H. R. 1911 
One Hundred Thirteenth Congress 
of the 
United States of America 
AT THE FIRST SESSION 
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 
the third day of January, two thousand and thirteen 
An Act 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates for new 
loans made on or after July 1, 2013, to direct the Secretary of Education to 
convene the Advisory Committee on Improving Postsecondary Education Data 
to conduct a study on improvements to postsecondary education transparency 
at the Federal level, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Bipartisan Student Loan Cer-
tainty Act of 2013’’. 
SEC. 2. INTEREST RATES. 
(a) INTEREST RATES.—Section 455(b) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087e(b)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (7)— 
(A) in the paragraph heading, by inserting ‘‘AND 
BEFORE JULY 1, 2013’’ after ‘‘ON OR AFTER JULY 1, 2006’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘and before July 
1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 2006,’’; 
(C) in subparagraph (B), by inserting ‘‘and before July 
1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 2006,’’; and 
(D) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘and before July 
1, 2013,’’ after ‘‘on or after July 1, 2006,’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraphs (8) and (9) as paragraphs 
(9) and (10), respectively; and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (7) the following: 
‘‘(8) INTEREST
RATE
PROVISIONS
FOR
NEW
LOANS
ON
OR 
AFTER JULY 1, 2013.— 
‘‘(A) RATES FOR UNDERGRADUATE FDSL AND FDUSL.— 
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this sub-
section, for Federal Direct Stafford Loans and Federal 
Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans issued to under-
graduate students, for which the first disbursement is made 
on or after July 1, 2013, the applicable rate of interest 
shall, for loans disbursed during any 12-month period 
beginning on July 1 and ending on June 30, be determined 
on the preceding June 1 and be equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year 
Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior 
to such June 1 plus 2.05 percent; or 
‘‘(ii) 8.25 percent.
H. R. 1911—2 
‘‘(B) RATES FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL FDUSL.— 
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraphs of this sub-
section, for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans 
issued to graduate or professional students, for which the 
first disbursement is made on or after July 1, 2013, the 
applicable rate of interest shall, for loans disbursed during 
any 12-month period beginning on July 1 and ending on 
June 30, be determined on the preceding June 1 and be 
equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year 
Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior 
to such June 1 plus 3.6 percent; or 
‘‘(ii) 9.5 percent. 
‘‘(C) PLUS LOANS.—Notwithstanding the preceding 
paragraphs of this subsection, for Federal Direct PLUS 
Loans, for which the first disbursement is made on or 
after July 1, 2013, the applicable rate of interest shall, 
for loans disbursed during any 12-month period beginning 
on July 1 and ending on June 30, be determined on the 
preceding June 1 and be equal to the lesser of— 
‘‘(i) a rate equal to the high yield of the 10-year 
Treasury note auctioned at the final auction held prior 
to such June 1 plus 4.6 percent; or 
‘‘(ii) 10.5 percent. 
‘‘(D) CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—Notwithstanding the pre-
ceding paragraphs of this subsection, any Federal Direct 
Consolidation Loan for which the application is received 
on or after July 1, 2013, shall bear interest at an annual 
rate on the unpaid principal balance of the loan that is 
equal to the weighted average of the interest rates on 
the loans consolidated, rounded to the nearest higher one- 
eighth of one percent. 
‘‘(E) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall determine 
the applicable rate of interest under this paragraph after 
consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and shall 
publish such rate in the Federal Register as soon as prac-
ticable after the date of determination. 
‘‘(F) RATE.—The applicable rate of interest determined 
under this paragraph for a Federal Direct Stafford Loan, 
a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan, or a Federal 
Direct PLUS Loan shall be fixed for the period of the 
loan.’’. 
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by subsection 
(a) shall take effect as if enacted on July 1, 2013. 
SEC. 3. BUDGETARY EFFECTS. 
(a) PAYGO SCORECARD.—The budgetary effects of this Act shall 
not be entered on either PAYGO scorecard maintained pursuant 
to section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay- As-You-Go Act of 2010. 
(b) SENATE PAYGO SCORECARD.—The budgetary effects of this 
Act shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard maintained 
for purposes of section 201 of S. Con. Res. 21 (110th Congress). 
SEC. 4. STUDY ON THE ACTUAL COST OF ADMINISTERING THE FED-
ERAL STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS. 
Not later than 120 days after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall—
H. R. 1911—3 
(1) complete a study that determines the actual cost to 
the Federal Government of carrying out the Federal student 
loan programs authorized under title IV of the Higher Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.), which shall— 
(A) provide estimates relying on accurate information 
based on past, current, and projected data as to the appro-
priate index and mark-up rate for the Federal Govern-
ment’s cost of borrowing that would allow the Federal 
Government to effectively administer and cover the cost 
of the Federal student programs authorized under title 
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 
et seq.) under the scoring rules outlined in the Federal 
Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.); 
(B) provide the information described in this section 
in a way that separates out administrative costs, interest 
rate, and other loan terms and conditions; and 
(C) set forth clear recommendations to the relevant 
authorizing committees of Congress as to how future legis-
lation can incorporate the results of the study described 
in this section to allow for the administration of the Federal 
student loan programs authorized under title IV of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et seq.) 
without generating any additional revenue to the Federal 
Government except revenue that is needed to carry out 
such programs; and 
(2) prepare and submit a report to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House 
of Representatives setting forth the conclusions of the study 
described in this section in such a manner that the rec-
ommendations included in the report can inform future 
reauthorizations of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1001 et seq.). 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.