§7903 Education Debt Reduction Program

Summary

The Secretary may set up a program to reduce education debt for certain Department employees by making payments that reimburse them for principal and interest they paid on loans used for a doctoral degree in computer science or electrical or computer engineering. The program can run only if Congress provides money. To get payments, a person must have finished the doctoral degree at an accredited school within the five years before being hired, work in a Department job related to information security, and owe some principal or interest on loans used for that degree. Payments can total no more than $82,500 over five years, with no more than $16,500 in any one year, and a year’s payment cannot be more than the amount the person actually paid that year. Payments are made once a year on the last day of a one-year period (either one year after acceptance into the program or one year after the last payment). The Secretary will pay only if the employee’s performance is acceptable, will give written terms to recipients, and will not count these payments as income or resources for federal benefit programs. “Costs relating” to the degree include tuition and other reasonable expenses like fees, books, and lab costs.