I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3024 

To establish a temporary program for the refinancing of certain Federal 

student loans, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 7, 2021 

Mr. COURTNEY (for himself, Mrs. HAYES, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. 

MORELLE, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. SIRES, 

Ms. STRICKLAND, and Ms. WILSON of Florida) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To establish a temporary program for the refinancing of 

certain Federal 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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR REFINANCING STU2 DENT LOANS. 

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

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

5 amended— 

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

7 and 

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

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

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

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

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

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

14 OF FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS AND OTHER 

15 FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 

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

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

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

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

20 part B and for which the first disbursement 

21 was made, or the application for the consolida22 tion loan was received, before July 1, 2010; 

23 ‘‘(B) made under part E; or 

24 ‘‘(C) made under— 


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

2 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

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

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

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

6 seq.). 

7 ‘‘(2) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe8 riod’ means the period beginning on August 1, 2021, 

9 and ending at the close of December 31, 2024. 

10 ‘‘(3) ORIGINAL LOAN.—The term ‘original 

11 loan’, used with respect to a refinanced loan issued 

12 under this section, means a loan for which a bor13 rower’s liability is discharged by such refinanced 

14 loan. 

15 ‘‘(4) QUALIFIED BORROWER.—The term ‘quali16 fied borrower’ means a borrower of a loan under this 

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

18 first disbursement was made, or the application for 

19 a consolidation loan was received, before January 1, 

20 2025. 

21 ‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on August 1, 2021, 

22 the Secretary shall carry out a program under which the 

23 Secretary makes interest-free refinancing loans to quali24 fied borrowers in accordance with this section. 

25 ‘‘(c) REFINANCING DIRECT LOANS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS.— 

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

3 1, 2021, the Secretary shall cancel the obliga4 tion of a qualified borrower to repay a Federal 

5 Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct Unsub6 sidized Stafford Loan, a Federal Direct PLUS 

7 Loan, or a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan 

8 for which the first disbursement was made, or 

9 the application for the consolidation loan was 

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

11 such borrower in accordance with this section a 

12 refinanced Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a refi13 nanced Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

14 Loan, a refinanced Federal Direct PLUS Loan, 

15 or a refinanced Federal Direct Consolidation 

16 Loan, respectively, in an amount equal to the 

17 sum of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid in18 terest, and late charges of the original loan. 

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

20 notify each qualified borrower of a loan refi21 nanced under subparagraph (A) regarding the 

22 refinancing and the benefits the refinancing 

23 provides to the qualified borrower. 

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

25 LOANS AS REFINANCED FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS.— 


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1 Upon application of a qualified borrower of any cov2 ered non-part D loan, the Secretary shall make a 

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

4 of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid interest, and 

5 late charges of the original loan to the borrower in 

6 accordance with the following: 

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

8 of such loan to the holder of the covered non9 part D loan, in order to discharge the borrower 

10 from any remaining obligation with respect to 

11 the original loan. 

12 ‘‘(B) Any Federal student loan made 

13 under this section the proceeds of which are 

14 used to discharge a loan that was made, in15 sured, or guaranteed— 

16 ‘‘(i) under section 428 shall be a Fed17 eral Direct Stafford Loan; 

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

19 Federal Direct PLUS Loan; 

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

21 Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford 

22 Loan; and 

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

24 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. 


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

2 this section the proceeds of which are used to 

3 discharge a loan described subparagraph (B) or 

4 (C) of subsection (a)(1) shall be a Federal Di5 rect Consolidation Loan. 

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

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

8 qualified borrower shall submit an application to the 

9 Secretary during the covered period. A borrower who 

10 submits an application after the expiration of the 

11 covered period shall not eligible to receive a refi12 nancing loan under such paragraph. 

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

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

15 section shall have the same terms and conditions as 

16 the original loan, except as otherwise provided in 

17 this section. 

18 ‘‘(2) INTEREST RATES.—No interest shall ac19 crue on a loan that is made under this section. 

20 ‘‘(3) NO AUTOMATIC EXTENSION OF REPAY21 MENT PERIOD.—A loan made under this section 

22 shall not result in the extension of the duration of 

23 the repayment period of the loan, and the borrower 

24 shall retain the same repayment term that was in ef25 fect on the original loan. Nothing in this paragraph 


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1 shall be construed to prevent a borrower from elect2 ing a different repayment plan at any time in ac3 cordance with section 455(d)(3). 

4 ‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR REFINANCED PERKINS

5 AND HEALTH LOANS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 

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

7 section as a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan the 

8 proceeds of which are used to discharge a loan de9 scribed in subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection 

10 (a)(1)— 

11 ‘‘(A) the refinanced Federal Direct Con12 solidation Loan shall have the same terms and 

13 conditions as a Federal Direct Consolidation 

14 Loan, except as otherwise provided in this sec15 tion; and 

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

17 and conditions as necessary to enable the bor18 rower to access loan forgiveness or other bene19 fits available to the borrower under the loan be20 fore refinancing under this section, in any case 

21 where such benefits are more generous than 

22 provided under a Federal Direct Consolidation 

23 Loan. 

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

25 this section shall be construed to prevent a borrower 


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1 of a Federal student loan described in subparagraph 

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

3 such loans with other loans eligible for consolidation 

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

5 consolidate such loans with other Federal student 

6 loans into a single consolidation loan under this sec7 tion. 

8 ‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION TO BORROWERS.—The Sec9 retary, in coordination with the Director of the Bureau 

10 of Consumer Financial Protection, shall undertake a cam11 paign to alert borrowers of covered non-part D loans that 

12 are eligible for refinancing under this section that the bor13 rowers are eligible to apply for such refinancing. The cam14 paign shall include the following activities: 

15 ‘‘(1) Developing consumer information mate16 rials about the availability of Federal student loan 

17 refinancing. 

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

19 to provide such consumer information to borrowers 

20 in a manner determined appropriate by the Sec21 retary, in consultation with the Director of the Bu22 reau of Consumer Financial Protection.’’. 

23 (c) INCOME-CONTINGENT REPAYMENT.—Section 

24 455(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 


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1 1087e(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 

2 new paragraph: 

3 ‘‘(9) SPECIAL RULE FOR REFINANCED

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

5 of time during which a borrower of a loan that is re6 financed under section 460A has made monthly pay7 ments shall be calculated in the manner described in 

8 section 493C(f) for the applicable type of loan.’’. 

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

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

11 amended by adding at the end the following: 

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

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

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

15 during which a borrower of a loan (with the excep16 tion of a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan) that is 

17 refinanced under section 460A has made monthly 

18 payments for purposes of subsection (b)(7), the Sec19 retary shall deem the period to include all monthly 

20 payments made for the original loan, and all month21 ly payments made for the refinanced loan, that oth22 erwise meet the requirements of this section. 

23 ‘‘(2) REFINANCED FEDERAL DIRECT CONSOLI24 DATION LOANS.—In calculating the period of time 

25 during which a borrower of a Federal Direct ConVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jun 19, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3024.IH H3024

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1 solidation Loan that is refinanced under section 

2 460A has made monthly payments for the purposes 

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

4 ‘‘(A) review the borrower’s payment his5 tory to identify each component loan of such 

6 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan; 

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

8 ‘‘(i) calculate the weighted factor of 

9 the component loan, which shall be the fac10 tor that represents the portion of such 

11 Federal Direct Consolidation Loan that is 

12 attributable to such component loan; and 

13 ‘‘(ii) determine the number of quali14 fying monthly payments made on such 

15 component loan before consolidation; 

16 ‘‘(C) calculate the number of qualifying 

17 monthly payments determined under subpara18 graph (B)(ii) with respect to a component loan 

19 that shall be deemed as qualifying monthly pay20 ments made on the Federal Direct Consolida21 tion Loan by multiplying— 

22 ‘‘(i) the weighted factor of such com23 ponent loan as determined under subpara24 graph (B)(i); by 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the number of qualifying monthly 

2 payments made on such component loan as 

3 determined under subparagraph (B)(ii); 

4 and 

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

6 the total number of qualifying monthly pay7 ments with respect to the component loans of 

8 the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan that 

9 shall be deemed as qualifying monthly payments 

10 made on the refinanced Federal Consolidation 

11 Loan, by— 

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

13 calculation made under subparagraph (C) 

14 with respect to each such component loan; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(ii) rounding the number determined 

17 under clause (i) to the nearest whole num18 ber. 

19 ‘‘(3) COMPONENT LOAN DEFINED.—In this 

20 subsection, the term ‘component loan’, used with re21 spect to a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, means 

22 a loan for which the liability was discharged by the 

23 proceeds of such Federal Direct Consolidation 

24 Loan.’’. 


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1 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Higher Edu2 cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended— 

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

4 1078–3(3)(B)(i)(V))— 

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

6 (bb); 

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

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

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

10 ‘‘(dd) for the purpose of ob11 taining a refinancing loan under 

12 section 460A.’’; and 

13 (2) 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, the terms and conditions of interest for 

18 loans made under this part are as follows:’’. 

Æ 


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