I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7449 
To refinance Federal and private student loans, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 1, 2020 
Mr. COURTNEY (for himself, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Mr. CICILLINE, Mr. 
CISNEROS, Ms. DELBENE, Mrs. DINGELL, Mrs. HAYES, Ms. JACKSON 
LEE, Mr. KILMER, Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire, Mr. LARSON of Con-
necticut, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. 
MCGOVERN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. PINGREE, Miss RICE 
of New York, Mr. RYAN, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SERRANO, Ms. SLOTKIN, 
Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL of California, 
Mr. TAKANO, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. HIMES, and Ms. WILSON 
of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To refinance Federal and private student loans, and for 
other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Bank on Students 
Coronavirus Emergency Loan Refinancing Act of 2020’’. 
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SEC. 2. REFINANCING PROGRAM. 
(a) PROGRAM AUTHORITY.—Section 451(a) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a(a)) is 
amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘and (2)’’ and inserting ‘‘(2)’’; 
and 
(2) by inserting ‘‘; and (3) to make loans under 
section 460A and section 460B’’ after ‘‘section 
459A’’. 
(b) REFINANCING PROGRAM.—Part D of title IV of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087a et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 460A. REFINANCING FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS AND 
OTHER FEDERAL LOANS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) FFEL, PERKINS, OR
PHSA
STUDENT 
LOAN.—The term ‘FFEL, Perkins, or PHSA stu-
dent loan’ means a loan— 
‘‘(A) made, insured, or guaranteed under 
part B and for which the first disbursement 
was made, or the application for the consolida-
tion loan was received, before July 1, 2010; 
‘‘(B) made under part E; or 
‘‘(C) made under— 
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‘‘(i) subpart II of part A of title VII 
of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 292q et seq.); or 
‘‘(ii) part E of title VIII of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 297a et 
seq.). 
‘‘(2) QUALIFIED BORROWER.—The term ‘quali-
fied borrower’ means a borrower of a loan under this 
part, or FFEL, Perkins, or PHSA student loan, for 
which the first disbursement was made, or the appli-
cation for a consolidation loan was received, before 
July 1, 2020. 
‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 90 
days after the date of enactment of the Bank on Students 
Coronavirus Emergency Loan Refinancing Act of 2020, 
the Secretary shall establish a program under which the 
Secretary makes a loan under this part, in accordance 
with the provisions of this section, in order to permit a 
qualified borrower to obtain the interest rate provided 
under subsection (d). 
‘‘(c) REFINANCING DIRECT LOANS.— 
‘‘(1) FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—By not later than 120 
days after the date of enactment of the Bank 
on Students Coronavirus Emergency Loan Refi-
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nancing Act of 2020, the Secretary shall repay 
a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal Di-
rect Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, a Federal Di-
rect PLUS Loan, or a Federal Direct Consoli-
dation Loan of the qualified borrower, for which 
the first disbursement was made, or the appli-
cation for the consolidation loan was received, 
before July 1, 2020, with the proceeds of a refi-
nanced Federal Direct Stafford Loan, a Federal 
Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, a Federal 
Direct PLUS Loan, or a Federal Direct Con-
solidation Loan, respectively, issued to the bor-
rower under this section in an amount equal to 
the sum of the unpaid principal, accrued unpaid 
interest, and late charges of the original loan. 
‘‘(B) INFORMATION.—The Secretary shall 
notify each qualified borrower of a loan refi-
nanced under subparagraph (A) regarding the 
refinancing and the benefits the refinancing 
provides to the qualified borrower. 
‘‘(2) REFINANCING FFEL, PERKINS, OR PHSA 
STUDENT LOANS AS REFINANCED FEDERAL DIRECT 
LOANS.—Upon application of a qualified borrower of 
any FFEL, Perkins, or PHSA student loan, the 
Secretary shall make a loan under this part, in an 
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amount equal to the sum of the unpaid principal, ac-
crued unpaid interest, and late charges of the origi-
nal loan to the borrower in accordance with the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(A) The Secretary shall pay the proceeds 
of such loan to the holder of the FFEL, Per-
kins, or PHSA student loan, in order to dis-
charge the borrower from any remaining obliga-
tion with respect to the original loan. 
‘‘(B) Any Federal student loan made 
under this section that was originally a loan de-
scribed in subsection (a)(1)(A) and that was 
made, insured, or guaranteed— 
‘‘(i) under section 428 shall be a Fed-
eral Direct Stafford Loan; 
‘‘(ii) under section 428B shall be a 
Federal Direct PLUS Loan; 
‘‘(iii) under section 428H shall be a 
Federal 
Direct 
Unsubsidized 
Stafford 
Loan; 
‘‘(iv) under section 428C shall be a 
Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. 
‘‘(C) Any Federal student loan made under 
this section that was originally a loan described 
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in subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1) 
shall be a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan. 
‘‘(D) The interest rate for each loan made 
by the Secretary under this paragraph shall be 
the rate provided under subsection (d). 
‘‘(d) INTEREST RATES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The interest rate for the 
refinanced Federal Direct Stafford Loans, Federal 
Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans, Federal Direct 
PLUS Loans, and Federal Direct Consolidation 
Loans, shall be a rate equal to— 
‘‘(A) in any case where the original loan 
was a loan under section 428 or 428H, a Fed-
eral Direct Stafford loan, or a Federal Direct 
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, that was issued to 
an undergraduate student, a rate equal to the 
rate for Federal Direct Stafford Loans and 
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans 
issued to undergraduate students for the 12- 
month period beginning on July 1, 2020, and 
ending on June 30, 2021; 
‘‘(B) in any case where the original loan 
was a loan under section 428 or 428H, a Fed-
eral Direct Stafford Loan, or a Federal Direct 
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, that was issued to 
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a graduate or professional student, a rate equal 
to the rate for Federal Direct Unsubsidized 
Stafford Loans issued to graduate or profes-
sional students for the 12-month period begin-
ning on July 1, 2020, and ending on June 30, 
2021; 
‘‘(C) in any case where the original loan 
was a loan under section 428B or a Federal Di-
rect PLUS Loan, a rate equal to the rate for 
Federal Direct PLUS Loans for the 12-month 
period beginning on July 1, 2020, and ending 
on June 30, 2021; 
‘‘(D) in any case where the original loan 
was a loan under section 428C or a Federal Di-
rect Consolidation Loan, a rate calculated in ac-
cordance with paragraph (2); and 
‘‘(E) in any case where the original loan 
was a Federal student loan described in sub-
paragraph (B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1), the 
lesser of— 
‘‘(i)(I) in any case where the original 
loan was issued to an undergraduate stu-
dent, the rate that applies under subpara-
graph (A); or 
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‘‘(II) in any case where the original 
loan was issued to a graduate or profes-
sional student, the rate that applies under 
subparagraph (B); or 
‘‘(ii) the original interest rate of the 
loan. 
‘‘(2) INTEREST RATES FOR REFINANCED CON-
SOLIDATION LOANS.— 
‘‘(A) 
METHOD
OF
CALCULATION.—In 
order to determine the interest rate for any re-
financed Federal Direct Consolidation Loan 
under paragraph (1)(D), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(i) determine each of the component 
loans that were originally consolidated in 
the loan under section 428C or the Federal 
Direct Consolidation Loan, and calculate 
the proportion of the unpaid principal bal-
ance of the loan under section 428C or the 
Federal Direct Consolidation Loan that 
each component loan represents; 
‘‘(ii) use the proportions determined 
in accordance with clause (i) and the inter-
est rate applicable for each component 
loan, as determined under subparagraph 
(B), to calculate the weighted average of 
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the interest rates on the loans consolidated 
into the loan under section 428C or the 
Federal Direct Consolidation Loan; and 
‘‘(iii) apply the weighted average cal-
culated under clause (ii) as the interest 
rate for the refinanced Federal Direct Con-
solidation Loan. 
‘‘(B) INTEREST
RATES
FOR
COMPONENT 
LOANS.—The interest rates for the component 
loans of a loan made under section 428C or a 
Federal Direct Consolidation Loan shall be the 
following: 
‘‘(i) The interest rate for any loan 
under section 428 or 428H, Federal Direct 
Stafford Loan, or Federal Direct Unsub-
sidized Stafford Loan, that is issued to an 
undergraduate student shall be a rate 
equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(I) the rate for Federal Direct 
Stafford Loans and Federal Direct 
Unsubsidized Stafford Loans issued 
to undergraduate students for the 12- 
month period beginning on July 1, 
2020, and ending on June 30, 2021; 
or 
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