I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4627 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish the Office of 
the Borrower Advocate. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 8, 2019 
Ms. SCANLON (for herself and Ms. OMAR) 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 establish 
the Office of the Borrower Advocate. 
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 ‘‘Student Borrower Ad-
vocate Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. PERFORMANCE-BASED ORGANIZATION FOR DELIV-
ERY OF FEDERAL STUDENT FINANCIAL AS-
SISTANCE. 
(a) PBO.—Section 141(f) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1018(f)) is amended to read as 
follows: 
‘‘(f) BORROWER ADVOCATE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is established in the 
PBO an ‘Office of the Borrower Advocate’ (referred 
to in this subsection as the ‘Office’). The function of 
the Office shall be to provide timely assistance to 
borrowers of loans made, insured, or guaranteed 
under title IV by performing the duties described in 
paragraph (6). 
‘‘(2) HEAD OF OFFICE.—There shall be an offi-
cial known as the ‘Borrower Advocate’ who shall 
serve as the head of the Office. The Borrower Advo-
cate shall be appointed by the Secretary from among 
individuals who have worked closely with the Federal 
student loan programs authorized under title IV. 
‘‘(3) REMOVAL.—The Borrower Advocate may 
be removed only by the Secretary who shall commu-
nicate the reasons for any such removal to the au-
thorizing committees. 
‘‘(4) RESTRICTIONS.— 
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‘‘(A) PRESERVICE
AND
IN-SERVICE
RE-
STRICTIONS.—An individual may not serve as 
the Borrower Advocate if such individual— 
‘‘(i) is employed by, or has a financial 
interest in, an entity that contracts with 
the PBO; or 
‘‘(ii) was employed by, or had a finan-
cial interest in, any such entity in any of 
the five-years preceding the date of the in-
dividual’s appointment as the Borrower 
Advocate. 
‘‘(B) POSTSERVICE
RESTRICTIONS.—An 
individual who served as the Borrower Advocate 
may not accept employment with an entity that 
contracts with the PBO until a period of five 
years has elapsed following the date on which 
such individual’s service as the Borrower Advo-
cate terminated. 
‘‘(5) STAFF.—The Office shall be staffed suffi-
ciently to carry out the responsibilities of the Office 
under this subsection. 
‘‘(6) DUTIES OF THE BORROWER ADVOCATE.— 
The Office of the Borrower Advocate shall— 
‘‘(A) assist borrowers of loans made, in-
sured, or guaranteed under title IV in resolving 
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problems with the PBO and its contractors or 
other agents, including by— 
‘‘(i) receiving and reviewing com-
plaints of such problems from borrowers; 
‘‘(ii) working to resolve such com-
plaints in a manner that is in the best in-
terests of borrowers; and 
‘‘(iii) transmitting such complaints to 
States and recognized accrediting agencies 
or associations, as appropriate; 
‘‘(B) attempt to resolve complaints within 
the Department of Education and with institu-
tions of higher education, lenders, guaranty 
agencies, loan servicers, and other participants 
in the Federal student loan programs author-
ized under title IV in a manner that will im-
prove the experience of the borrower; 
‘‘(C) compile and analyze data on borrower 
complaints and share such data with the Direc-
tor of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro-
tection; 
‘‘(D) publish, with any personally identifi-
able information redacted, such complaints and 
responses of the Secretary to such complaints 
on the website of the Department; and 
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‘‘(E) make appropriate recommendations 
to Congress, the Chief Operating Officer, and 
Secretary with respect to Federal student loan 
programs authorized under title IV and the ex-
periences of borrowers in repayment of loans 
under such programs. 
‘‘(7) PUBLIC INFORMATION.—The Chief Oper-
ating Officer shall establish and maintain a public 
page on the website of the Department of Education 
exclusively to provide members of the public with in-
formation about the role of the PBO with respect to 
the oversight of institutions of higher education, 
lenders, guaranty agencies, contractors that contract 
with the PBO, subcontractors of such contractors, 
and third party servicers. 
‘‘(8) REPORT.—On an annual basis, the Bor-
rower Advocate shall submit to the Chief Operating 
Officer a report on the activities of the Office during 
the preceding year that— 
‘‘(A) identifies the activities carried out by 
the Borrower Advocate; 
‘‘(B) summarizes the complaints received 
from borrowers, including the number of such 
complaints, and explains the activities under-
taken by the PBO to address such complaints; 
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