I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4123
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish student loan
forgiveness programs for adult education instructors.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 9, 2002
Ms. WATERS introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish
student loan forgiveness programs for adult education
instructors.
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 ‘‘Adult Education In-
structor Recruitment and Retention Act of 2002’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Adult literacy and remedial education teach-
ers provide adults and out-of-school youths basic
skills that equip them to solve problems and become
active participants in our society, to hold a job, and
to further their education.
(2) Students in adult literacy and remedial edu-
cation classes are made up of those who dropped out
of school or have passed through the school system
without an adequate education. It also includes stu-
dents who want to take the General Educational De-
velopment examination and, increasingly, immi-
grants whose native language is not English.
(3) In the year 1998, there were over 4,000,000
students enrolled in adult education programs
throughout the United States.
(4) Nearly one-fourth of the 4,000,000 students
enrolled were unemployed. Another 24 percent were
working poor. Welfare recipients comprised almost
10 percent of all students in 1998.
(5) That same year, there were 177,943 adult
education instructors. Nearly 23,000 of those were
working full-time, with another 69,129 working
part-time. The remaining 85,924 teachers were vol-
unteers.
(6) Adult education has been shown to assist
persons in achieving job skills and gain or advance
in employment. For example, in 1998, over 150,000
adult education students went on to do other train-
ing; nearly 300,000 students retained, advanced, or
gained employment.
(7) As employers increasingly require a more
literate workforce, workers’ demand will grow for all
types of literacy and remedial classes.
(8) A softening economy may require more stu-
dents to obtain additional education to get a job.
(9) Adult education instructors often feel they
are not as respected by education departments as
their general education peers. Funding is generally
inadequate, and resources are often old or non-
existent. Funding level changes can cause the num-
ber of teaching jobs to fluctuate from year to year.
(10) Median hourly earnings of adult literacy
and remedial education teachers and high school
equivalency instructors were $16.12 in 2000. Yet,
many adult education teachers have high student
loans that they need to repay.
SEC. 3. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR ADULT EDUCATION IN-
STRUCTORS.
(a) GUARANTEED STUDENT LOANS.—Part B of title
IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 is amended by
inserting after section 428K (20 U.S.C. 1078–11) the fol-
lowing new section:
1113(c)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6313(c)(1)).
‘‘(4) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—An adult edu-
cation facility is serving a low-income community if
at least 70 percent of the students enrolled at the
facility are from low-income families.
‘‘(5) FULL-TIME.—The term ‘full-time’ means
employment that includes at least 30 hours per week
of adult education teaching.
‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall
carry out a program, through the holder of the loan, of
assuming the obligation to repay a qualified loan amount
for a loan made under section 428 or 428H, in accordance
with subsection (d) of this section, for any borrower who—
‘‘(1) has been employed as a full-time teacher
for 3 consecutive years in an adult education facility
that serves a low-income community; and
‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the
borrower seeks forgiveness.
‘‘(d) LOAN REPAYMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall assume
the obligation to repay a qualified loan amount for
each year of employment described in subsection
(c)(1) completed after the date of enactment of this
section, but counting consecutive years before or
after such date for purposes of determining the
number of consecutive years. Such qualified loan
amount shall be equal to—
‘‘(A) $500 for the third consecutive year of
employment;
‘‘(B) $1,000 for the fourth consecutive
year of such employment;
‘‘(C) $1,500 for the fifth consecutive year
of such employment; and
‘‘(D) $2,000 for the sixth consecutive year
of such employment.
‘‘(2) NO
REFUNDS.—Nothing in this section
shall be construed to authorize the refunding of any
repayment of a loan made under this part.
‘‘(3) INTEREST.—If a portion of a loan is re-
paid by the Secretary under this section for any
year, the proportionate amount of interest on such
loan which accrues for such year shall be repaid by
the Secretary.
‘‘(4) INELIGIBILITY
OF
NATIONAL
SERVICE
AWARD RECIPIENTS.—No student borrower may, for
the same service, receive a benefit under both this
section and subtitle D of title I of the National and
Community Service Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12601
et seq.).
‘‘(e) REPAYMENT TO ELIGIBLE LENDERS.—The Sec-
retary shall pay to each eligible lender or holder for each
fiscal year an amount equal to the aggregate amount of
loans which are subject to repayment pursuant to this sec-
tion for such year.
‘‘(f) APPLICATION FOR REPAYMENT.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Each eligible individual de-
siring loan repayment under this section shall sub-
mit a complete and accurate application to the Sec-
retary at such time, in such manner, and containing
such information as the Secretary may require.
‘‘(2) CONDITIONS.—An eligible individual may
apply for loan repayment under this section after
completing each year of qualifying employment. The
borrower shall receive forbearance while engaged in
qualifying employment unless the borrower is in
deferment while so engaged.
‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary is authorized to
prescribe such regulations as may be necessary to carry
out the provisions of this section.
‘‘(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section
$50,000,000 for fiscal year 2003, and such sums as may
be necessary for succeeding fiscal years.’’.
(b) DIRECT LOANS.—Part D of title IV of the Higher
Education Act of 1965 is amended by inserting after sec-
tion 460 (20 U.S.C. 1087j) the following new section:
‘‘SEC. 460A. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR ADULT EDUCATION
INSTRUCTORS.
‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this section—
‘‘(1) to bring more highly trained individuals
into the adult education profession; and
‘‘(2) to keep more highly trained adult edu-
cation instructors in the adult education field for
longer periods of time.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
‘‘(1) ADULT EDUCATION FACILITY.—The term
‘adult education facility’ means a facility that pro-
vides any of the following types of educational in-
struction for individuals 16 years old and older:
‘‘(A) Education for adults with limited
English proficiency.
‘‘(B) Adult secondary education.
‘‘(C) Literacy education for older adults.
‘‘(D) Adult basic education programs for
adults with disabilities.
‘‘(2) YEAR.—The term ‘year’, when applied to
service as an adult education instructor means any
period of 365 consecutive days.
‘‘(3) LOW-INCOME FAMILY.—The term ‘low-in-
come family’ means a low-income family, as deter-
mined by the local educational agency for purposes
of allocating funds to schools under section
1113(c)(1) of the Elementary and Secondary Edu-
cation Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6313(c)(1)).
‘‘(4) LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY.—An adult edu-
cation facility is serving a low-income community if
at least 70 percent of the students enrolled at the
facility are from low-income families.
‘‘(5) FULL-TIME.—The term ‘full-time’ means
employment that includes at least 30 hours per week
of adult education teaching.
‘‘(c) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary shall
carry out a program of cancelling the obligation to repay
a qualified loan amount for Federal Direct Stafford Loans
and Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans in ac-
cordance with subsection (d) of this section, for any bor-
rower who—
‘‘(1) has been employed as a full-time teacher
for 3 consecutive years in an adult education facility
that serves a low-income community; and
‘‘(2) is not in default on a loan for which the
borrower seeks forgiveness.
‘‘(d) LOAN REPAYMENT.—