Title 20 › Chapter CHAPTER 28— - HIGHER EDUCATION RESOURCES AND STUDENT ASSISTANCE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER IV— - STUDENT ASSISTANCE › Part Part D— - William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program › § 1087i–1
The Education Secretary may buy, or promise to buy, certain federal student loans when there is not enough loan money available. The Secretary must work with the Treasury Secretary and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. The loans covered are ones first paid out between October 1, 2003 and before July 1, 2010 under specific student loan programs, and the Secretary may also buy loans that lenders bought back under another loan rule if those loans are not in default. Any purchases must be judged to be in the best interest of the United States and must not cause any net cost to the federal government, including loan servicing costs. Before buying loans, the Secretary, Treasury Secretary, and OMB Director must publish a notice in the Federal Register that explains the rules for purchases, the method they will use to set prices, and how that method will prevent net cost to the government. Money paid to lenders must be used to keep those lenders in the federal student loan programs and to make new federal student loans (or, in the special buyback case, to make new loans or buy similar loans). The Secretary can keep the lender servicing the loans if the lender agrees, the cost is no more than the government would pay, and it is best for borrowers. Once a loan is bought, the guaranty agency’s duties and insurance for defaults on or after the purchase date stop. The Secretary must report every quarter from July 1, 2008 through September 30, 2010 on loans bought, with details by lender and loan type, and must provide cost estimates by February 15, 2011 and annually for fiscal years 2008–2011. The authority to buy loans ends on July 1, 2010.
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20 U.S.C. § 1087i–1
Title 20 — Education
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73