I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5801 
To provide interest-free deferment on unsubsidized student loans made to 
recent college students during periods when the national unemployment 
rate is above 7 percent and other periods of deferment. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2012 
Ms. RICHARDSON (for herself, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CLARKE of Michigan, and 
Mr. KUCINICH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide interest-free deferment on unsubsidized student 
loans made to recent college students during periods 
when the national unemployment rate is above 7 percent 
and other periods of deferment. 
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 ‘‘Unshackling Students 
to Lead, Excel, Act, Develop, and Serve Act of 2012’’ or 
the ‘‘U.S. LEADS Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) Outstanding student loan debt will reach 
one trillion dollars this year. 
(2) In 2008, two-thirds of students graduating 
with a bachelor’s degree had outstanding student 
loan debt. 
(3) In 2010, the average debt owed by college 
graduates paying off student loans was $24,000. 
(4) Of all students who graduated with a 4-year 
degree in 2009, only 55.6 percent are working in 
jobs that require a college degree. 
(5) Of all students who graduated with a 4-year 
degree in 2009, 22.4 percent are not working. 
(6) The median student loan debt for students 
who graduated from college between 2006 and 2010 
is $20,000. 
(7) Average in-State tuition and fees at public 
4-year institutions of higher education have risen 8.3 
percent between the 2010–2011 and 2011–2012 
academic years. 
SEC. 3. INTEREST-FREE DEFERMENT DURING PERIODS 
WHEN THE NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 
EXCEEDS 7 PERCENT. 
(a) FFEL SUBSIDIZED LOAN DEFERMENT.—Section 
428(b)(1)(M) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1078(b)(1)(M)) is amended— 
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(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iii); 
(2) by adding ‘‘or’’ at the end of clause (iv); 
and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
clause: 
‘‘(v) in a case of a borrower who is be-
tween the ages of 21 and 25, inclusive, and 
a recent college student, as defined in sec-
tion 455(f)(5), with respect to loans made 
under this section to such borrower for a 
period of enrollment during which the bor-
rower was pursuing a degree described in 
subparagraph 
(A) 
of 
such 
section 
455(f)(5)— 
‘‘(I) beginning as soon as prac-
ticable after the last day of the second 
consecutive month for which the Bu-
reau of Labor Statistics of the De-
partment of Labor (in this paragraph 
referred to as the ‘Bureau’) publishes 
a national unemployment rate that ex-
ceeds 7 percent, and ending as soon 
as practicable after the Bureau pub-
lishes a national unemployment rate 
that is 7 percent or lower, except that 
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such period shall not exceed 5 years; 
or 
‘‘(II) beginning as soon as prac-
ticable after the last day of the second 
consecutive month for which the Bu-
reau publishes a national unemploy-
ment rate for individuals ages 21 
through 25 years old that exceeds 9 
percent, and ending as soon as prac-
ticable after the Bureau publishes a 
national unemployment rate for such 
individuals that is 9 percent or lower, 
except that such period shall not ex-
ceed 5 years.’’. 
(b) TREATMENT OF CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—Sec-
tion 428C(b)(4)(C)(ii) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078–3(b)(4)(C)(ii)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subclause 
(II); 
(2) by redesignating subclause (III) as sub-
clause (IV); 
(3) by inserting after subclause (II) the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(III) in the case of a borrower 
who is between the ages of 21 and 25, 
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inclusive, and a recent college student, 
as defined in section 455(f)(5), by the 
Secretary, in the case of a consolida-
tion loan made to the borrower for a 
period of enrollment during which the 
borrower was pursuing a degree de-
scribed in subparagraph (A) of such 
section 455(f)(5) and for which the 
application is received on or after the 
date of enactment of the U.S. Leads 
Act, except that in the case of a defer-
ral under clause (ii) of section 
428(b)(1)(M), the Secretary shall pay 
such interest only for a period not in 
excess of 3 years for which a borrower 
would be eligible for such a deferral 
and, in the case of a deferral under 
clause (v) of such section, for a period 
not in excess of 5 years for which the 
borrower would be eligible for such a 
deferral; or’’; and 
(4) in subclause (IV) (as so redesignated by 
this subsection), by striking ‘‘(I) or (II)’’ and insert-
ing ‘‘(I), (II), or (III)’’. 
(c) FFEL UNSUBSIDIZED LOAN DEFERMENT.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Section 428H(e)(2) of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078– 
8(e)(2)) is amended— 
(A) in subparagraph (A), by inserting ‘‘Ex-
cept as provided in subparagraph (C)’’ before 
‘‘Interest on’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(C) In the case of a borrower who is be-
tween the ages of 21 and 25, inclusive, and a 
recent college student, as defined in section 
455(f)(5), interest on loans made under this 
section to the borrower for a period of enroll-
ment during which the borrower was pursuing 
a degree described in subparagraph (A) of such 
section 455(f)(5) and for which payments are 
deferred— 
‘‘(i) under clause (i), (iii), or (iv) of 
section 428(b)(1)(M), for a period of 
deferment granted to such borrower on or 
after the date of enactment of the U.S. 
Leads Act, shall accrue and be paid by the 
Secretary during any period during which 
the loans are so deferred; 
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‘‘(ii) under clause (ii) of section 
428(b)(1)(M), for a period of deferment 
granted to such borrower on or after the 
date of enactment of the U.S. Leads Act, 
shall accrue and be paid by the Secretary 
during any period during which the loans 
are so deferred, not in excess of 3 years; 
and 
‘‘(iii) under clause (v) of section 
428(b)(1)(M), for a period of deferment 
granted to such borrower on or after the 
date of enactment of the U.S. Leads Act, 
shall accrue and be paid by the Secretary 
during any period during which the loans 
are so deferred, not in excess of 5 years.’’. 
(2) 
CONFORMING
AMENDMENT.—Section 
428(b)(1)(Y)(iii) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078(b)(1)(Y)(iii)) is amended by 
inserting ‘‘(other than a deferment under such sub-
paragraph granted to a borrower described in sec-
tion 428H(e)(2)(C) on or after the date of enact-
ment of the U.S. Leads Act)’’ after ‘‘of this para-
graph’’. 
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(d) DIRECT LOAN DEFERMENT.—Section 455(f) of 
the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(f)) 
is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (A)— 
(i) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of 
clause (i); and 
(ii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) Federal Direct Unsubsidized 
Stafford Loan or Federal Direct Consoli-
dation Loan made to a borrower for a pe-
riod of enrollment during which the bor-
rower was pursuing a degree described in 
paragraph (5)(A) and the borrower is be-
tween the ages of 21 and 25, inclusive, and 
a recent college student, as defined in 
paragraph (5); or’’; and 
(B) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) by inserting ‘‘not described in sub-
paragraph (A)(iii)’’ after ‘‘Unsubsidized 
Stafford Loan’’; and 
(ii) by striking ‘‘subparagraph (A)(ii)’’ 
and inserting ‘‘clause (ii) or (iii) of sub-
paragraph (A)’’; 
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(2) in paragraph (2)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end of subpara-
graph (C); 
(B) by striking the period at the end of 
subparagraph (D) and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(E) in a case of a borrower who is be-
tween the ages of 21 and 25, inclusive, and a 
recent college student, as defined in paragraph 
(5), with respect to loans made under this part 
to such borrower for a period of enrollment dur-
ing which the borrower was pursuing a degree 
described in subparagraph (A) of such para-
graph (5)— 
‘‘(i) beginning as soon as practicable 
after the last day of the second consecutive 
month for which the Bureau of Labor Sta-
tistics of the Department of Labor (in this 
paragraph referred to as the ‘Bureau’) 
publishes a national unemployment rate 
that exceeds 7 percent, and ending as soon 
as practicable after the Bureau publishes a 
national unemployment rate that is 7 per-
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cent or lower, except that such period shall 
not exceed 5 years; or 
‘‘(ii) beginning as soon as practicable 
after the last day of the second consecutive 
month for which the Bureau publishes a 
national unemployment rate for individuals 
ages 21 through 25 years old that exceeds 
9 percent, and ending as soon as prac-
ticable after the Bureau publishes a na-
tional unemployment rate for such individ-
uals that is 9 percent or lower, except that 
such period shall not exceed 5 years.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(5) DEFINITION OF RECENT COLLEGE STU-
DENT.—For the purpose of this subsection, the term 
‘recent college student’ means a borrower who— 
‘‘(A) who has received a baccalaureate de-
gree from an institution of higher education 
within 48 months prior to the date of enact-
ment of the U.S. Leads Act; and 
‘‘(B) who has not previously received any 
such baccalaureate degree.’’. 
Æ 
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