I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4490 
To provide higher education relief to individuals and institutions affected 
by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 8, 2005 
Mr. JINDAL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide higher education relief to individuals and institu-
tions affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. REFERENCES. 
References in this Act to ‘‘the Act’’ are references 
to the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 
et seq.). 
SEC. 2. WAIVERS AND MODIFICATIONS. 
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, unless 
enacted with specific reference to this section, the Sec-
retary is authorized to waive or modify any statutory or
regulatory provision applicable to the student financial as-
sistance programs under title IV of the Act, or any student 
or institutional eligibility provisions in the Act, as the Sec-
retary deems necessary in connection with a Gulf hurri-
cane disaster to ensure that— 
(1) the calculation of expected family contribu-
tion under section 474 of the Act used in the deter-
mination of need for student financial assistance 
under title IV of the Act for any affected student 
(and the determination of such need for his or her 
family, if applicable), is modified to reflect any 
changes in the financial condition of such affected 
student and his or her family resulting from a Gulf 
hurricane disaster; and 
(2) institutions of higher education, systems of 
institutions, or consortia of institutions that are lo-
cated in an area affected by a Gulf hurricane dis-
aster, or that are serving affected students, are eligi-
ble, notwithstanding section 486(d) of the Act, to 
apply for participation in the distance education 
demonstration program under section 486 of the 
Act, except that the Secretary shall include in re-
ports under section 486(f) of the Act an identifica-
tion of those institutions, systems, and consortia
that were granted participation in the demonstration 
program due to a Gulf hurricane disaster. 
SEC. 3. CANCELLATION OF INSTITUTIONAL REPAYMENT BY 
COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AFFECTED BY 
A GULF HURRICANE DISASTER. 
Notwithstanding any provision of title IV of the Act 
or any regulation issued thereunder, the Secretary shall 
cancel any obligation of an affected institution to return 
or repay any funds the institution received before the date 
of enactment of this Act for, or on behalf of, its students 
under subpart 1 or 3 of part A or parts B, C, D, or E 
of title IV of the Act for any cancelled enrollment period. 
SEC. 4. CANCELLATION OF STUDENT LOANS FOR CAN-
CELLED ENROLLMENT PERIODS. 
(a) LOAN FORGIVENESS AUTHORIZED.—Notwith-
standing any provision of title IV of the Act, the Secretary 
shall discharge all loan amounts under parts B and D of 
title IV of the Act, and cancel any loan made under part 
E of such title, disbursed to, or on behalf of, an affected 
student for a cancelled enrollment period. 
(b) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Secretary shall— 
(1) reimburse each affected institution for any 
amounts discharged under subsection (a) with re-
spect to a loan under part E of title IV of the Act 
in the same manner as is required by section 465(b)
of the Act with respect to a loan cancelled under sec-
tion 465(a) of the Act; and 
(2) reimburse lenders for the purpose of dis-
charging any loan amounts disbursed to, or on be-
half of, an affected student under part B of title IV 
of the Act for a cancelled enrollment period. 
(c) LIMITATION ON CONSOLIDATION LOANS.—A loan 
amount for a loan made under section 428C of the Act 
or a Federal Direct Consolidation Loan may be eligible 
for discharge under this section only to the extent that 
such loan amount was used to repay a loan to an affected 
student for a cancelled enrollment period. 
(d) CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to authorize any refunding of any repayment 
of a loan. 
SEC. 5. TEMPORARY DEFERMENT OF STUDENT LOAN RE-
PAYMENT. 
An affected individual who is a borrower of a quali-
fied student loan or a qualified parent loan shall be grant-
ed a deferment, not in excess of 6 months, during which 
periodic installments of principal need not be paid, and 
interest— 
(1) shall accrue and be paid by the Secretary, 
in the case of a loan made under section 428, 428B, 
428C, or 428H of the Act;
(2) shall accrue and be paid by the Secretary 
to the Perkins loan fund held by the institution of 
higher education that made the loan, in the case of 
a loan made under part E of title IV of the Act; and 
(3) shall not accrue, in the case of a Federal 
Direct Loan made under part D of such title. 
SEC. 6. NO AFFECT ON GRANT AND LOAN LIMITS. 
Notwithstanding any provision of title IV of the Act 
or any regulation issued thereunder, no grant or loan 
funds received by an affected student under title IV of 
the Act for a cancelled enrollment period shall be counted 
against such affected student’s annual or aggregate grant 
or loan limits for the receipt of grants or loans under that 
title. 
SEC. 7. TEACHER LOAN RELIEF. 
The Secretary may waive the requirement of sections 
428J(b)(1) and 460(b)(1)(A) of the Act that the 5 years 
of qualifying service be consecutive academic years for any 
teacher whose employment was interrupted if— 
(1) the teacher was employed in qualifying serv-
ice, at the time of a Gulf hurricane disaster, in a 
school located in an area affected by a Gulf hurri-
cane disaster; and 
(2) the teacher resumes qualifying service not 
later than the beginning of academic year 2006–
2007 in that school or any other school in which em-
ployment is qualifying service under such section. 
SEC. 8. EXPANDING INFORMATION DISSEMINATION RE-
GARDING ELIGIBILITY FOR PELL GRANTS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall make special 
efforts, in conjunction with State efforts, to notify affected 
students and if applicable, their parents, who qualify for 
means-tested Federal benefit programs, of their potential 
eligibility for a maximum Pell Grant, and shall dissemi-
nate such informational materials as the Secretary deems 
appropriate. 
(b) 
MEANS-TESTED
FEDERAL
BENEFIT
PRO-
GRAM.—For the purpose of this section, the term ‘‘means- 
tested Federal benefit program’’ means a mandatory 
spending program of the Federal Government, other than 
a program under the Act, in which eligibility for the pro-
gram’s benefits, or the amount of such benefits, or both, 
are determined on the basis of income or resources of the 
individual or family seeking the benefit, and may include 
such programs as the supplemental security income pro-
gram under title XVI of the Social Security Act, the food 
stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, the 
free and reduced price school lunch program established 
under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 
the temporary assistance to needy families program estab-