difficulty in securing employment,’’ after 
‘‘Federal law,’’; 
(F) in clause (x), as so redesignated, by 
striking ‘‘consolidation loan under section 428C 
or a’’; 
(G) in clauses (xi) and (xii), as so redesig-
nated, by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; and 
(H) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(xiii) for each of the borrower’s loans made 
under part B, D, or E for which the borrower is re-
ceiving counseling under this subsection, the contact 
information for the loan servicer of the loan and a 
link to such servicer’s Website; and 
‘‘(xiv) an explanation that an individual has a 
right to annually request a disclosure of information 
collected by a consumer reporting agency pursuant to 
section 612(a) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 
U.S.C. 1681j(a)).’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)(B)— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘online or’’ before ‘‘in 
writing’’; and 
(B) by adding before the period at the end 
the following: ‘‘, except that in the case of an in-
stitution using the online counseling tool de-
scribed in subsection (n)(1)(A), the Secretary 
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shall attempt to provide such information to the 
student in the manner described in subsection 
(n)(3)(C)’’; and 
(3) in paragraph (2)(C), by inserting ‘‘, such as 
the online counseling tool described in subsection 
(n)(1)(A),’’ after ‘‘electronic means’’. 
SEC. 4. ONLINE COUNSELING TOOLS. 
Section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 
U.S.C. 1092) is further amended by adding at the end the 
following: 
‘‘(n) ONLINE COUNSELING TOOLS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Beginning not later than 1 
year after the date of enactment of the Empowering 
Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling 
Act, the Secretary shall maintain— 
‘‘(A) an online counseling tool that provides 
the exit counseling required under subsection (b) 
and meets the applicable requirements of this 
subsection; and 
‘‘(B) an online counseling tool that provides 
the annual counseling required under subsection 
(l) and meets the applicable requirements of this 
subsection. 
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‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS OF TOOLS.—In maintain-
ing the online counseling tools described in paragraph 
(1), the Secretary shall ensure that each such tool is— 
‘‘(A) consumer tested, in consultation with 
other relevant Federal agencies, to ensure that 
the tool is effective in helping individuals under-
stand their rights and obligations with respect to 
borrowing a loan made under part D or receiv-
ing a Federal Pell Grant; 
‘‘(B) understandable to students receiving 
Federal Pell Grants and borrowers of loans made 
under part D; and 
‘‘(C) freely available to all eligible institu-
tions. 
‘‘(3) RECORD
OF
COUNSELING
COMPLETION.— 
The Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) use each online counseling tool de-
scribed in paragraph (1) to keep a record of 
which individuals have received counseling using 
the tool, and notify the applicable institutions of 
the individual’s completion of such counseling; 
‘‘(B) in the case of a borrower who receives 
annual counseling for a loan made under part D 
using the tool described in paragraph (1)(B), no-
tify the borrower by when the borrower should 
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accept, in a manner described in subsection 
(l)(6), the loan for which the borrower has re-
ceived such counseling; and 
‘‘(C) in the case of a borrower described in 
subsection (b)(1)(B) at an institution that uses 
the online counseling tool described in paragraph 
(1)(A) of this subsection, the Secretary shall at-
tempt to provide the information described in 
subsection (b)(1)(A) to the borrower through such 
tool.’’. 
SEC. 5. LONGITUDINAL STUDY ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF 
STUDENT LOAN COUNSELING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education, acting 
through the Director of the Institute of Education Sciences, 
shall begin conducting a rigorous, longitudinal study of the 
impact and effectiveness of the student loan counseling— 
(1) provided under subsections (b), (l), and (n) 
of section 485 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1092), as amended by this Act; and 
(2) provided through such other means as the 
Secretary of Education may determine. 
(b) CONTENTS.— 
(1) BORROWER INFORMATION.—The longitudinal 
study carried out under subsection (a) shall include 
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borrower 
information, 
in 
the 
aggregate 
and 
disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, income, and 
status as an individual with a disability, on— 
(A) student persistence; 
(B) degree attainment; 
(C) program completion; 
(D) successful entry into student loan re-
payment; 
(E) cumulative borrowing levels; and 
(F) such other factors as the Secretary of 
Education may determine. 
(2) 
EXCEPTION.—The 
disaggregation 
under 
paragraph (1) shall not be required in a case in 
which the number of borrowers in a category is insuf-
ficient to yield statistically reliable information or 
the results would reveal personally identifiable infor-
mation about an individual borrower. 
(c) INTERIM REPORTS.—Not later than 18 months 
after the commencement of the study under subsection (a), 
and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Education shall 
evaluate the progress of the study and report any short-term 
findings to the appropriate committees of Congress. 
SEC. 6. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. 
(a) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—Of the amount author-
ized to be appropriated for maintaining the Department 
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of Education’s Financial Awareness Counseling Tool, 
$2,000,000 shall be available to carry out this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act. 
(b) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No funds 
are authorized to be appropriated by this Act to carry out 
this Act or the amendments made by this Act. 
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Union Calendar No. 523 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 3179 
[Report No. 114–675] 
A BILL 
To amend the loan counseling requirements under 
the Higher Education Act of 1965, and for other 
purposes. 
JULY 11, 2016 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, 
and ordered to be printed 
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