I 
116TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 7872 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize institutions of 
higher education to limit the amount of a Federal loan that an enrolled 
student may borrow. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 30, 2020 
Mr. GROTHMAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to authorize 
institutions of higher education to limit the amount of 
a Federal loan that an enrolled student may borrow. 
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 ‘‘Responsible Borrowing 
Act of 2020’’. 
SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINED LIMITS. 
Section 455(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 
(20 U.S.C. 1087e(a)) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new paragraph: 
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‘‘(4) INSTITUTIONAL DETERMINED LIMITS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any 
other provision of this Act, an institution of 
higher education (at the discretion of a finan-
cial aid administrator at the institution) may 
prorate or limit the amount of a loan any stu-
dent enrolled in a program of study at that in-
stitution may borrow under this part for an 
academic year— 
‘‘(i) if the institution can reasonably 
demonstrate that student debt levels are or 
would be excessive for such program by 
using the most recently available data for 
the average starting salary in the region in 
which the institution is located for typical 
occupations pursued by graduates of such 
program from the Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, the applicable State agency, or the in-
stitution; 
‘‘(ii) in a case in which the student is 
enrolled on a less than full-time basis or 
the student is enrolled for less than the pe-
riod of enrollment to which the annual loan 
limit applies under this part, based on the 
student’s enrollment status; 
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‘‘(iii) based on the credential level 
(such as a degree, certificate, or other rec-
ognized educational credential) that the 
student would attain upon completion of 
such program; or 
‘‘(iv) based on the year of the pro-
gram for which the student is seeking such 
loan. 
‘‘(B) INCREASES
FOR
INDIVIDUAL
STU-
DENTS.—Upon the request of a student whose 
loan amount for an academic year has been 
prorated or limited under subparagraph (A), an 
eligible institution (at the discretion of the fi-
nancial aid administrator at the institution) 
may increase such loan amount to an amount 
not exceeding the annual loan amount applica-
ble to such student under this part for such 
academic year if such student demonstrates 
special circumstances or exceptional need. 
‘‘(C) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing 
in this paragraph shall be construed to author-
ize a proration or limiting of loan amounts by 
an institution of higher education because of a 
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student’s race, color, religion, sex, marital sta-
tus, age, disability, or national origin.’’. 
Æ 
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