119th Congress Education
H.R. 8475: Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment Act
Introduced
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed House (not reached)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
This bill creates a new income-driven repayment plan for student loans called the Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment (SOAR) plan. The SOAR plan has similar provisions to, but further expands on, the Department of Education's (ED's) final rule published on July 10, 2023, that created the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. The SAVE plan was blocked by federal courts.
The bill directs ED to carry out a SOAR plan program that complies with specified requirements. The bill allows all federal student loan types to be eligible for repayment under the SOAR plan, including Parent PLUS Loans and Federal Family Education Loans.
Under the SOAR plan, a federal student loan borrower whose income is at or below 250% of the federal poverty level (FPL) has $0 monthly payments. A borrower whose income is over 250% of the FPL pays 5% of their discretionary income on loans obtained for undergraduate study and 10% of their discretionary income for all other outstanding loans (e.g., loans obtained for graduate study).
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Additionally, under the SOAR plan, holders of eligible federal student loans (e.g., ED or private lenders) must apply 50% of the borrower's monthly payment toward outstanding principal. The other 50% must be applied in the following order: (1) accrued charges and collection costs on the loan, (2) outstanding interest, and (3) outstanding principal.
ED must forgive any loan balance that remains outstanding after a specified maximum repayment period (e.g., 10 years or 15 years).
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- Gregorio Casar D-TXOriginal
- Pramila Jayapal D-WAOriginal
- Eleanor Norton D-DCOriginal
- Chellie Pingree D-MEOriginal
- Lateefah Simon D-CAOriginal
- Shri Thanedar D-MIOriginal
- Eugene Vindman D-VAOriginal
- Angie Craig D-MN
- Dan Goldman D-NY
- Adelita Grijalva D-AZ
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Other bills by Rosa DeLauro
History
- Introduced in the House by Rosa DeLauro.
Show the full action history (2 actions)
- Introduced in House
- Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.