# 114-hr-3179: Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act

114-hr-3179, Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act, is a 114th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Guthrie, Brett [R-KY-2] (R-KY); status Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-3179
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 114-hr-3179
- Congress: 114
- Title: Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act
- Status: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Introduced: 2015-07-23
- Sponsor: Rep. Guthrie, Brett [R-KY-2] (R-KY)
- Cosponsors: 38
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Empowering Students Through Enhanced Financial Counseling Act This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to modify loan counseling requirements for an institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs. Currently, an IHE must provide entrance counseling to a student who is a first-time federal student loan borrower. This bill replaces required entrance counseling with required annual counseling. Also, it expands the required recipients of such annual counseling to include, in addition to student borrowers, Federal Pell Grant recipients and parent PLUS Loan borrowers. Each annual counseling recipient must receive comprehensive information on the terms, conditions, and responsibilities with respect to a grant or loan and general information on a typical student budget, the right to request an annual credit report, average income and employment data, and financial management resources. Additionally, the bill revises, expands, or establishes specific annual counseling information requirements for student borrowers, Pell Grant recipients, or parent PLUS Loan borrowers. The legislation revises and expands exit counseling information requirements to include an outstanding loan balance summary, the anticipated monthly payments under standard and income-based repayment plans, an explanation of the grace period preceding repayment, the option to pay accrued interest before it capitalizes, the right to request an annual credit report, and loan servicer contact information. It directs ED to maintain a consumer-tested online counseling tool that provides annual and exit counseling. The Institute of Education Sciences must study the impact and effectiveness of exit counseling, annual counseling, and the online counseling tool.

## Cosponsors (38)

- Rep. Allen, Rick W. [R-GA-12] (R-GA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kline, John [R-MN-2] (R-MN), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3] (D-VA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hunter, Duncan D. [R-CA-50] (R-CA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Walberg, Tim [R-MI-5] (R-MI), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Heck, Joseph J. [R-NV-3] (R-NV), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Messer, Luke [R-IN-6] (R-IN), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Carter, Earl L. "Buddy" [R-GA-1] (R-GA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Stefanik, Elise M. [R-NY-21] (R-NY), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- SUSAN DAVIS (D-CA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Raúl M. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Sablan, Gregorio Kilili Camacho [D-MP-At Large] (D-MP), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2] (D-WI), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Takano, Mark [D-CA-39] (D-CA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Clark, Katherine M. [D-MA-5] (D-MA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10] (D-CA), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Hudson, Richard [R-NC-9] (R-NC), 2015-07-23T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Roe, David P. [R-TN-1] (R-TN), 2015-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Rokita, Todd [R-IN-4] (R-IN), 2015-07-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Polis, Jared [D-CO-2] (D-CO), 2015-09-11T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. MacArthur, Thomas [R-NJ-3] (R-NJ), 2015-09-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Dold, Robert J. [R-IL-10] (R-IL), 2015-09-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Keating, William R. [D-MA-9] (D-MA), 2015-11-02T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Kuster, Ann M. [D-NH-2] (D-NH), 2015-11-04T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Barletta, Lou [R-PA-11] (R-PA), 2015-12-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Davis, Rodney [R-IL-13] (R-IL), 2015-12-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Ellmers, Renee L. [R-NC-2] (R-NC), 2015-12-15T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Blumenauer, Earl [D-OR-3] (D-OR), 2016-03-03T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Coffman, Mike [R-CO-6] (R-CO), 2016-05-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Curbelo, Carlos [R-FL-26] (R-FL), 2016-06-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Beyer, Donald S. [D-VA-8] (D-VA), 2016-06-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Thompson, Glenn [R-PA-15] (R-PA), 2016-07-08T00:00:00.000Z
- RUBEN HINOJOSA (D-TX), 2016-07-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Courtney, Joe [D-CT-2] (D-CT), 2016-07-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fudge, Marcia L. [D-OH-11] (D-OH), 2016-07-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12] (D-NC), 2016-07-08T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Wilson, Frederica S. [D-FL-24] (D-FL), 2016-07-08T00:00:00.000Z

## Related bills

- 114-hr-2992: Merchant Marine of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act
- 114-hr-699: Email Privacy Act
- 114-hr-3381: Childhood Cancer STAR Act
- 114-hr-3268: PAST Act
- 114-hr-5621: To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Doby in recognition of his achievements and contributions to American major league…
- 114-hr-2903: Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015

## Sources
- [114-hr-3179 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3179)

## Related
- [114-hr-2992: Merchant Marine of World War II Congressional Gold Medal Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-2992)
- [114-hr-699: Email Privacy Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-699)
- [114-hr-3381: Childhood Cancer STAR Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-3381)
- [114-hr-3268: PAST Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-3268)
- [114-hr-5621: To posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to Lawrence Eugene "Larry" Dob…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-5621)
- [114-hr-2903: Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act of 2015](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-2903)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/114-hr-3179 (as of 2025-11-18).