I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8944 
To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a personal finance education 
portal on a centralized website of the Department of Education per-
taining to Federal financial aid. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 8, 2024 
Ms. LEGER FERNANDEZ introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To direct the Secretary of Education to establish a personal 
finance education portal on a centralized website of the 
Department of Education pertaining to Federal financial 
aid. 
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 ‘‘Financial Fitness 
Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Nearly 45,300,000 people owe an average of 
$37,338 in Federal student loans, and student loan 
debt 
in 
the 
United 
States 
totals 
$1,765,000,000,000. The average student loan debt 
has tripled since 2007. 
(2) Student debt has significant racial equity 
implications. Approximately half of Black college 
students are using Federal student loans to cover 
educational costs, and Black college graduates are 
still substantially more likely than white college 
graduates to default on their debt within 4 years of 
graduation. In addition, the default rate for Black 
borrowers is substantially higher than white bor-
rowers (17 percent versus 9 percent). Students who 
are veterans, parents, first-generation college stu-
dents, or low income are also likely to face higher 
risk of default. 
(3) As of 2022, 18 percent of Hispanic and 
Latino college graduates who had taken out loans 
for tuition and school expenses were behind on their 
payments, in contrast with 9 percent of White stu-
dent borrowers. Hispanic and Latino borrowers also 
were the most likely to delay getting married and 
having children due to student loan debt. 
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(4) Native American financial status remains 
among the lowest of all minority populations in the 
Nation. Native people are the least likely of all popu-
lation groups, including other minorities, to plan for 
retirement, have an emergency fund, or have a 
checking account. 
(5) Among college graduates with any out-
standing debt for their education, first-generation 
college graduates tend to owe more. 
(6) Student debt among older adults has stead-
ily increased, with many individuals taking on debt 
to finance higher education for their children and 
grandchildren. 
(7) Despite the fact that many students and 
families must make substantial and highly con-
sequential decisions about student loan borrowing 
and face growing college affordability challenges, 
only 17 States make personal finance a required 
part of basic education. 
(8) Of non-retired American adults, 42 percent 
age 18–29 have no retirement savings; 26 percent of 
those age 30–44; 17 percent of those age 45–59; 
and 13 percent of those over age 60. 
(9) People with self-directed retirement savings 
(nearly 7 in 10 non-retired adults) must make deci-
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sions about how the money is invested. Six in 10 
non-retirees with these self-directed accounts express 
low levels of comfort in making investment decisions 
with their retirement savings. 
(10) The COVID–19 pandemic exacerbated the 
need to provide families with better tools to weather 
financial challenges, with a rapid spike in unemploy-
ment occurring in mid-2020, along with significant 
shifts to individuals’ housing and transportation 
needs. 
(11) Nearly 1 in 10 student loan borrowers end 
up in default, and even more struggle to repay their 
loans, indicating an important need to ensure bor-
rowers can access information to help them navigate 
repayment and succeed financially. 
SEC. 3. PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION PORTAL. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years after the 
date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education, 
in consultation with the Director of the Bureau of Con-
sumer Financial Protection, the Secretary of the Treasury 
as chair of the Financial Literacy and Education Commis-
sion, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shall es-
tablish a personal finance education portal on a central-
ized and publicly available website of the Department of 
Education pertaining to Federal financial aid for the vol-
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untary use by recipients of aid awarded under title IV of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070 et 
seq.). 
(b) CONTENT OF PERSONAL FINANCE EDUCATION 
PORTAL.—The personal finance education portal estab-
lished under subsection (a) shall include information on 
personal finance concepts, including the following: 
(1) Core personal finance concepts, such as 
earning, saving, investing, spending, and borrowing, 
including— 
(A) the concept of compound growth as it 
applies to savings and retirement savings, with 
information about the different types of retire-
ment savings accounts; and 
(B) budgeting and credit usage. 
(2) Managing student loan repayment, includ-
ing— 
(A) the interaction between savings and re-
tirement decisions and Federal student loan re-
payment plans; 
(B) Federal student loan discharge or for-
giveness options; 
(C) the types of voluntary benefits employ-
ers may use to help workers while they are pay-
ing down student loan debt; 
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(D) tax credits or deductions that are rel-
evant to student loan borrowers in repayment; 
(E) how to interpret loan terms and condi-
tions; 
(F) how to distinguish between Federal 
student loans and private student loans and 
their benefits; and 
(G) any other Federal policies that signifi-
cantly impact student loan borrowers in repay-
ment, as determined by the Secretary of Edu-
cation. 
(3) Any other personal finance concepts deter-
mined relevant by the Secretary of Education, in 
consultation with the Director of the Bureau of Con-
sumer Financial Protection, the Secretary of the 
Treasury as chair of the Financial Literacy and 
Education Commission, and the Commissioner of In-
ternal Revenue. 
(c) PROVISION OF CONTENT.—The personal finance 
content included under subsection (b) may be provided in 
an interactive format through text or video. 
(d) ANALYTICS.—The Secretary of Education, in con-
sultation with the Director of the Bureau of Consumer 
Financial Protection, the Secretary of the Treasury as 
chair of the Financial Literacy and Education Commis-
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sion, and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, shall re-
view not less than once every three years the utilization 
of the portal established under subsection (a) and make 
such findings publicly available. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act 
$5,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 
2027. 
Æ 
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