Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment Act
Latest action · Apr 1, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
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.
- IntroducedApr 1, 2025
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment Act
This bill creates a new income-driven repayment plan for student loans called the Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment (SOAR) plan. The SOAR plan has similar provisions to, but further expands on, the Department of Education's (ED's) final rule published on July 10, 2023, that created the Saving on a Valuable Education (SAVE) plan. The SAVE plan was blocked by federal courts.
The bill directs ED to carry out a SOAR plan program that complies with specified requirements. The bill allows all federal student loan types to be eligible for repayment under the SOAR plan, including Parent PLUS Loans and Federal Family Education Loans.
Under the SOAR plan, a federal student loan borrower whose income is at or below 250% of the federal poverty level (FPL) has $0 monthly payments. A borrower whose income is over 250% of the FPL pays 5% of their discretionary income on loans obtained for undergraduate study and 10% of their discretionary income for all other outstanding loans (e.g., loans obtained for graduate study).
Additionally, under the SOAR plan, holders of eligible federal student loans (e.g., ED or private lenders) must apply 50% of the borrower's monthly payment toward outstanding principal. The other 50% must be applied in the following order: (1) accrued charges and collection costs on the loan, (2) outstanding interest, and (3) outstanding principal.
ED must forgive any loan balance that remains outstanding after a specified maximum repayment period (e.g., 10 years or 15 years).
Cosponsors 17
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Apr 1, 2025 to Nov 6, 2025; 14 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-CA | Alex Padilla | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-NJ | Andy Kim | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-NY | Charles E. Schumer | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-VT | Peter Welch | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-OR | Ron Wyden | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-MN | Tina Smith | Original | Apr 1, 2025 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Jun 18, 2025 | |
| D-NM | Ben Ray Luján | Oct 29, 2025 | |
| D-IL | Tammy Duckworth | Nov 6, 2025 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee | Referred Apr 1, 2025 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Apr 1, 2025Introduced in Senate
- Apr 1, 2025Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
In the Congressional Record 1
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Senate | Debate and remarks S3528, S3529 | Bill Cassidy R-LA, Jeff Merkley D-OR | Jun 25, 2025 |
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 8475 | Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment Act | Identical bill | Apr 23, 2026 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide for a Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment plan as an income contingent repayment plan.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Savings Opportunity and Affordable Repayment Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Apr 1, 2025Introduced in Senate
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.
