Student Loan Repayment for Federal Employees (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised April 6, 2007 |
| Report Number |
RL31102 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Lorraine H. Tong and Barbara L. Schwemle, Government and Finance Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
Under a law enacted in 1990 (P.L. 101-510) and amended in 2000 (P.L. 106-398) and 2003 (P.L. 108-123 and P.L. 108-136), federal agencies may repay portions of the student loans of highly qualified General Schedule (GS) and non-GS (including Foreign Service) employees they seek to recruit and retain. Eligible employees must sign at least a three-year service agreement to remain with their agencies. In return, these employees may receive loan repayments of up to $10,000 per year and up to $60,000 in total from an agency. Various student loans specified in law and authorized by the Higher Education Act of 1965 and the Public Health Service Act may be repaid. Concerns about the attractiveness of government service to, and the large amount of student loan indebtedness of, new graduates along with the possibility of a significant number of retirements from the federal government in the next several years underlie student loan repayment programs. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published final regulations to implement the original law on January 11, 2001, and final regulations to implement the amendments to the law on July 31, 2001, and April 20, 2004. Executive branch agencies are considering and implementing student loan repayment programs. OPM reported to Congress in May 2006 that 28 executive branch agencies made repayments to 4,171 employees at a cost of some $26.664 million in FY2005. The number of recipients increased by 55.6% and the cost of repayments increased by 77.4% from FY2004 to FY2005.
In the legislative branch, the Government Accountability Office (GAO, formerly the General Accounting Office), the Government Printing Office (GPO), and the Library of Congress also have authority under the laws stated above to establish student loan repayment programs. Enacted in the 107th Congress, P.L. 107-68 authorized the Senate and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) to institute programs, and P.L. 107-117 authorized the U.S. Capitol Police to establish one. Under the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution, 2003 (P.L. 108-7), enacted in the 108th Congress, the House of Representatives has authority to establish a program for its employees, and additional authority was granted to the U.S. Capitol Police to establish a program and to provide tuition reimbursement for employees' ongoing career development education. To date, the Senate, the House, the U.S. Capitol Police, CBO, GAO, GPO, and the Library (not including the Congressional Research Service) have implemented repayment programs.
In both the executive and legislative branches, questions of how to fund the programs, what the required period of service should be, the criteria for repayment eligibility, and the kinds of program data to be collected will likely continue to be considered as repayment programs are implemented. OPM published proposed changes to the regulations governing repayments in the Federal Register on January 9, 2007. S. 1047, to exempt repayments from income tax, is pending in the Senate. The legislative history, statutory authority, status of executive and legislative branch implementation, issues for consideration, and oversight of student loan repayment programs are discussed in this report, which will be updated as events warrant.
