[Part F (including section 1544) was repealed by section 568(e)(2) of P.L. 103–382, 108 Stat. 4061.]

PART G-ADVANCED PLACEMENT FEE
PAYMENT PROGRAM

SEC. 1545. [20 U.S.C. 1070a-11 note] ADVANCED PLACEMENT FEE PAYMENT PROGRAM.

(a) PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.-The Secretary of Education is authorized to make grants to States to enable the States to reimburse individuals to cover part or all of the cost of advance placement test fees, to low-income individuals who

(1) are enrolled in an advanced placement class; and

(2) plan to take an advanced placement test.

(b) INFORMATION DISSEMINATION.-The State educational agency shall disseminate information on the availability of test fee payments under this section to eligible individuals through secondary school teachers and guidance counselors.

(c) REQUIREMENTS FOR APPROVAL OF APPLICATIONS.-In approving applications for grants the Secretary of Education shall

(1) require that each such application contain a description of the advance placement test fees the State will pay on behalf of individual students;

(2) require an assurance that any funds received under this section shall only be used to pay advanced placement test fees; and

(3) contain such information as the Secretary may require to demonstrate that the State will ensure that the student is eligible for payments under this section, including the documentation required by chapter 1 of subpart 2 of part A of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

(d) SUPPLEMENTATION OF FUNDING.-Funds provided under this section shall be used to supplement and not supplant other Federal, State, and local or private funds available to assist lowincome individuals in paying for advanced placement testing.

(e) REGULATIONS.-The Secretary of Education shall prescribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out this section.

(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.-There are authorized to be appropriated $3,600,000 for fiscal year 1993 and such sums as may be necessary for each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years to carry out the provisions of this section.

(g) DEFINITION.-As used in this section:

(1) ADVANCED PLACEMENT TEST.-The term "advanced placement test" includes only an advanced placement test approved by the Secretary of Education for the purposes of this section.

(2) LOW-INCOME INDIVIDUAL.-The term "low-income individual" has the meaning given the term in section 402A(g)(2) of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

PART H-AMENDMENTS TO OTHER LAWS

*

*

[Text as amended printed elsewhere in this and other volumes of this compilation.]

PART I-BUY AMERICA

SEC. 1561. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

It is the sense of the Congress that a recipient (including a nation, individual, group, or organization) of any form of student assistance or other Federal assistance under the Act should, in expanding that assistance, purchase American-made equipment and products.

Title VIII of the Higher Education Amendments of 1998

(P.L. 105-244)

TITLE VIII-STUDIES, REPORTS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS

PART A-STUDIES

SEC. 801. [20 U.S.C. 1018 note] STUDY OF MARKET MECHANISMS IN FEDERAL STUDENT LOAN PROGRAMS.

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.-The Comptroller General and the Secretary of Education shall convene a study group including the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, representatives of entities making loans under part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, representatives of other entities in the financial services community, representatives of other participants in the student loan programs, and such other individuals as the Comptroller General and the Secretary may designate. The Comptroller General and Secretary, in consultation with the study group, shall design and conduct a study to identify and evaluate means of establishing a market mechanism for the delivery of loans made pursuant to such title IV.

(b) DESIGN OF STUDY.-The study required under this section shall identify not fewer than 3 different market mechanisms for use in determining lender return on student loans while continuing to meet the other objectives of the programs under parts B and D of such title IV, including the provision of loans to all eligible students. Consideration may be given to the use of auctions and to the feasibility of incorporating income-contingent repayment options into the student loan system and requiring borrowers to repay through income tax withholding.

(c) EVALUATION OF MARKET MECHANISMS.-The mechanisms identified under subsection (b) shall be evaluated in terms of the following areas:

(1) The cost or savings of loans to or for borrowers, including parent borrowers.

(2) The cost or savings of the mechanism to the Federal Government.

(3) The cost, effect, and distribution of Federal subsidies to

or for participants in the program.

(4) The ability of the mechanism to accommodate the potential distribution of subsidies to students through an incomecontingent repayment option.

(5) The effect on the simplicity of the program, including the effect of the plan on the regulatory burden on students, institutions, lenders, and other program participants.

(6) The effect on investment in human capital and resources, loan servicing capability, and the quality of service to the borrower.

(7) The effect on the diversity of lenders, including community-based lenders, originating and secondary market lenders. (8) The effect on program integrity.

(9) The degree to which the mechanism will provide market incentives to encourage continuous improvement in the delivery and servicing of loans.

(10) The availability of loans to students by region, income level, and by categories of institutions.

(11) The proposed Federal and State role in the operation of the mechanism.

(12) A description of how the mechanism will be administered and operated.

(13) Transition procedures, including the effect on loan availability during a transition period.

(14) Any other areas the study group may include.

(d) PRELIMINARY FINDINGS AND PUBLICATION OF STUDY.-Not later than November 15, 2000, the study group shall make the group's preliminary findings, including any additional or dissenting views, available to the public with a 60-day request for public comment. The study group shall review these comments and the Comptroller General and the Secretary shall transmit a final report, including any additional or dissenting views, to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate, and the Committees on the Budget of the House of Representatives and the Senate not later than May 15, 2001.

SEC. 802. STUDY OF THE FEASIBILITY OF ALTERNATIVE FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS FOR DETERMINING LENDER YIELDS.

(a) STUDY REQUIRED.-The Comptroller General and the Secretary of Education shall convene a study group including the Secretary of the Treasury, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, representatives of entities making loans under part B of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, representatives of other entities in the financial services community, representatives of other participants in the student loan programs, and such other individuals as the Comptroller General and the Secretary of Education may designate. The Comptroller General and the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the study group, shall evaluate the 91-day Treasury bill, 30-day and 90-day commercial paper, and the 90-day London Interbank Offered Rate (in this section referred to as "LIBOR") in terms of the following:

(1) The historical liquidity of the market for each, and a historical comparison of the spread between: (A) the 30-day and 90-day commercial paper rate, respectively, and the 91-day Treasury bill rate; and (B) the spread between the LIBOR and the 91-day Treasury bill rate.

(2) The historical volatility of the rates and projections of future volatility.

(3) Recent changes in the liquidity of the market for each such instrument in a balanced Federal budget environment and a low-interest rate environment, and projections of future liquidity assuming the Federal budget remains in balance.

(4) The cost or savings to lenders with small, medium, and large student loan portfolios of basing lender yield on either the 30-day or 90-day commercial paper rate or the LIBOR while continuing to base the borrower rate on the 91-day Treasury bill, and the effect of such change on the diversity of lenders participating in the program.

(5) The cost or savings to the Federal Government of basing lender yield on either the 30-day or 90-day commercial paper rate or the LIBOR while continuing to base the borrower rate on the 91-day Treasury bill.

(6) Any possible risks or benefits to the student loan programs under the Higher Education Act of 1965 and to student borrowers.

(7) Any other areas the Comptroller General and the Secretary of Education agree to include.

(b) REPORT REQUIRED.-Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General and the Secretary shall submit a final report regarding the findings of the study group to the Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate.

SEC. 803. [20 U.S.C. 1015 note] STUDENT-RELATED DEBT STUDY REQUIRED.

(a) IN GENERAL.-The Secretary of Education shall conduct a study that analyzes the distribution and increase in student-related debt in terms of—

(1) demographic characteristics, such as race or ethnicity, and family income;

(2) type of institution and whether the institution is a public or private institution;

(3) loan source, such as Federal, State, institutional or other, and, if the loan source is Federal, whether the loan is or is not subsidized;

(4) academic field of study;

(5) parent loans, and whether the parent loans are federally guaranteed, private, or property-secured such as home equity loans; and

(6) relation of student debt or anticipated debt to

(A) students' decisions about whether and where to enroll in college and whether or how much to borrow in order to attend college;

(B) the length of time it takes students to earn baccalaureate degrees;

(C) students' decisions about whether and where to attend graduate school;

(D) graduates' employment decisions;