Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/22pdf/22-506_nmip.pdf
Page Number: 8

Cite as:  600 U. S. ____ (2023) 

3 

Opinion of the Court 

by  some  public  servants—including  teachers,  members  of 
the  Armed  Forces,  Peace  Corps  volunteers,  law  enforce-
ment  and  corrections  officers,  firefighters,  nurses,  and  li-
brarians—who  work  in  their  professions  for  a  minimum 
number of years.  §§1078–10, 1087j, 1087ee.  The Secretary
can  also  forgive  the  loans  of  borrowers  who  have  died  or 
been  “permanently  and  totally  disabled,”  such  that  they
cannot  “engage  in  any  substantial  gainful  activity.”
§1087(a)(1).  Bankrupt borrowers may have their loans for-
given.  §1087(b).  And the Secretary is directed to discharge 
loans  for  borrowers  falsely  certified  by  their  schools,  bor-
rowers  whose  schools  close  down,  and  borrowers  whose 
schools  fail  to  pay  loan  proceeds  they  owe  to  lenders. 
§1087(c).

Shortly  after  the  September  11  terrorist  attacks,  Con-
gress became concerned that borrowers affected by the cri-
sis—particularly those who served in the military—would
need  additional  assistance.    As  a  result,  it  enacted  the 
Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of
2001.  That law provided the Secretary of Education, for a
limited period of time, with “specific waiver authority to re-
spond to conditions in the national emergency” caused by
the September 11 attacks.  115 Stat. 2386.  Rather than al-
low this grant of authority to expire by its terms at the end
of September 2003, Congress passed the Higher Education 
Relief  Opportunities  for  Students  Act  of  2003  (HEROES
Act).  117 Stat. 904.  That Act extended the coverage of the
2001  statute  to  include  any  war  or  national  emergency—
not just the September 11 attacks.  By its terms, the Secre-
tary “may waive or modify any statutory or regulatory pro-
vision  applicable  to  the  student  financial  assistance  pro-
grams under title IV of the [Education Act] as the Secretary
deems necessary in connection with a war or other military 
20  U. S. C. 
operation 

or  national 

emergency.”