Title: PSLF Technical Corrections Act
Policy area: Education

Summary:
PSLF Technical Corrections Act
This bill amends the the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF) under the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program. Under current law, the PSLF program forgives the the balance of a borrower's student debt after the borrower makes 120 qualifying loan payments under specified repayment plans while while employed in a public service job. This bill expands the program to include comparable payments under additional repayment plans as payments that qualify borrowers for loan forgiveness under PSLF.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2136 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 2136

To expand the monthly payments that may be eligible for public service 
                           loan forgiveness.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 16, 2017

  Mr. Whitehouse (for himself and Mr. Kaine) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To expand the monthly payments that may be eligible for public service 
                           loan forgiveness.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``PSLF Technical Corrections Act''.

SEC. 2. AMENDMENT TO THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT OF 1965.

    Section 455(m) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1087e(m)) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating paragraphs (2) through (4) as 
        paragraphs (3) through (5), respectively;
            (2) in paragraph (1)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A), by 
                striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``paragraph 
                (3)''; and
                    (B) in subparagraph (A)--
                            (i) in clause (ii), by inserting ``or'' 
                        after the semicolon;
                            (ii) by striking clause (iii); and
                            (iii) by redesignating clause (iv) as 
                        clause (iii);
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following:
            ``(2) Comparable payments.--
                    ``(A) In general.--In addition to canceling the 
                balance of interest and principal due for a borrower 
                described in paragraph (1), the Secretary shall also 
                cancel the balance of interest and principal due, in 
                accordance with paragraph (3), on any eligible Federal 
                Direct Loan not in default for a borrower who--
                            ``(i) is in a repayment plan based on 
                        income under subsection (e) or section 493C at 
                        the time that borrower applies for loan 
                        forgiveness under this subsection;
                            ``(ii) has made 120--
                                    ``(I) qualifying monthly payments, 
                                as defined in subparagraph (B)(i), on 
                                the eligible Federal Direct Loan after 
                                October 1, 2007;
                                    ``(II) qualifying monthly payments, 
                                as defined in subparagraph (B)(ii), on 
                                the eligible Federal Direct Loan after 
                                October 1, 2007; or
                                    ``(III) total monthly payments that 
                                qualify for loan forgiveness under this 
                                subsection, which may include any 
                                combination of payments that otherwise 
                                qualify under paragraph (1), qualifying 
                                monthly payments described in subclause 
                                (I), or qualifying monthly payments 
                                described in subclause (II);
                            ``(iii) is employed in a public service job 
                        at the time of such forgiveness; and
                            ``(iv) has been employed in a public 
                        service job during the period in which the 
                        borrower makes each of the 120 payments 
                        described in clause (ii).
                    ``(B) Qualifying monthly payment.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `qualifying monthly payment' 
                means--
                            ``(i)(I) an initial monthly payment that 
                        was--
                                            ``(aa) made under any 
                                        repayment plan that is not 
                                        described in clause (i), (ii), 
                                        or (iii) of paragraph (1)(A); 
                                        and
                                            ``(bb) of an amount that is 
                                        not less than--

                                                    ``(AA) the monthly 
                                                amount that the 
                                                borrower is required to 
                                                pay in the repayment 
                                                plan based on income 
                                                described in 
                                                subparagraph (A)(i); or

                                                    ``(BB) the monthly 
                                                amount that the 
                                                borrower would have 
                                                been required to pay if 
                                                the borrower had 
                                                entered a repayment 
                                                plan based on income 
                                                under subsection (e) or 
                                                section 493C at the 
                                                time the borrower 
                                                entered the repayment 
                                                plan described in item 
                                                (aa); and

                            ``(II) every subsequent monthly payment 
                        that the borrower made after the initial 
                        payment described in subclause (I) and before 
                        the borrower entered the repayment plan based 
                        on income described in subparagraph (A)(i); or
                            ``(ii) a monthly payment certified through 
                        the extended review process described in 
                        subparagraph (C).
                    ``(C) Qualifying monthly payment through extended 
                review.--
                            ``(i) In general.--A borrower who has not 
                        made 120 qualifying monthly payments, as 
                        defined in subparagraph (B)(i), may request 
                        that the Secretary complete an extended review 
                        of the borrower's repayment history.
                            ``(ii) Extended review.--If the Secretary 
                        receives a request for an extended review 
                        described in clause (i), the Secretary shall--
                                    ``(I) for each month of past 
                                payments made under a plan that is not 
                                described in clause (i), (ii), or (iii) 
                                of paragraph (1)(A) after October 1, 
                                2007, determine the amount that the 
                                borrower would have been required to 
                                pay in that month (based on the 
                                borrower's income in that year or 
                                month) if the borrower had been on the 
                                repayment plan based on income 
                                described in subparagraph (A)(i) in 
                                that month; and
                                    ``(II) certify as a qualifying 
                                monthly payment, any month for which 
                                the payment the borrower actually made 
                                in that month was not less than the 
                                amount of the payment calculated under 
                                subclause (I) for that month.''; and
            (4) in paragraph (3), as redesignated by paragraph (1), by 
        inserting ``or paragraph (2), as the case may be'' after 
        ``paragraph (1)''.
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