I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5613 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow qualified entrepreneurs 
to temporarily defer Federal student loan payments after starting a 
new business. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 15, 2020 
Mr. GALLEGO (for himself, Mr. SWALWELL of California, and Ms. HAALAND) 
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 
Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow quali-
fied entrepreneurs to temporarily defer Federal student 
loan payments after starting a new business. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Relief and Investment 
for Student Entrepreneurs Act’’ or the ‘‘RISE Act’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFERMENT OF FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PAY-
MENTS FOR QUALIFIED ENTREPRENEURS. 
Section 455(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087e(f)) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (A)(ii); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (B) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) notwithstanding subparagraphs (A) 
and (B), in the case of a deferment described 
in paragraph (2)(E), shall not accrue.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) in subparagraph (C), by striking ‘‘or’’ 
at the end; 
(B) in subparagraph (D), by striking the 
period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) subject to paragraph (5), not in ex-
cess of 3 years during which the borrower is a 
qualified entrepreneur.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(5) DEFERMENT
FOR
QUALIFIED
ENTRE-
PRENEURS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF QUALIFIED ENTRE-
PRENEUR.—For the purpose of this subsection, 
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the term ‘qualified entrepreneur’ means a bor-
rower who— 
‘‘(i) receives a degree from an institu-
tion of higher education during the 10-year 
period ending on the date on which the 
borrower requests a deferment under para-
graph (2)(E); 
‘‘(ii) registers at least 1 business enti-
ty in a State during the 18-month period 
ending on the date on which the borrower 
requests a deferment under paragraph 
(2)(E); 
‘‘(iii) raises capital investment of not 
less than $15,000 for such business entity; 
and 
‘‘(iv) has an outstanding balance of 
principal and interest on a loan made 
under this part of not less than $5,000. 
‘‘(B) 
MINIMUM
EMPLOYEE
REQUIRE-
MENT.—A borrower granted deferment under 
paragraph (2)(E) shall not be eligible to con-
tinue such deferment unless, on the date that is 
1 year after the date on which such deferment 
is granted, the borrower— 
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