II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1203 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to improve the public 

service loan forgiveness program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 11, 2019 

Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. KAINE, Ms. WARREN, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, 

Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. DURBIN, Ms. HARRIS, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. 

BOOKER, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. MERKLEY, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BENNET, Mr. CASEY, 

and Ms. ROSEN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

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

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 in order to 

improve the public service loan forgiveness program, 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 ‘‘What You Can Do 

5 For Your Country Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FOR7 GIVENESS PROGRAM. 

8 (a) PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 455(m) of the High2 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)) is 

3 amended to read as follows: 

4 ‘‘(m) LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR FEDERAL STUDENT

5 LOAN BORROWERS EMPLOYED IN PUBLIC SERVICE.— 

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

7 ‘‘(A) CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT.— 

8 The term ‘certification of employment’ means a 

9 certification of employment under paragraph 

10 (4). 

11 ‘‘(B) FULL-TIME.—The term ‘full-time’, 

12 when used with respect to employment, means 

13 employment— 

14 ‘‘(i) with a qualifying employer for not 

15 less than 30 hours per week; or 

16 ‘‘(ii) with 2 or more qualifying em17 ployers for a total of not less than 30 

18 hours per week. 

19 ‘‘(C) QUALIFYING EMPLOYER.—The term 

20 ‘qualifying employer’ means— 

21 ‘‘(i) a Federal, State, local, or Tribal 

22 government organization or instrumen23 tality, including any organization estab24 lished in law as a body politic; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) an organization that is described 

2 in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Rev3 enue Code of 1986, and exempt from tax4 ation under section 501(a) of such Code; 

5 or 

6 ‘‘(iii) an organization— 

7 ‘‘(I) not described in clause (ii) 

8 that is a not-for-profit organization 

9 under other Federal or State law; 

10 ‘‘(II) that is not a labor organi11 zation or partisan political organiza12 tion; and 

13 ‘‘(III) whose purpose is to di14 rectly provide any of the following 

15 services, as defined in regulations pro16 mulgated the Secretary: 

17 ‘‘(aa) Emergency manage18 ment and disaster response. 

19 ‘‘(bb) Military service. 

20 ‘‘(cc) Public safety services, 

21 including fire prevention and 

22 suppression, rescue services, haz23 ardous materials response, ambu24 lance services, and emergency 

25 medical services. 


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1 ‘‘(dd) Law enforcement. 

2 ‘‘(ee) Public health, includ3 ing service through organizations 

4 that employ nurses, nurse practi5 tioners, nurses in a clinical set6 ting, or professionals engaged in 

7 health care practitioner occupa8 tions and health care support oc9 cupations, as such terms are de10 fined by the Bureau of Labor 

11 Statistics. 

12 ‘‘(ff) Public education, in13 cluding the provision of edu14 cational enrichment or support 

15 directly to students or their fami16 lies, employment with a Tribal 

17 College or University (as defined 

18 in section 316(b)), and employ19 ment as an adjunct faculty mem20 ber or instructor for an edu21 cational institution. 

22 ‘‘(gg) Public interest law 

23 services, including prosecution or 

24 public defense or legal advocacy 

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1 nities at a not-for-profit organi2 zation. 

3 ‘‘(hh) Early childhood edu4 cation, including licensed or regu5 lated childcare, Head Start pro6 grams, and State funded pre7 kindergarten. 

8 ‘‘(ii) Public service for indi9 viduals with disabilities. 

10 ‘‘(jj) Public service for the 

11 elderly. 

12 ‘‘(kk) Public and school13 based library sciences. 

14 ‘‘(ll) School-based services, 

15 including the provision of non16 educational enrichment or sup17 port directly to students or their 

18 families. 

19 ‘‘(mm) Social work, includ20 ing child or family services. 

21 ‘‘(D) QUALIFYING MONTHLY PAYMENT OB22 LIGATION.—The term ‘qualifying monthly pay23 ment obligation’ means a monthly payment obli24 gation due on a loan under the repayment plan 

25 of the borrower— 


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1 ‘‘(i) that was satisfied by the borrower 

2 through a payment made after October 1, 

3 2007; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) attributable to a period during 

5 which the borrower was employed full-time 

6 by a qualifying employer. 

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

8 the Secretary shall forgive the applicable percentage 

9 described in paragraph (3) of the balance of prin10 cipal and interest due on a loan made under this 

11 part for a borrower who has satisfied 60 or 120 

12 qualifying monthly payment obligations on a loan 

13 made under this part and submitted any certifi14 cation of employment required under this subsection. 

15 ‘‘(3) LOAN FORGIVENESS AFTER 60 PAYMENT

16 OBLIGATIONS AND 120 PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS.— 

17 The applicable percentages under this paragraph 

18 shall be— 

19 ‘‘(A) in the case of a borrower who satis20 fies 60 qualifying monthly payment obligations 

21 on a loan made under this part that is not in 

22 default (as defined in section 435), 50 percent 

23 of the total amount of the balance of principal 

24 and interest due on such loan as of the date of 

25 the loan forgiveness; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) in the case of a borrower who satis2 fies 120 qualifying monthly payment obligations 

3 on a loan made under this part that is not in 

4 default, 100 percent of the balance of principal 

5 and interest due on such loan as of the date of 

6 the loan forgiveness. 

7 ‘‘(4) CERTIFICATION OF EMPLOYMENT RE8 QUIREMENTS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In order to receive 

10 loan forgiveness under this subsection, a bor11 rower of a loan made under this part shall sub12 mit to the Secretary a certification of employ13 ment. 

14 ‘‘(B) CONTENT OF CERTIFICATION.—The 

15 Secretary shall— 

16 ‘‘(i) develop, and make easily acces17 sible, the certification of employment; and 

18 ‘‘(ii) ensure that the method of certifi19 cation— 

20 ‘‘(I) allows for the employer to 

21 indicate and certify the dates of the 

22 borrower’s employment; and 

23 ‘‘(II) provides electronic signa24 ture options for the employer and for 

25 the borrower. 


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1 ‘‘(C) BORROWER ACCESS.—The Secretary 

2 shall ensure that a borrower may submit a cer3 tification of employment to the Secretary elec4 tronically through any information system 

5 through which the Secretary permits borrowers 

6 to take self-service actions with respect to their 

7 loans. 

8 ‘‘(D) EXCEPTION FOR SELF-CERTIFI9 CATION.—The Secretary shall provide a self10 certification option for the certification of em11 ployment for borrowers who have extenuating 

12 circumstances preventing the borrowers from 

13 obtaining the qualifying employer signature and 

14 certification required under subparagraph 

15 (B)(ii), as determined by the Secretary pursu16 ant to rulemaking and including situations 

17 where an employer is no longer in existence or 

18 refuses to cooperate. 

19 ‘‘(E) PERIODIC REVIEW OF CERTIFICATION

20 OF EMPLOYMENT.—For each borrower of a loan 

21 made under this part who has submitted a cer22 tification of employment, the Secretary shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) by not later than 30 days after 

24 receipt of the certification of employ25 ment— 


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1 ‘‘(I) review the certification of 

2 employment and determine the num3 ber of qualifying monthly payment ob4 ligations satisfied on the loan during 

5 the period of employment covered by 

6 the certification of employment; 

7 ‘‘(II) inform the borrower of the 

8 number of qualifying monthly pay9 ment obligations satisfied; and 

10 ‘‘(III) inform the borrower of the 

11 number of remaining qualifying 

12 monthly payment obligations to be 

13 satisfied in order for the borrower to 

14 receive partial loan forgiveness under 

15 paragraph (3)(A), and such number 

16 needed to receive full loan forgiveness 

17 under paragraph (3)(B); and 

18 ‘‘(ii) periodically, but not less than 

19 twice annually, notify the borrower, using 

20 the most recent calculation of qualifying 

21 monthly payment obligations, of— 

22 ‘‘(I) the number of qualifying 

23 monthly payment obligations satisfied, 

24 as of the date of the notice; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the number of remaining 

2 qualifying monthly payment obliga3 tions to be satisfied in order for the 

4 borrower to receive partial loan for5 giveness under paragraph (3)(A), and 

6 such number needed to receive full 

7 loan forgiveness under paragraph 

8 (3)(B); 

9 ‘‘(III) any steps the borrower can 

10 take to convert non-qualifying month11 ly payment obligations into qualifying 

12 monthly payment obligations, includ13 ing the options to provide payments to 

14 satisfy monthly payment obligations 

15 for past public service under para16 graph (5)(C); and 

17 ‘‘(IV) the dispute resolution proc18 ess for the Secretary’s determination 

19 of qualifying monthly payment obliga20 tions, as described in paragraph (7). 

21 ‘‘(5) QUALIFYING MONTHLY PAYMENT OBLIGA22 TIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this 

24 subsection, the number of qualifying monthly 

25 payment obligations satisfied on a loan is the 


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1 number of monthly payments, during the period 

2 of employment and based on the repayment 

3 plan selected by the borrower for such period, 

4 that would be satisfied based on applying the 

5 total amount of payments made by the bor6 rower on the loan at any time during such pe7 riod. 

8 ‘‘(B) ADJUSTMENT OF PAYMENT OBLIGA9 TION STATUS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) HOLD HARMLESS AGAINST RET11 ROACTIVE DETERMINATIONS.—If the Sec12 retary has classified a payment obligation 

13 satisfied by a borrower of a loan made 

14 under this part as a qualifying monthly 

15 payment obligation and later determines 

16 that the payment obligation does not qual17 ify, the Secretary shall deem the payment 

18 obligation to be a qualifying monthly pay19 ment obligation to be counted for purposes 

20 of paragraph (2). 

21 ‘‘(ii) EXPLANATION OF NON-QUALI22 FYING PAYMENT OBLIGATION DETERMINA23 TIONS.—If the Secretary determines that 

24 payments made by a borrower of a loan 

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1 time employment with a qualifying em2 ployer cannot be applied toward the total 

3 number of qualifying monthly payment ob4 ligations for purposes of paragraph (2), 

5 the Secretary shall provide a borrower with 

6 an explanation and allow the borrower to 

7 correct the reason for such determination, 

8 to the extent possible. Such borrower reme9 diation shall include, at a minimum, pro10 viding a borrower with the opportunity to 

11 reimburse the Secretary for any under12 payment. 

13 ‘‘(C) SATISFYING PREVIOUSLY NON-QUALI14 FYING MONTHLY PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A borrower of a 

16 loan made under this part who has a pe17 riod during which the borrower was em18 ployed full-time with a qualifying employer 

19 but did not satisfy one or more qualifying 

20 monthly payment obligations during such 

21 period, such as a borrower who was in 

22 deferment or forbearance, may satisfy one 

23 or more monthly payment obligations of 

24 that period at a later date by paying the 

25 additional amount needed to satisfy the 


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1 qualifying monthly payment obligation, in 

2 accordance with a process established by 

3 the Secretary. 

4 ‘‘(ii) DETERMINATION PROCESS.—The 

5 amount of past monthly payment obliga6 tions satisfied by a payment under this 

7 subparagraph for a period of employment 

8 shall be determined using the amount of 

9 the borrower’s monthly payment, based on 

10 any repayment plan, as selected by the 

11 borrower, that could have been selected by 

12 the borrower during such period. The Sec13 retary may require a borrower wishing to 

14 satisfy past monthly payment obligations 

15 under this subparagraph to submit any ad16 ditional information necessary to calculate 

17 the amount of the past payments. 

18 ‘‘(iii) LIMIT.—A borrower may not 

19 satisfy more than 36 past monthly pay20 ment obligations under this subparagraph. 

21 ‘‘(6) SPECIAL RULES RELATING TO FEDERAL

22 DIRECT CONSOLIDATION LOANS.— 

23 ‘‘(A) REVIEW OF ANY NEW CONSOLIDA24 TION LOAN APPLICATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVE2 NESS OPTION ON CONSOLIDATION APPLICA3 TION.—Beginning on July 1, 2019, the 

4 Secretary shall include, in any application 

5 for a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, 

6 the option for the borrower to indicate that 

7 the borrower is consolidating for the pur8 pose of using the public service loan for9 giveness program under this subsection. 

10 ‘‘(ii) REVIEW.—Beginning on July 1, 

11 2019, the Secretary shall, after issuing any 

12 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan to a 

13 borrower who indicated an interest in the 

14 public service loan forgiveness program on 

15 the loan application— 

16 ‘‘(I) request that the borrower 

17 submit a certification of employment; 

18 and 

19 ‘‘(II) after receiving a complete 

20 certification of employment, review 

21 the borrower’s past payments on all 

22 component loans comprising the Fed23 eral Direct Consolidation Loan and 

24 inform the borrower— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) of the number of 

2 monthly payment obligations sat3 isfied by the borrower before the 

4 date of consolidation that are 

5 qualifying monthly payment obli6 gations, in accordance with sub7 paragraph (B); or 

8 ‘‘(bb) if no payment obliga9 tions are satisfied, that the bor10 rower will not receive any credit 

11 towards public service loan for12 giveness under this subsection for 

13 the Federal Direct Consolidation 

14 Loan. 

15 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS

16 ON ALL COMPONENT LOANS AND LOAN TYPES

17 THROUGH CONSOLIDATION.—In the case of a 

18 borrower of one or more loans eligible for con19 solidation, including loans made under part B, 

20 who applies for, and receives, a Federal Direct 

21 Consolidation Loan, the Secretary shall request 

22 the borrower submit a certification of employ23 ment for any qualifying employment and, after 

24 receiving the certification of employment, 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(i) review the borrower’s payment 

2 history on each of the component loans 

3 comprising the Federal Direct Consolida4 tion Loan, including each loan made under 

5 part B; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) for each component loan— 

7 ‘‘(I) calculate the weighted factor 

8 of the component loan, which shall be 

9 the factor that represents the ratio 

10 between the amount of the component 

11 loan and the amount of the Federal 

12 Direct Consolidation Loan, as deter13 mined by the Secretary; 

14 ‘‘(II) determine the number of 

15 equivalent monthly payment obliga16 tions toward the Federal Direct Con17 solidation Loan satisfied on the com18 ponent loan by multiplying the weight19 ed factor for the component loan by 

20 the number of qualifying monthly pay21 ment obligations that the borrower 

22 satisfied on the component loan; and 

23 ‘‘(III) after rounding the number 

24 determined under subclause (II) to 

25 the nearest whole number, deem that 


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1 number of equivalent monthly pay2 ment obligations to be qualifying 

3 monthly payment obligations on the 

4 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. 

5 ‘‘(C) APPLICABILITY OF BORROWER PRO6 TECTIONS AND RIGHTS.—A borrower of one or 

7 more loans eligible for consolidation, including 

8 loans made under part B, who applies for and 

9 receives a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan 

10 shall receive all the protections and rights pro11 vided under subparagraphs (B) and (C) of 

12 paragraph (5) for the loan, and for any compo13 nent loan, in the same manner as provided to 

14 any other borrower of a loan made under this 

15 part. 

16 ‘‘(7) NOTICE OF QUALIFYING PAYMENT OBLIGA17 TIONS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) INITIAL NOTICE.—Upon receiving 

19 any verbal or written contact by a borrower on 

20 or after July 1, 2019, expressing interest in the 

21 public service loan forgiveness program under 

22 this subsection, the Secretary, or an eligible 

23 lender or guaranty agency under part B, shall 

24 provide the borrower, by not later than 30 days 

25 after the contract, with a notice that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) explains the requirements of the 

2 program, including whether the borrower 

3 needs to consolidate some or all of the bor4 rower’s loans to receive forgiveness under 

5 this subsection; 

6 ‘‘(ii) includes a copy of, or a link to, 

7 information about the certification of em8 ployment process described in paragraph 

9 (4); 

10 ‘‘(iii) includes an estimate of the 

11 qualifying monthly payment obligations 

12 that would be satisfied by the borrower 

13 based on the borrower’s payment history, 

14 as of the date of notice, if the borrower 

15 was a full-time employee of a qualifying 

16 employer and met the requirements of 

17 paragraph (2); and 

18 ‘‘(iv) includes an estimate of the num19 ber of remaining qualifying monthly pay20 ment obligations to be satisfied in order 

21 for the borrower to receive partial loan for22 giveness under paragraph (3)(A), and such 

23 number needed to receive full loan forgive24 ness under paragraph (3)(B). 


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1 ‘‘(B) SUBSEQUENT NOTICES.—After pro2 viding an initial notice under subparagraph (A), 

3 the Secretary, or an eligible lender or guaranty 

4 agency under part B, shall annually provide the 

5 borrower with a notice containing the informa6 tion described in such subparagraph for each 

7 subsequent year that the borrower has an out8 standing loan, unless the borrower receives no9 tices under paragraph (4)(E)(ii) or requests 

10 that the notices be discontinued. 

11 ‘‘(8) DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS.—By not 

12 later than July 1, 2019, the Secretary shall establish 

13 a process for borrowers to dispute the calculation of 

14 qualifying monthly payment obligations, or the de15 termination of full or partial loan forgiveness under 

16 paragraph (2), following the submission of a certifi17 cation of employment or application for forgiveness 

18 or any successor certification or application. 

19 ‘‘(9) DATABASE OF QUALIFYING EMPLOYERS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than July 1, 

21 2019, the Secretary shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) establish a database that will in23 clude all employers from which the Sec24 retary has received a certification of em25 ployment; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) use such database to aid the Sec2 retary in processing a certification of em3 ployment and in providing the notices re4 quired under subsection (r)(3). 

5 ‘‘(B) DATA MATCHING AGREEMENTS.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

7 shall enter into data matching agreements 

8 with relevant Federal agencies who possess 

9 records about the status of employers or 

10 the status of borrowers as employees of 

11 qualifying employers for the purpose of 

12 eliminating, to the extent practicable, the 

13 need for a borrower or employer to submit 

14 a certification of employment to the Sec15 retary. 

16 ‘‘(ii) SPECIFIC FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

17 Notwithstanding any Federal law, the Sec18 retary of Labor, the Commissioner of In19 ternal Revenue, and the Commissioner of 

20 Social Security shall disclose any relevant 

21 records to the Secretary for the purposes 

22 of meeting the Secretary’s obligations to 

23 reduce barriers to certification of employ24 ment as described in clause (i). 


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1 ‘‘(iii) NOTICE TO BORROWERS.—If the 

2 Secretary receives employer or employment 

3 information regarding a borrower from a 

4 Federal agency pursuant to this subpara5 graph, the Secretary shall timely notify the 

6 borrower that— 

7 ‘‘(I) the Secretary received the 

8 information; and 

9 ‘‘(II) the borrower, for the dura10 tion of the borrower’s employment by 

11 the employer— 

12 ‘‘(aa) is not required to sub13 mit a certification of employment 

14 for the employer under para15 graph (4); or 

16 ‘‘(bb) if the information is 

17 not complete, only needs to sub18 mit a reduced set of information 

19 to the Secretary for the certifi20 cation of employment. 

21 ‘‘(10) INELIGIBILITY.— 

22 ‘‘(A) NO DOUBLE BENEFITS.—No bor23 rower may, for the same service, receive a re24 duction of loan obligations under both this sub25 section and section 428J, 428K, 428L, or 460. 


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1 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL ELECTED SERVICE EX2 CLUDED.—No borrower may receive loan for3 giveness under this subsection for service as a 

4 Member of Congress or President or Vice Presi5 dent of the United States.’’. 

6 (2) FFEL PROGRAM AMENDMENTS.—Part B of 

7 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1071 

8 et seq.) is amended— 

9 (A) in section 428 (20 U.S.C. 1078), by 

10 adding at the end the following: 

11 ‘‘(p) REPAYMENT HISTORY INFORMATION AND PUB12 LIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS INFORMATION.—A 

13 guaranty agency shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) provide, in a timely manner, any necessary 

15 borrower repayment history information that the 

16 Secretary requests in order to determine the bor17 rower’s eligibility for the public service loan forgive18 ness program under section 455(m), or the number 

19 of qualifying monthly payment obligations satisfied 

20 for purposes of the program, including such infor21 mation from all servicers involved in servicing the 

22 borrower’s loan; and 

23 ‘‘(2) carry out the requirements of section 

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1 ing interest in the public service loan forgiveness 

2 program under section 455(m).’’; and 

3 (B) in section 433 (20 U.S.C. 1083)— 

4 (i) by redesignating subsection (f) as 

5 subsection (g); and 

6 (ii) by inserting after subsection (e) 

7 the following: 

8 ‘‘(f) REPAYMENT HISTORY INFORMATION.—An eligi9 ble lender shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) provide, in a timely manner, any necessary 

11 borrower repayment history information that the 

12 Secretary requests in order to determine the bor13 rower’s eligibility for the public service loan forgive14 ness program under section 455(m), or the number 

15 of qualifying monthly payment obligations satisfied 

16 for purposes of the public service loan forgiveness 

17 program under section 455(m), including such infor18 mation from all servicers involved in servicing the 

19 borrower’s loan; and 

20 ‘‘(2) carry out the requirements of section 

21 455(m)(7) upon receiving any verbal or written con22 tact by a borrower on or after July 1, 2019, express23 ing interest in the public service loan forgiveness 

24 program under section 455(m).’’. 


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1 (b) NOTIFICATION TO DIRECT LOAN BORROWERS

2 REGARDING ALL OPTIONS FOR LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 

3 Section 455 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

4 U.S.C. 1087e) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(r) ANNUAL NOTICE REGARDING LOAN FORGIVE7 NESS OPTIONS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall annu9 ally provide a written or electronic disclosure to each 

10 borrower of a loan under this part— 

11 ‘‘(A) notifying the borrower— 

12 ‘‘(i) of any loan forgiveness option 

13 available under this title that might apply 

14 to a loan under this part held by the bor15 rower, including the public service loan for16 giveness program under subsection (m); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a borrower who is 

19 a full-time employee of a Federal agency 

20 and has not expressed interest in or sub21 mitted a certification of employment for 

22 the public service loan forgiveness pro23 gram— 

24 ‘‘(I) that the borrower is em25 ployed by a qualifying employer; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the number of payment ob2 ligations satisfied by the borrower 

3 that the Secretary has determined 

4 could be qualifying monthly payment 

5 obligations on eligible Federal Direct 

6 Loan for purposes of the public serv7 ice loan forgiveness program; and 

8 ‘‘(III) the steps necessary for the 

9 borrower to submit a certification of 

10 employment and to obtain forgiveness 

11 under subsection (m)(2); 

12 ‘‘(B) informing the borrower that the loan 

13 forgiveness options described in subparagraph 

14 (A) are provided free of charge; and 

15 ‘‘(C) including, for each loan forgiveness 

16 option, information regarding how the borrower 

17 should proceed, including contact information, 

18 if the borrower wishes to pursue such loan for19 giveness option. 

20 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSIONS.—Notwithstanding para21 graph (1), the Secretary shall not provide a notifica22 tion under this subsection to a borrower of a loan 

23 under this part if— 

24 ‘‘(A) the borrower is also receiving a notifi25 cation under subsection (m)(7); or 


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1 ‘‘(B) the borrower has requested that the 

2 Secretary no longer provide the notifications 

3 under this subsection.’’. 

4 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

5 this section shall take effect on July 1, 2019. 

6 SEC. 3. TRANSITION TO IMPROVED PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN 

7 FORGIVENESS PROGRAM. 

8 (a) REVIEW OF BORROWERS CURRENTLY PARTICI9 PATING IN PUBLIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS.— 

10 (1) CALCULATING THE NUMBER OF QUALI11 FYING PAYMENT OBLIGATIONS FOR CURRENT PUB12 LIC SERVICE LOAN FORGIVENESS PROGRAM PARTICI13 PANTS.—By not later than July 1, 2019, the Sec14 retary shall, for each borrower that has submitted a 

15 certification of employment under the public service 

16 loan forgiveness program under section 455(m) of 

17 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1087e) before July 1, 2019— 

19 (A) calculate the number of qualifying pay20 ment obligations under such section satisfied by 

21 the borrower, using the criteria of such section 

22 as in effect on July 1, 2019; and 

23 (B) inform the borrower of the changes in 

24 the public service loan forgiveness program and 

25 the number of qualifying payment obligations 


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1 that the borrower will have satisfied for pur2 poses of the program, beginning on July 1, 

3 2019. 

4 (2) RETROACTIVE PARTIAL LOAN FORGIVE5 NESS.—By not later than July 1, 2019, the Sec6 retary shall take such steps as are necessary to pro7 vide partial loan forgiveness under section 

8 455(m)(3)(A)(i) of the Higher Education Act of 

9 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)(3)(A)(i)), as in effect on 

10 such date, to borrowers with outstanding balance of 

11 principal and interest on a loan made under this 

12 part who met the criteria for partial loan forgiveness 

13 under such section, as in effect on July 1, 2019, be14 fore such date but on or after October 1, 2007. 

15 (3) APPLICABILITY OF OTHER PROVISIONS.—In 

16 carrying out paragraphs (1) and (2), and in any 

17 other case where the Secretary is applying the loan 

18 forgiveness provisions of section 455(m) of the High19 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)), as 

20 in effect on July 1, 2019, to a borrower for whom 

21 one or more payment obligations were satisfied be22 fore July 1, 2019, the Secretary shall determine the 

23 number of payment obligations satisfied by applying 

24 all of the provisions of such section as in effect on 

25 July 1, 2019, including the calculation of payment 


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1 obligations under section 455(m)(5) of such Act and 

2 the inclusion of payment obligations satisfied 

3 through the component loans of a Federal Direct 

4 Consolidation Loan under section 455(m)(6), with5 out regard as to the date on which the payment obli6 gation was satisfied. 

7 (b) SPECIAL PSLF PROGRAM FUNDS.— 

8 (1) DEFINITION OF SPECIAL PSLF PROGRAM

9 FUNDS.—In this section, the term ‘‘special PSLF 

10 program funds’’ means the amounts appropriated 

11 for public service loan forgiveness under section 315 

12 of division H of the Consolidated Appropriations 

13 Act, 2018 (Public Law 115–141; March 23, 2018) 

14 or under section 313 of division B of the Depart15 ment of Defense and Labor, Health and Human 

16 Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 

17 and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (Public 

18 Law 115–245; September 28, 2018). 

19 (2) RESCISSION.—Upon the effective date de20 scribed in section 2(c), all special PSLF program 

21 funds that remain unexpended on such date shall be 

22 rescinded. 

23 (3) TRANSITION.—The Secretary of Education 

24 shall establish a process through which the Secretary 

25 shall— 


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1 (A) review the applications of borrowers 

2 who applied for the loan forgiveness program 

3 carried out with special PSLF program funds 

4 but had not received loan forgiveness through 

5 such program before July 1, 2019; and 

6 (B) assist such borrowers in pursuing loan 

7 forgiveness under section 455(m) of the Higher 

8 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(m)), 

9 as in effect on July 1, 2019. 

Æ 


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