# 117-hr-6424: HIGHER ED Act

117-hr-6424, HIGHER ED Act, is a 117th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] (D-OR); status Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. (as of 2025-11-18).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-6424
- As of: 2025-11-18
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 117-hr-6424
- Congress: 117
- Title: HIGHER ED Act
- Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law.
- Introduced: 2022-01-19
- Sponsor: Rep. DeFazio, Peter A. [D-OR-4] (D-OR)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Education
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2025-11-18

## Summary

Helping Individuals Get a Higher Education while Reducing Education Debt Act or the HIGHER ED Act This bill makes various changes to student loan forgiveness and loan repayment programs. First, the bill authorizes graduate and professional students to receive subsidized Stafford Loans. These students have been ineligible to receive subsidized Stafford Loans since July 1, 2012. Next, the bill allows student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy proceedings. The bill also establishes refinancing programs for student loans. It allows certain borrowers to refinance their federal student loans down to lower interest rates, and it creates the Federal Direct Refinanced Private Loan to allow certain borrowers to refinance their private student loans. Additionally, the bill revises the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, such as by (1) allowing certain part-time faculty to participate in the PSLF program, (2) directing the Department of Education (ED) to annually cancel 10% of the amount a borrower owes after satisfying 12 qualifying monthly payments, (3) revising the process for certification of employment, and (4) requiring ED to establish a dispute resolution process. Further, the bill revises federal student loan repayment programs, including by (1) replacing existing student loan repayment plans with one income-based repayment plan and one standard 10-year repayment plan, and (2) allowing existing borrowers to lower their payments by switching to these new plans. It also establishes a process for ED to enroll a delinquent borrower in a new repayment plan. The bill also requires ED to provide certain notifications to borrowers.

## Related bills

- 117-hr-1667: Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act
- 117-hr-5434: Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2021
- 117-hr-3537: Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act
- 117-hr-5763: Further Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2021
- 117-hr-5142: To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration to the servicemembers who perished in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021, during the evacuation…
- 117-hr-263: Big Cat Public Safety Act

## Sources
- [117-hr-6424 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/6424)

## Related
- [117-hr-1667: Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-1667)
- [117-hr-5434: Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2021](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5434)
- [117-hr-3537: Accelerating Access to Critical Therapies for ALS Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-3537)
- [117-hr-5763: Further Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2021](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5763)
- [117-hr-5142: To award posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal, in commemoration to the servi…](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-5142)
- [117-hr-263: Big Cat Public Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-263)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/117-hr-6424 (as of 2025-11-18).