S. 1628: Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-07-25 · Education · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-07-25 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act of 2017

Plain summary

Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act of 2017 This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to expand lender disclosure requirements. A lender must provide a quarterly statement to a Federal Family Education Loan or Direct Loan borrower during a period when loan payments are not required. Such statement must include the current loan balance, original principal loan amount, interest rate, total interest paid, aggregate payments, the lender's or servicer's contact information, accumulated interest amount, and information about making payments while a student to offset interest accrual. It must also explain the option to pay accrued interest before it capitalizes and suggest a payment amount based on interest charged. Additionally, the legislation modifies loan counseling requirements for an institution of higher education (IHE) that participates in federal student aid programs. Currently, an IHE must provide one-time entrance counseling to a student who is a first-time federal student loan borrower. This bill requires an IHE to provide pre-loan counseling to a student borrower of a federal student loan at or prior to the first disbursement of each new loan. It revises and expands required elements of pre-loan counseling to include a borrower's estimated debt-to-income ratio at graduation, a statement to borrow the minimum necessary amount, a warning that high debt-to-income ratio makes repayment more difficult, options to reduce borrowing, and an explanation of the importance of on-time graduation. Prior to certifying a Federal Direct Loan disbursement to a student, an IHE must ensure that such student manually enters the exact dollar amount of the loan.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

AI explanation – may be wrong, check the official text

No AI explanation yet. It takes up to a minute to write and is then saved for everyone.

Limited to a few requests an hour per person.

The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Arguments against (opponents)

Needs sources: no published arguments on this side yet. We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] · 3 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Joni Ernst (R-IA), Tina Smith (D-MN)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA] reported raising $527,998 (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)

Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115s1628.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/s>

Record fed-us-cong115-s1628 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115