Sponsors (8)
Official title: Repeal certain student loan provisions, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 26, 2026 by Richard Blumenthal · Last progress March 26, 2026
The bill trades clearer, longer-term statutory rules and restored relief for certain borrower-defense and closed-school claimants (and simpler tax treatment for endowments) against reduced temporary/expanded forgiveness and narrower aid eligibility — benefits for administrative predictability and some taxpayers but potential added costs and disruptions for many students and loan borrowers.
Students and other borrowers with borrower-defense claims and former students of closed schools will have stronger paths to loan discharge and smaller debt burdens as the bill restores prior borrower-defense and closed-school discharge rules.
Students and colleges get clearer, more consistent eligibility rules for federal student aid (the three-category definition), reducing ambiguity about which programs qualify.
Borrowers affected by temporary or expanded PSLF/repayment changes gain clarity as the bill returns to prior statutory rules, simplifying long-term program administration and reducing regulatory uncertainty.
Many borrowers who relied on expanded PSLF rules or temporary repayment benefits (pauses, forbearances, modified terms) will lose credit toward forgiveness or previously accrued relief and may see payments or interest accrual resume, increasing their debt burden.
Students in programs that fall outside the bill's narrower three-category definition may lose eligibility for federal student aid, reducing access to education and causing enrollment and revenue losses at affected institutions.
Reinstating prior rules and narrowing definitions will create administrative burden and confusion for borrowers, loan servicers, colleges, and the Department of Education as programs are reclassified and retroactive changes are implemented.
Based on analysis of 7 sections of legislative text.
Reverts multiple reconciliation-era student loan and borrower protection changes, narrows HEA program scope with a defined "covered educational program," and fixes the endowment excise tax at 1.4% starting in 2026 taxable years.
Repeals multiple provisions inserted by a recent reconciliation law that changed student loan repayment, deferment/forbearance, Public Service Loan Forgiveness, borrower defense and closed-school discharge rules, and other higher-education provisions. It narrows who is covered under a key Higher Education Act provision by replacing the generic term “educational program” with a defined set of “covered educational program” categories (certificate/associate/baccalaureate/graduate groupings). It also permanently fixes the private college endowment excise tax at 1.4% of net investment income for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2025, replacing the prior tiered rates.