II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1845 

To enable borrowers of Federal student loans to refinance those loans at 

interest rates that are equivalent to the interest rates at which the 

Federal Government provides loans to banks through the discount window operated by the Federal Reserve System. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. BOOKER, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced 

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To enable borrowers of Federal student loans to refinance 

those loans at interest rates that are equivalent to the 

interest rates at which the Federal Government provides 

loans to banks through the discount window operated 

by the Federal Reserve System. 

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 ‘‘If It’s Good Enough 

5 For the Banks, It’s Good Enough For Students Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. STUDENT LOAN REFINANCING. 

2 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—Section 451(a) of the 

3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a(a)) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) by striking ‘‘and (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; 

6 and 

7 (2) by inserting ‘‘; and (3) to make loans under 

8 section 460A’’ after ‘‘section 459A’’. 

9 (b) REFINANCING PROGRAM.—Part D of title IV of 

10 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et 

11 seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 460A. REFINANCING FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS AT 

13 LOWER INTEREST RATES. 

14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date of enact15 ment of this section, the Secretary shall establish a pro16 gram under which the Secretary, upon the receipt of an 

17 application from a qualified borrower, makes a loan under 

18 this part, in accordance with the provisions of this section, 

19 in order to permit the borrower to obtain the interest rate 

20 provided under subsection (c). 

21 ‘‘(b) REFINANCING DIRECT LOANS.—Upon applica22 tion of a qualified borrower, the Secretary shall repay a 

23 Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsub24 sidized Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct PLUS Loan, or 

25 a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan of the qualified bor26 rower, for which the first disbursement was made, or the 


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1 application for the consolidation loan was received, before 

2 the date of enactment of this section, with the proceeds 

3 of a refinanced Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal 

4 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct 

5 PLUS Loan, or a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, re6 spectively, issued to the borrower in an amount equal to 

7 the sum of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid interest, 

8 and late charges of the original loan. 

9 ‘‘(c) INTEREST RATES.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The interest rate for the 

11 refinanced Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal 

12 Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Direct 

13 PLUS Loans, and Federal Direct Consolidation 

14 Loans, shall be a rate equal to the interest rate de15 scribed in subsection (a) of section 201.51 of title 

16 12, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu17 lations). 

18 ‘‘(2) FIXED RATE.—The applicable rate of in19 terest determined under paragraph (1) for a refi20 nanced loan under this section shall be fixed for the 

21 period of the loan. 

22 ‘‘(d) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF LOANS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A loan that is refinanced 

24 under this section shall have the same terms and 


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1 conditions as the original loan, except as otherwise 

2 provided in this section. 

3 ‘‘(2) REPAYMENT PERIOD.—Refinancing a loan 

4 under this section shall not result in the extension 

5 of the duration of the repayment period of the loan, 

6 and the borrower shall retain the same repayment 

7 term that was in effect on the original loan. Nothing 

8 in this paragraph shall be construed to prevent a 

9 borrower from electing a different repayment plan at 

10 any time in accordance with section 455(d)(3). 

11 ‘‘(e) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED BORROWER.—For 

12 purposes of this section, the term ‘qualified borrower’ 

13 means a borrower— 

14 ‘‘(1) of a loan under this part for which the 

15 first disbursement was made, or the application for 

16 a consolidation loan was received before the date of 

17 enactment of this section; 

18 ‘‘(2) who submits an application under this sec19 tion not later than 2 years after the date of enact20 ment of this section; and 

21 ‘‘(3) who is not in default on the loan the bor22 rower seeks to refinance. 

23 ‘‘(f) NOTIFICATION TO BORROWERS.—The Secretary, 

24 in coordination with the Director of the Bureau of Con25 sumer Financial Protection, shall carry out a campaign 


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1 to alert borrowers of loans that are eligible for refinancing 

2 under this section that the borrowers are eligible to apply 

3 for such refinancing. The campaign shall include the fol4 lowing activities: 

5 ‘‘(1) Developing consumer information mate6 rials about the availability of Federal student loan 

7 refinancing. 

8 ‘‘(2) Requiring servicers of loans under this 

9 part to provide such consumer information to bor10 rowers in a manner determined appropriate by the 

11 Secretary, in consultation with the Director of the 

12 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.’’. 

Æ 


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