Student Borrower Bill of Rights Act of 2007
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Student Borrower Bill of Rights Act of 2007 - Urges the Department of Education to enforce vigorously rules requiring lenders to complete lender verification certificates in a timely manner for borrowers seeking to consolidate loans.
Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require specified loan participants under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and Federal Perkins Loan programs to disclose to each national credit bureau organization any on-time payments made for such loans and their status as student loans.
Requires FFEL consolidation loan borrowers or lenders to pay the Department 1% of the balance owed on the sum of such loans to obtain a subsequent FFEL consolidation loan. Allows borrowers to refinance Federal Direct Consolidation Loans.
Creates a student borrower bill of rights.
Requires the Secretary to limit a federal student loan borrower's monthly payments on the basis of the borrower's income.
Revises the requirement that the Secretary discharge the liability of a permanently and totally disabled borrower by repaying the amount owed on the loan. Requires such a discharge even if a borrower, although not permanently and totally disabled, is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a medically determinable impairment which can be expected to result in death or last at least 60 continuous months.
Amends federal bankruptcy law to allow discharge of certain educational benefit overpayments, repayments, and student loan debt.
Directs the Secretary to study the interest rates and fees charged to private student loan borrowers. Limits the collection fee on defaulted federal student loans and the total interest and fees that can be imposed on such loan borrowers.
Requires institutions of higher education (IHEs) that enroll students receiving assistance, and tout the employment prospects of their graduates, to make information publicly available concerning graduates' employment, earnings, and loan defaults.
Establishes an appeals and settlement process for federal student loan borrowers who suffer economic losses from violation of their rights.
Makes IHEs liable to a federal student loan borrower for the total amount of a student loan if they provide specified prohibited incentives to admissions officers to secure student enrollments or financial aid.
The summary continues for 1 more paragraph. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on February 7, 2007. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 7, 2007: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 110th Congress (2007-08), 460 of the 11,228 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.1 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) introduced it on February 7, 2007, and 4 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 3 Democrats, 1 independent.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on February 7, 2007, 7155 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 7155 days ago, on February 7, 2007.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 110th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2009 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers