Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013
Latest action · Aug 9, 2013 Became Public Law No: 113-28.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 9, 2013
- Passed HouseMay 23, 2013
- Passed SenateJul 24, 2013
- To the PresidentAug 1, 2013
- Became lawAug 9, 2013Public Law 113-28
Summary
Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 - (Sec. 2) Amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to set the annual interest rate on Direct Stafford loans and Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans issued to undergraduate students at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 2.05%, but caps that rate at 8.25%.
Sets the annual interest rate on Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans issued to graduate or professional students at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 3.6%, but caps that rate at 9.5%.
Sets the annual interest rate on Direct PLUS loans at the rate on high-yield 10-year Treasury notes plus 4.6%, but caps that rate at 10.5%.
Limits the applicability of the preceding provisions to loans first disbursed on or after July 1, 2013.
Fixes the interest rate on Direct Stafford loans, Direct Unsubsidized Stafford loans, and Direct PLUS loans for the period of the loan.
Sets the annual interest rate on Direct Consolidation loans for which an application is received on or after July 1, 2013, at the weighted average of the interest rates on the loans consolidated, rounded to the nearest higher one-eighth of 1%.
(Sec. 3) Provides that the budgetary effects of this Act shall not be entered on specified PAYGO scorecards.
(Sec. 4) Directs the Comptroller General (GAO) to conduct a study and report to Congress on the actual cost to the federal government of carrying out the federal student loan programs authorized under title IV of the HEA.
Recorded votes 4
Newest first. Open one to see how every member voted.
Cosponsors 5
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 9, 2013 to May 20, 2013; 1 is an original cosponsor, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-NC | Virginia Foxx | Original | May 9, 2013 |
| R-TN | David P. Roe | May 16, 2013 | |
| R-IN | Luke Messer | May 16, 2013 | |
| R-AR | Tim Griffin | May 16, 2013 | |
| R-PA | Glenn Thompson | May 20, 2013 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Education and Workforce Committee | Referred May 9, 2013Markup May 16, 2013Reported May 20, 2013 |
| House | Budget Committee | Referred May 9, 2013Discharged May 20, 2013 |
Actions 34
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Aug 9, 2013Signed by President.
- Aug 9, 2013Became Public Law No: 113-28.
- Aug 1, 2013Presented to President.
- Jul 31, 2013Mr. Kline moved that the House suspend the rules and agree to the Senate amendment. (consideration: CR H5214-5221)
- Jul 31, 2013DEBATE - The House proceeded with forty minutes of debate on the motion to agree in the Senate amendment to H.R. 1911.
In the Congressional Record 30
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E1212, E1214, E1220 | Barbara Lee D-CA, Chris Van Hollen D-MD, Rush Holt D-NJ | Aug 2, 2013 |
| Extensions | Debate and remarks E1185 | Yvette D. Clarke D-NY | Aug 1, 2013 |
| House | Debate and remarks H5187, H5214–H5221Amendments H5214Recorded votes H5241Senate amendmentTables H5219Projected interest rates under H.R. 1911, Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act | Gene Green D-TX, George Miller D-CA, Glenn Thompson R-PA, Jared Polis D-CO, Joe Courtney D-CT, John Kline R-MN, Joseph J. Heck R-NV, Loretta Sanchez D-CA, Luke Messer R-IN, Peter A. DeFazio D-OR, Sheila Jackson Lee D-TX, Timothy H. Bishop D-NY, Virginia Foxx R-NC | Jul 31, 2013 |
| House | Debate and remarks H5100 | Suzan K. DelBene D-WA | Jul 30, 2013 |
| House · Senate | Debate and remarks H5054, S5962 | Carl Levin D-MI, Joe Garcia D-FL | Jul 25, 2013 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Committee report
Congressional Budget Office cost estimate
- May 20, 2013H.R. 1911, Smarter Solutions for Students ActAs ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce on May 16, 2013
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H2569.
Printed hearings 2
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serial No. 113-26 | KEEPING COLLEGE WITHIN REACH: IMPROVING HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH INNOVATION73 pages | Education and Workforce Committee | Jul 9, 2013 |
| Serial No. 113-18 | REVIEWING THE PRESIDENT'S FISCAL YEAR 2014 BUDGET PROPOSAL FOR THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION116 pages | Education and Workforce Committee | May 21, 2013 |
CRS reports 8
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 8
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R49340 | Budgetary Effects Excluded or Eliminated from the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Scorecards | Report | Sep 9, 2026 |
| R44252 | The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and the One-Stop Delivery System | Report | Sep 26, 2022 |
| R44670 | The Social Security Retirement Age | Report | Jul 6, 2022 |
| IF11530 | Dislocated Worker Activities in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Archived | Resource | May 1, 2020 |
| R44728 | The Role of State Approving Agencies in the Administration of GI Bill Benefits Archived | Report | Dec 29, 2016 |
Amendments 5
Amendments offered to this bill.
| Amendment | Description | Offered by | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| HAmdt 76 | Pursuant to the provisions of H.Res. 232 the amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 113-12 is considered as adopted. | Rules Committee | House amendment offered |
| SA 1745 | No description on file | Richard Blumenthal D-CT | Senate amendment submitted |
| SA 1773 | To establish student loan interest rates, and for other purposes. | Joe Manchin III D-WV | Amendment SA 1773 agreed to in Senate by Voice Vote. |
| SA 1774 | To provide a sunset date. | Bernard Sanders I-VT | Amendment SA 1774, under the order of 7/23/2013, not having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, was not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 34 - 65. Record Vote Number: 184. |
| SA 1778 | To provide for interest rate caps for certain Federal student loans. | Jack Reed D-RI | Amendment SA 1778, under the order of 7/23/2013, not having achieved 60 votes in the affirmative, was not agreed to in Senate by Yea-Nay Vote. 46 - 53. Record Vote Number: 183. |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HRES 232 | Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 1911) to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates for new loans made on or after July 1, 2013, and for other purposes. | Procedurally related | May 23, 2013 |
| S 1334 | Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013 | Related bill | Jul 18, 2013 |
Titles 8
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates for new loans made on or after July 1, 2013.
- Official Titles as Amended by House
- To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to establish interest rates for new loans made on or after July 1, 2013, to direct the Secretary of Education to convene the Advisory Committee on Improving Postsecondary Education Data to conduct a study on improvements to postsecondary education transparency at the Federal level, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Smarter Solutions for Students Act
- Short Titles as Reported to House
- Smarter Solutions for Students Act
- Short Titles as Passed Senate
- Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013
- Short Titles as Enacted
- Bipartisan Student Loan Certainty Act of 2013
- Short Titles as Passed House for portions of this bill
- Improving Postsecondary Education Data for Students Act
- Smarter Solutions for Students Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
- Academic performance and assessments
- Advisory bodies
- Budget deficits and national debt
- Congressional oversight
- Consumer affairs
- Education
- Government information and archives
- Government lending and loan guarantees
- Government studies and investigations
- Higher education
- Interest, dividends, interest rates
- Right of privacy
- Student aid and college costs
- Wages and earnings
Text 6
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- —Enrolled Bill
- Jul 24, 2013Engrossed Amendment Senate
- Jul 18, 2013Placed on Calendar Senate
- May 23, 2013Engrossed in House
- May 20, 2013Reported in House
- May 9, 2013Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
