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. 
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 ‘‘Zero-Percent Student 
Loan Refinancing Act’’. 
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SEC. 2. TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR REFINANCING STU-
DENT LOANS. 
(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’’ 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. TEMPORARY PROGRAM FOR THE REFINANCING 
OF FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS AND OTHER 
FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) COVERED NON-PART D LOAN.—The term 
‘covered non-part D 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) COVERED PERIOD.—The term ‘covered pe-
riod’ means the period beginning on August 1, 2021, 
and ending at the close of December 31, 2024. 
‘‘(3) ORIGINAL
LOAN.—The term ‘original 
loan’, used with respect to a refinanced loan issued 
under this section, means a loan for which a bor-
rower’s liability is discharged by such refinanced 
loan. 
‘‘(4) QUALIFIED BORROWER.—The term ‘quali-
fied borrower’ means a borrower of a loan under this 
part, or a covered non-part D loan, for which the 
first disbursement was made, or the application for 
a consolidation loan was received, before January 1, 
2025. 
‘‘(b) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on August 1, 2021, 
the Secretary shall carry out a program under which the 
Secretary makes interest-free refinancing loans to quali-
fied borrowers in accordance with this section. 
‘‘(c) REFINANCING DIRECT LOANS.— 
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‘‘(C) Any Federal student loan made under 
this section the proceeds of which are used to 
discharge a loan described subparagraph (B) or 
(C) of subsection (a)(1) shall be a Federal Di-
rect Consolidation Loan. 
‘‘(3) APPLICATION DEADLINE.—To be eligible 
to receive a refinancing loan under paragraph (2) a 
qualified borrower shall submit an application to the 
Secretary during the covered period. A borrower who 
submits an application after the expiration of the 
covered period shall not eligible to receive a refi-
nancing loan under such paragraph. 
‘‘(d) TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF LOANS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A loan made under this 
section shall have the same terms and conditions as 
the original loan, except as otherwise provided in 
this section. 
‘‘(2) INTEREST RATES.—No interest shall ac-
crue on a loan that is made under this section. 
‘‘(3) NO
AUTOMATIC
EXTENSION
OF
REPAY-
MENT
PERIOD.—A loan made under this section 
shall not result in the extension of the duration of 
the repayment period of the loan, and the borrower 
shall retain the same repayment term that was in ef-
fect on the original loan. Nothing in this paragraph 
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shall be construed to prevent a borrower from elect-
ing a different repayment plan at any time in ac-
cordance with section 455(d)(3). 
‘‘(4) SPECIAL RULE FOR REFINANCED PERKINS 
AND HEALTH LOANS.—Notwithstanding paragraph 
(1), in the case of a loan that is made under this 
section as a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan the 
proceeds of which are used to discharge a loan de-
scribed in subparagraph (B) or (C) of subsection 
(a)(1)— 
‘‘(A) the refinanced Federal Direct Con-
solidation Loan shall have the same terms and 
conditions as a Federal Direct Consolidation 
Loan, except as otherwise provided in this sec-
tion; and 
‘‘(B) the Secretary may adjust such terms 
and conditions as necessary to enable the bor-
rower to access loan forgiveness or other bene-
fits available to the borrower under the loan be-
fore refinancing under this section, in any case 
where such benefits are more generous than 
provided under a Federal Direct Consolidation 
Loan. 
‘‘(5) RULE
OF
CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 
this section shall be construed to prevent a borrower 
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of a Federal student loan described in subparagraph 
(B) or (C) of subsection (a)(1) from consolidating 
such loans with other loans eligible for consolidation 
under this section, or to require such a borrower to 
consolidate such loans with other Federal student 
loans into a single consolidation loan under this sec-
tion. 
‘‘(e) NOTIFICATION
TO
BORROWERS.—The Sec-
retary, in coordination with the Director of the Bureau 
of Consumer Financial Protection, shall undertake a cam-
paign to alert borrowers of covered non-part D loans that 
are eligible for refinancing under this section that the bor-
rowers are eligible to apply for such refinancing. The cam-
paign shall include the following activities: 
‘‘(1) Developing consumer information mate-
rials about the availability of Federal student loan 
refinancing. 
‘‘(2) Requiring servicers of loans under part B 
to provide such consumer information to borrowers 
in a manner determined appropriate by the Sec-
retary, in consultation with the Director of the Bu-
reau of Consumer Financial Protection.’’. 
(c) 
INCOME-CONTINGENT
REPAYMENT.—Section 
455(e) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
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1087e(e)) is amended by adding at the end the following 
new paragraph: 
‘‘(9) 
SPECIAL
RULE
FOR
REFINANCED 
LOANS.—For purposes of paragraph (7), the period 
of time during which a borrower of a loan that is re-
financed under section 460A has made monthly pay-
ments shall be calculated in the manner described in 
section 493C(f) for the applicable type of loan.’’. 
(d) INCOME-BASED REPAYMENT.—Section 493C of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1098e) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(f) SPECIAL RULE FOR REFINANCED LOANS.— 
‘‘(1) REFINANCED
FEDERAL
DIRECT, FFEL, 
AND PLUS LOANS.—In calculating the period of time 
during which a borrower of a loan (with the excep-
tion of a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan) that is 
refinanced under section 460A has made monthly 
payments for purposes of subsection (b)(7), the Sec-
retary shall deem the period to include all monthly 
payments made for the original loan, and all month-
ly payments made for the refinanced loan, that oth-
erwise meet the requirements of this section. 
‘‘(2) REFINANCED FEDERAL DIRECT CONSOLI-
DATION LOANS.—In calculating the period of time 
during which a borrower of a Federal Direct Con-
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solidation Loan that is refinanced under section 
460A has made monthly payments for the purposes 
of subsection (b)(7), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) review the borrower’s payment his-
tory to identify each component loan of such 
Federal Direct Consolidation Loan; 
‘‘(B) for each such component loan— 
‘‘(i) calculate the weighted factor of 
the component loan, which shall be the fac-
tor that represents the portion of such 
Federal Direct Consolidation Loan that is 
attributable to such component loan; and 
‘‘(ii) determine the number of quali-
fying monthly payments made on such 
component loan before consolidation; 
‘‘(C) calculate the number of qualifying 
monthly payments determined under subpara-
graph (B)(ii) with respect to a component loan 
that shall be deemed as qualifying monthly pay-
ments made on the Federal Direct Consolida-
tion Loan by multiplying— 
‘‘(i) the weighted factor of such com-
ponent loan as determined under subpara-
graph (B)(i); by 
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‘‘(ii) the number of qualifying monthly 
payments made on such component loan as 
determined under subparagraph (B)(ii); 
and 
‘‘(D) calculate and inform the borrower of 
the total number of qualifying monthly pay-
ments with respect to the component loans of 
the Federal Direct Consolidation Loan that 
shall be deemed as qualifying monthly payments 
made on the refinanced Federal Consolidation 
Loan, by— 
‘‘(i) adding together the result of each 
calculation made under subparagraph (C) 
with respect to each such component loan; 
and 
‘‘(ii) rounding the number determined 
under clause (i) to the nearest whole num-
ber. 
‘‘(3) COMPONENT
LOAN
DEFINED.—In this 
subsection, the term ‘component loan’, used with re-
spect to a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan, means 
a loan for which the liability was discharged by the 
proceeds of such Federal Direct Consolidation 
Loan.’’. 
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(e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—The Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.) is amended— 
(1) in section 428C(a)(3)(B)(i)(V) (20 U.S.C. 
1078–3(3)(B)(i)(V))— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of item 
(bb); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
item (cc) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(dd) for the purpose of ob-
taining a refinancing loan under 
section 460A.’’; and 
(2) in section 455 (20 U.S.C. 1087e)— 
(A) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘(b) IN-
TEREST RATE.—’’ and inserting the following: 
‘‘(b) INTEREST RATE.—Except as otherwise provided 
in sections 460A, the terms and conditions of interest for 
loans made under this part are as follows:’’. 
Æ 
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