S 4097
Advanced toward a vote
Excludes State-based education loan programs from the preferred lender arrangement rules in the Higher Education Act, sets a definition for those programs, and requires a Government Accountability Office report on student loan trends within two years.
Official title: State-Based Education Loan Awareness Act
Timeline each lane is a chamber; dates pull from congress.gov actions
Senate
Introduced
16-MAR-2026
Referred
16-MAR-2026
Approved by committee
30-JUL-2026
Reported
04-AUG-2026
On the calendar
04-AUG-2026
- Treats arrangements or agreements for loans made under a State-based education loan program as excluded from the preferred lender arrangement rules in Section 151 of the Higher Education Act of 1965
- Defines a State-based education loan program as a non-federal loan offered by a state agency, state authority, or nonprofit, with interest rates and fees at least as favorable as Direct PLUS loans at origination
- Requires institutions to advise borrowers that they should use Federal student loan eligibility before accepting a private education loan, and to explain the terms of Federal loans
- Directs the Comptroller General to report to the Senate HELP Committee and House Education and Workforce Committee within 2 years on student borrowing, interest rates, and repayment outcomes across Federal, State-based, institutional, and private loans
Covers an older version. The newest CRS summary describes the bill as of "Introduced in Senate" (16-MAR-2026); the text has changed since (Reported to Senate, 04-AUG-2026).
CRS is the Library of Congress's nonpartisan research office. Read it on congress.govEducation
■ 4 R■ 2 D
4 Republicans
2 Democrats