’. 

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— 

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

10 (18); 


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

2 at the end of paragraph (19); and 

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

4 paragraph: 

5 ‘‘(20) a separate written or electronic state6 ment, in simple and understandable terms, show7 ing— 

8 ‘‘(A) for the loan or loans being dis9 bursed— 

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

11 the stated interest rate on the loan, the 

12 number of required monthly payments to 

13 be made on the loan (which shall be based 

14 on a standard repayment plan or, in the 

15 case of a borrower who has selected an16 other repayment plan, on the repayment 

17 plan selected by the borrower), and the es18 timated number of months before the start 

19 of the repayment period for the loan 

20 (based on the expected date on which the 

21 repayment period is to begin or the 

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

23 end, as applicable); 

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

25 by the borrower on such loan (including, if 


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1 applicable, the estimated amount of inter2 est to be capitalized) as of the scheduled 

3 date on which the repayment period is to 

4 begin or the deferment period under 

5 428B(d)(1) is to end, as applicable, and an 

6 estimate of the projected monthly payment; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(iii) an estimate of the aggregate 

9 amount the borrower will pay for the loan 

10 or loans, including the total amount of 

11 monthly payments made over the life of 

12 the loan plus the amount of any charges 

13 for the loan, such as an origination fee; 

14 ‘‘(B) for each other loan owed by the bor15 rower to the lender, the information described 

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

17 and 

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

19 amount the borrower will pay for all loans owed 

20 by the borrower to that lender, including the 

21 loan being disbursed, as determined by calcu22 lating the sum of the estimated aggregate 

23 amounts the borrower will pay for each loan in 

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


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1 SEC. 3. DISCLOSURE OF PROJECTED MONTHLY PAYMENT 

2 AMOUNTS. 

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

4 U.S.C. 1083) is further amended— 

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

6 (9) to read as follows: 

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

8 and payments, including— 

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

10 which the borrower will pay on the loan or 

11 loans, assuming that the borrower makes pay12 ments exactly in accordance with the repayment 

13 schedule; 

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

15 repayment amount, assuming interest accrual 

16 resulting from capitalization of interest while 

17 the borrower, or the student on whose behalf 

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

19 which shall disclose the cost to the borrower 

20 of— 

21 ‘‘(i) capitalizing the interest; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) paying the interest as the inter23 est accrues; and 

24 ‘‘(C) if the borrower has already paid in25 terest on the loan or loans, the amount of inter26 est paid;’’; and 


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1 (2) by striking subsection (d), and redesig2 nating subsections (e) and (f) as subsections (d) and 

3 (e), respectively. 

4 SEC. 4. REQUIRED MONTHLY DISCLOSURES. 

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

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

7 (1) in the subsection header, by striking ‘‘DUR8 ING REPAYMENT’’ and inserting ‘‘FOR THE LIFE OF

9 THE LOAN’’; and 

10 (2) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol11 lows: 

12 ‘‘(1) PERTINENT INFORMATION ABOUT LOANS

13 PROVIDED ON A MONTHLY BASIS.—Each eligible 

14 lender shall provide the borrower of one or more 

15 loans made, insured, or guaranteed under this part 

16 or part D with a written monthly bill or statement 

17 (including through electronic means), in simple and 

18 understandable terms, of pertinent loan information 

19 described in this paragraph that— 

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

21 repayment status, shall include a bill that cor22 responds to each payment installment time pe23 riod in which a payment is due; 

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

25 in repayment status, shall be a statement for 


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1 each month of the period during which the bor2 rower is not required to make a payment to the 

3 eligible lender, including while the borrower is 

4 in school and during periods of deferment or 

5 forbearance; 

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

7 a loan not more than 30 days after the first 

8 disbursement of the loan, and monthly there9 after for the life of the loan; and 

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

11 loans made, insured, or guaranteed under this 

12 part or part D by the eligible lender to the bor13 rower— 

14 ‘‘(i) the original principal amount of 

15 each of the borrower’s loans owed to that 

16 lender, and the original principal amount 

17 of those loans in the aggregate; 

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

19 on each loan and on all loans in the aggre20 gate, as of the time of the bill or state21 ment, as applicable; 

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

23 ‘‘(iv) the total amount the borrower 

24 has paid in interest on each loan and on 

25 all loans in the aggregate; 


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

2 accumulated on each loan and on all loans 

3 in the aggregate since the last statement, 

4 and the total interest accrued to date on 

5 each loan and on all loans in the aggregate 

6 during the life of the loans; 

7 ‘‘(vi) the aggregate amount the bor8 rower has paid for each loan and all loans 

9 in the aggregate, including the amount the 

10 borrower has paid in interest, the amount 

11 the borrower has paid in fees, and the 

12 amount the borrower has paid against the 

13 principal; 

14 ‘‘(vii) an estimate of the aggregate 

15 amount the borrower will pay during the 

16 life of the loan for each loan and on all 

17 loans in the aggregate, including the total 

18 amount of monthly payments made over 

19 the life of the loans plus the amount of any 

20 charges for the loans, such as origination 

21 fees; 

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

23 borrower has been charged for the most re24 cently preceding installment time period; 


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

2 needs to make a payment in order to avoid 

3 additional fees and the amount of such 

4 payment and the amount of such fees; 

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

6 not in repayment, the estimated balance to 

7 be owed by the borrower on each loan and 

8 on all loans in the aggregate, and an esti9 mate of the projected monthly payment on 

10 each loan and on all loans in the aggre11 gate, on the estimated date the borrower 

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

13 ‘‘(xi) a reminder that the borrower 

14 has the option to change repayment plans, 

15 a list of the names of the repayment plans 

16 available to the borrower, a link to the ap17 propriate page of the Department’s website 

18 to obtain a more detailed description of the 

19 repayment plans, and directions for the 

20 borrower to request a change in repayment 

21 plan; 

22 ‘‘(xii) an explanation— 

23 ‘‘(I) that the borrower has the 

24 option to pay the interest that accrues 

25 on each loan while the borrower is a 


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1 student at an institution of higher 

2 education or during a period of 

3 deferment or forbearance, if applica4 ble; and 

5 ‘‘(II) if the borrower does not 

6 pay such interest while attending an 

7 institution or during a period of 

8 deferment or forbearance, any accu9 mulated interest on the loan will be 

10 capitalized when the loan goes into re11 payment, resulting in more interest 

12 being paid over the life of the loan; 

13 ‘‘(xiii) an explanation that making 

14 even small payments of any amount while 

15 the borrower is a student at an institution 

16 of higher education, or during a period of 

17 deferment or forbearance, if applicable, can 

18 help to offset interest accrual over the life 

19 of the loan; 

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

21 address, toll-free phone number, and 

22 website for payment and billing error pur23 poses, including information about how a 

24 borrower can make voluntary payments 


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1 when a loan is not in repayment status; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(xv) an explanation to borrowers 

4 that loans made under this part of part D 

5 have significant protections for borrowers 

6 that aren’t offered by the private market, 

7 including a number of income-driven re8 payment options, which offer flexible re9 payments terms and loan forgiveness for 

10 struggling borrowers.’’. 

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

12 Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary shall— 

14 (1) conduct consumer testing by obtaining feed15 back from individuals, including borrowers and pro16 spective borrowers of loans under the Higher Edu17 cation Act of 1965, on the usefulness and effective18 ness of disclosing monthly terms of loans under sec19 tion 433 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 

20 amended by this Act, to maximize borrowers’ under21 standing of the terms and conditions of such loans; 

22 and 

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

24 of such consumer testing. 


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1 SEC. 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

2 The amendments made by this Act to the Higher 

3 Education Act of 1965 shall take effect 180 days after 

4 the date of enactment of this Act. 

Æ 


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