II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4344 

To establish a temporary program for the refinancing of certain Federal 

and private student loans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 26, 2022 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a temporary program for the refinancing of 

certain Federal and private student loans, 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 ‘‘Zero-Percent Student 

5 Loan Refinancing Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR REFINANCING STU7 DENT LOANS. 

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

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

10 amended— 


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

2 and 

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

4 section 460A and section 460B’’ after ‘‘section 

5 459A’’. 

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

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

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

9 ‘‘SEC. 460A. TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR THE REFINANCING 

10 OF FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS AND OTHER 

11 FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 

12 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 ‘‘(1) COVERED NON-PART D LOAN.—The term 

14 ‘covered non-part D loan’ means a loan— 

15 ‘‘(A) made, insured, or guaranteed under 

16 part B and for which the first disbursement 

17 was made, or the application for the consolida18 tion loan was received, before July 1, 2010; 

19 ‘‘(B) made under part E; or 

20 ‘‘(C) made under— 

21 ‘‘(i) subpart II of part A of title VII 

22 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 292q et seq.); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) part E of title VIII of the Public 

2 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297a et 

3 seq.). 

4 ‘‘(2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe5 riod’ means the period beginning on August 1, 2022, 

6 and ending at the close of December 31, 2025. 

7 ‘‘(3) ORIGINAL LOAN.—The term ‘original loan’ 

8 means a loan for which a borrower’s liability is dis9 charged by a refinanced loan issued in accordance 

10 with this section. 

11 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED BORROWER.—The term ‘quali12 fied borrower’ means a borrower of a loan under this 

13 part, or a covered non-part D loan, for which the 

14 first disbursement was made, or the application for 

15 a consolidation loan was received, before January 1, 

16 2026. 

17 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on August 1, 2022, 

18 the Secretary shall carry out a program under which the 

19 Secretary makes interest-free refinancing loans to quali20 fied borrowers in accordance with this section. 

21 ‘‘(c) REFINANCING DIRECT LOANS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on August 

24 1, 2022, the Secretary shall cancel the obliga25 tion of a qualified borrower to repay a Federal 


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1 Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsub2 sidized Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct PLUS 

3 Loan, or a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan 

4 for which the first disbursement was made, or 

5 the application for the consolidation loan was 

6 received, before January 1, 2025, and issue to 

7 such borrower in accordance with this section a 

8 refinanced Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a refi9 nanced Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

10 Loan, a refinanced Federal Direct PLUS Loan, 

11 or a refinanced Federal Direct Consolidation 

12 Loan, respectively, in an amount equal to the 

13 sum of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid in14 terest, and late charges of the original loan. 

15 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall 

16 notify each qualified borrower of a loan refi17 nanced under subparagraph (A) regarding the 

18 refinancing and the benefits the refinancing 

19 provides to the qualified borrower. 

20 ‘‘(2) REFINANCING COVERED NON-PART D

21 LOANS AS REFINANCED FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS.— 

22 Upon application of a qualified borrower of any cov23 ered non-part D loan, the Secretary shall make a 

24 loan under this part, in an amount equal to the sum 

25 of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid interest, and 


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1 late charges of the original loan to the borrower in 

2 accordance with the following: 

3 ‘‘(A) The Secretary shall pay the proceeds 

4 of such loan to the holder of the covered non5 part D loan, in order to discharge the borrower 

6 from any remaining obligation with respect to 

7 the original loan. 

8 ‘‘(B) Any Federal student loan made 

9 under this section the proceeds of which are 

10 used to discharge a loan that was made, in11 sured, or guaranteed— 

12 ‘‘(i) under section 428 shall be a Fed13 eral Direct Stafford Loan; 

14 ‘‘(ii) under section 428B shall be a 

15 Federal Direct PLUS Loan; 

16 ‘‘(iii) under section 428H shall be a 

17 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

18 Loan; and 

19 ‘‘(iv) under section 428C shall be a 

20 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. 

21 ‘‘(C) Any Federal student loan made under 

22 this section the proceeds of which are used to 

23 discharge a loan described in subparagraph (B) 

24 or (C) of subsection (a)(1) shall be a Federal 

25 Direct Consolidation Loan. 


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1 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION DEADLINE.—To be eligible 

2 to receive a refinancing loan under paragraph (2) a 

3 qualified borrower shall submit an application to the 

4 Secretary during the covered period. A borrower who 

5 submits an application after the expiration of the 

6 covered period shall not be eligible to receive a refi7 nancing loan under such paragraph. 

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

9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A loan made under this 

10 section shall have the same terms and conditions as 

11 the original loan, except as otherwise provided in 

12 this section. 

13 ‘‘(2) INTEREST RATES.—No interest shall ac14 crue on a loan that is made under this section. 

15 ‘‘(3) NO AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF REPAY16 MENT PERIOD.—A loan made under this section 

17 shall not result in the extension of the duration of 

18 the repayment period of the loan, and the borrower 

19 shall retain the same repayment term that was in ef20 fect on the original loan. Nothing in this paragraph 

21 shall be construed to prevent a borrower from elect22 ing a different repayment plan at any time in ac23 cordance with section 455(d)(3). 

24 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR REFINANCED PERKINS

25 AND HEALTH LOANS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 


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1 (1), in the case of a loan that is made under this 

2 section as a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan the 

3 proceeds of which are used to discharge a loan de4 scribed in subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection 

5 (a)(1)— 

6 ‘‘(A) the refinanced Federal Direct Con7 solidation Loan shall have the same terms and 

8 conditions as a Federal Direct Consolidation 

9 Loan, except as otherwise provided in this sec10 tion; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the Secretary may adjust such terms 

12 and conditions as necessary to enable the bor13 rower to access loan forgiveness or other bene14 fits available to the borrower under the loan be15 fore refinancing under this section, in any case 

16 where such benefits are more generous than 

17 provided under a Federal Direct Consolidation 

18 Loan. 

19 ‘‘(5) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

20 this section shall be construed to prevent a borrower 

21 of a Federal student loan described in subparagraph 

22 (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1) from consolidating 

23 such loans with other loans eligible for consolidation 

24 under this section, or to require such a borrower to 

25 consolidate such loans with other Federal student 


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1 loans into a single consolidation loan under this sec2 tion. 

3 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION TO BORROWERS.—The Sec4 retary, in coordination with the Director of the Bureau 

5 of Consumer Financial Protection, shall undertake a cam6 paign to alert borrowers of covered non-part D loans that 

7 are eligible for refinancing under this section that the bor8 rowers are eligible to apply for such refinancing. The cam9 paign shall include the following activities: 

10 ‘‘(1) Developing consumer information mate11 rials about the availability of Federal student loan 

12 refinancing. 

13 ‘‘(2) Requiring servicers of loans under part B 

14 to provide such consumer information to borrowers 

15 in a manner determined appropriate by the Sec16 retary, in consultation with the Director of the Bu17 reau of Consumer Financial Protection. 

18 ‘‘SEC. 460B. TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR REFINANCING OF 

19 PRIVATE EDUCATION LOANS. 

20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 ‘‘(1) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe22 riod’ means the period beginning on August 1, 2022, 

23 and ending at the close of December 31, 2025. 

24 ‘‘(2) ELIGIBLE PRIVATE EDUCATION LOAN.— 

25 The term ‘eligible private education loan’ means a 


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1 private education loan, as defined in section 140(a) 

2 of the Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)), 

3 that— 

4 ‘‘(A) was disbursed to the borrower before 

5 January 1, 2026; and 

6 ‘‘(B) was for the borrower’s own postsec7 ondary educational expenses for an eligible pro8 gram at an institution of higher education par9 ticipating in the loan program under this part, 

10 as of the date that the loan was disbursed. 

11 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL DIRECT REFINANCED PRIVATE

12 LOAN.—The term ‘Federal Direct Refinanced Pri13 vate Loan’ means a loan issued under subsection 

14 (b)(1). 

15 ‘‘(4) PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDER.—The 

16 term ‘private educational lender’ has the meaning 

17 given that term in section 140(a) of the Truth in 

18 Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1650(a)). 

19 ‘‘(5) QUALIFIED BORROWER.—The term ‘quali20 fied borrower’ means an individual who has an eligi21 ble private education loan. 

22 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on August 1, 

24 2022, the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec25 retary of the Treasury, shall carry out a program 


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1 under which the Secretary, upon application by a 

2 qualified borrower who has an eligible private edu3 cation loan, shall issue such borrower a loan under 

4 this part in accordance with the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) The loan issued under this program 

6 shall be in an amount equal to the sum of the 

7 unpaid principal, accrued unpaid interest, and 

8 late charges of the private education loan. 

9 ‘‘(B) The Secretary shall pay the proceeds 

10 of the loan issued under this program to the 

11 private educational lender of the private edu12 cation loan, in order to discharge the qualified 

13 borrower from any remaining obligation to the 

14 lender with respect to the original loan. 

15 ‘‘(C) The Secretary shall require that the 

16 qualified borrower undergo loan counseling that 

17 provides all of the information and counseling 

18 required under clauses (i) through (ix) of sec19 tion 485(b)(1)(A) before the loan is refinanced 

20 in accordance with this section, and before the 

21 proceeds of such loan are paid to the private 

22 educational lender. 

23 ‘‘(D) The Secretary shall issue the loan as 

24 a Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan, 

25 which shall have the same terms, conditions, 


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1 and benefits as a Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

2 Stafford Loan, except as otherwise provided in 

3 this section. 

4 ‘‘(2) PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDERS.—Not 

5 later than August 1, 2022, the Secretary, in con6 sultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the 

7 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro8 tection, shall establish eligibility requirements to 

9 preclude windfall profits for private educational 

10 lenders. 

11 ‘‘(c) APPLICATION DEADLINE.—To be eligible to re12 ceive a Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan under this 

13 section a qualified borrower shall submit an application 

14 to the Secretary during the covered period. A borrower 

15 who submits an application after the expiration of the cov16 ered period shall not be eligible to receive a Federal Direct 

17 Refinanced Private Loan under this section. 

18 ‘‘(d) INTEREST RATE.—No interest shall accrue on 

19 a Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan under this sec20 tion. 

21 ‘‘(e) NO INCLUSION IN AGGREGATE LIMITS.—The 

22 amount of a Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan, or 

23 a Federal Direct Consolidated Loan to the extent such 

24 loan was used to repay a Federal Direct Refinanced Pri25 vate Loan, shall not be included in calculating a borVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Jun 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4344.IS S4344

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1 rower’s annual or aggregate loan limits under section 428 

2 or 428H. 

3 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR ELIGIBILITY FOR SERVICE4 RELATED REPAYMENT.—Notwithstanding sections 

5 428K(a)(2), 428L(b)(2), 455(m)(3)(A), and 460(b), a 

6 Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan shall be eligible 

7 for any loan repayment or loan forgiveness program under 

8 section 428K, 428L, or 460, or for the repayment plan 

9 for public service employees under section 455(m), but 

10 only with respect to any balance due, payments made, or 

11 service completed, after the date on which such Federal 

12 Direct Refinanced Private Loan was issued. 

13 ‘‘(g) PRIVATE EDUCATIONAL LENDER REPORTING

14 REQUIREMENT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REPORTING REQUIRED.—Not later than 

16 August 1, 2022, the Secretary, in consultation with 

17 the Secretary of the Treasury and the Director of 

18 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, shall 

19 establish a requirement that private educational 

20 lenders report the data described in paragraph (2) 

21 to the Secretary, to Congress, to the Secretary of 

22 the Treasury, and to the Director of the Bureau of 

23 Consumer Financial Protection, in order to allow for 

24 an assessment of the private education loan market. 


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1 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS OF REPORTING.—The data 

2 that private educational lenders shall report in ac3 cordance with paragraph (1) shall include each of 

4 the following about private education loans (as de5 fined in section 140(a) of the Truth in Lending Act 

6 (15 U.S.C. 1650(a))): 

7 ‘‘(A) The total amount of private education 

8 loan debt the lender holds. 

9 ‘‘(B) The total number of private edu10 cation loan borrowers the lender serves. 

11 ‘‘(C) The average interest rate on the out12 standing private education loan debt held by the 

13 lender. 

14 ‘‘(D) The proportion of private education 

15 loan borrowers who are in default on a loan 

16 held by the lender. 

17 ‘‘(E) The proportion of the outstanding 

18 private education loan volume held by the lend19 er that is in default. 

20 ‘‘(F) The proportions of outstanding pri21 vate education loan borrowers who are 30, 60, 

22 and 90 days delinquent. 

23 ‘‘(G) The proportions of outstanding pri24 vate education loan volume that is 30, 60, and 

25 90 days delinquent. 


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1 ‘‘(h) NOTIFICATION TO BORROWERS.—The Sec2 retary, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury 

3 and the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

4 Protection, shall undertake a campaign to alert borrowers 

5 about the availability of private student loan refinancing 

6 under this section.’’. 

7 (c) INCOME-CONTINGENT REPAYMENT.—Section 

8 455(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 1087e(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

10 new paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(9) SPECIAL RULE FOR REFINANCED

12 LOANS.—For purposes of paragraph (7), the period 

13 of time during which a borrower of a loan that is re14 financed under section 460A or 460B has made 

15 monthly payments shall be calculated in the manner 

16 described in section 493C(f) for the applicable type 

17 of loan.’’. 

18 (d) INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT.—Section 493C of 

19 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098e) is 

20 amended by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR REFINANCED LOANS.— 

22 ‘‘(1) REFINANCED FEDERAL DIRECT, FFEL, 

23 AND PLUS LOANS.—In calculating the period of time 

24 during which a borrower of a loan (with the excep25 tion of a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan) that is 


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1 refinanced under section 460A has made monthly 

2 payments for purposes of subsection (b)(7), the Sec3 retary shall deem the period to include all monthly 

4 payments made for the original loan, and all month5 ly payments made for the refinanced loan, that oth6 erwise meet the requirements of this section. 

7 ‘‘(2) REFINANCED FEDERAL DIRECT CONSOLI8 DATION LOANS.—In calculating the period of time 

9 during which a borrower of a Federal Direct Con10 solidation Loan that is refinanced under section 

11 460A has made monthly payments for the purposes 

12 of subsection (b)(7), the Secretary shall— 

13 ‘‘(A) review the borrower’s payment his14 tory to identify each component loan of such 

15 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan; 

16 ‘‘(B) for each such component loan— 

17 ‘‘(i) calculate the weighted factor of 

18 the component loan, which shall be the fac19 tor that represents the portion of such 

20 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan that is 

21 attributable to such component loan; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) determine the number of quali23 fying monthly payments made on such 

24 component loan before consolidation; 


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1 ‘‘(C) calculate the number of qualifying 

2 monthly payments determined under subpara3 graph (B)(ii) with respect to a component loan 

4 that shall be deemed as qualifying monthly pay5 ments made on the Federal Direct Consolida6 tion Loan by multiplying— 

7 ‘‘(i) the weighted factor of such com8 ponent loan as determined under subpara9 graph (B)(i); by 

10 ‘‘(ii) the number of qualifying monthly 

11 payments made on such component loan as 

12 determined under subparagraph (B)(ii); 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(D) calculate and inform the borrower of 

15 the total number of qualifying monthly pay16 ments with respect to the component loans of 

17 the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan that 

18 shall be deemed as qualifying monthly payments 

19 made on the refinanced Federal Consolidation 

20 Loan, by— 

21 ‘‘(i) adding together the result of each 

22 calculation made under subparagraph (C) 

23 with respect to each such component loan; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) rounding the number determined 

2 under clause (i) to the nearest whole num3 ber. 

4 ‘‘(3) FEDERAL DIRECT REFINANCED PRIVATE

5 LOANS.—In calculating the period of time during 

6 which a borrower of a Federal Direct Refinanced 

7 Private Loan under section 460B has made monthly 

8 payments for purposes of subsection (b)(7), the Sec9 retary shall include only payments— 

10 ‘‘(A) that are made after the date of the 

11 issuance of the Federal Direct Refinanced Pri12 vate Loan; and 

13 ‘‘(B) that otherwise meet the requirements 

14 of this section. 

15 ‘‘(4) COMPONENT LOAN DEFINED.—In this 

16 subsection, the term ‘component loan’, used with re17 spect to a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, means 

18 a loan for which the liability was discharged by the 

19 proceeds of such Federal Direct Consolidation 

20 Loan.’’. 

21 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Higher Edu22 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended— 

23 (1) in section 428C(a)(3)(B)(i)(V) (20 U.S.C. 

24 1078–3(3)(B)(i)(V))— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of item 

2 (bb); 

3 (B) by striking the period at the end of 

4 item (cc) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

5 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(dd) for the purpose of ob7 taining a refinancing loan under 

8 section 460A.’’; 

9 (2) in section 428J(c)(2) (20 U.S.C. 1078– 

10 10(c)(2)), by inserting ‘‘a Federal Direct Refinanced 

11 Private Loan,’’ after ‘‘a Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

12 Stafford Loan,’’; 

13 (3) in section 455 (20 U.S.C. 1087e)— 

14 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) IN15 TEREST RATE.—’’ and inserting the following: 

16 ‘‘(b) INTEREST RATE.—Except as otherwise provided 

17 in sections 460A and 460B, the terms and conditions of 

18 interest for loans made under this part are as follows:’’; 

19 (B) in subsection (f)(1)(B), by inserting ‘‘a 

20 Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan,’’ after 

21 ‘‘a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

22 Loan,’’; and 

23 (C) in subsection (m)(3)(A), by striking 

24 ‘‘or Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

25 Loan,’’ and inserting ‘‘Federal Direct UnsubVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:11 Jun 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4344.IS S4344

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1 sidized Stafford Loan, or Federal Direct Refi2 nanced Private Loan,’’; and 

3 (4) in section 460 (20 U.S.C. 1087j)— 

4 (A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and 

5 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans’’ 

6 and inserting ‘‘Federal Direct Unsubsidized 

7 Stafford Loans, and Federal Direct Refinanced 

8 Private Loans’’; and 

9 (B) in subsection (c)— 

10 (i) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘or a 

11 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

12 Loan’’ and inserting ‘‘, a Federal Direct 

13 Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a Federal 

14 Direct Refinanced Private Loan’’; and 

15 (ii) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘a 

16 Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan,’’ 

17 after ‘‘a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Staf18 ford Loan,’’. 

Æ 


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