SIMPLE Act

This legislation seeks to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide greater support for student loan borrowers who are delinquent on their loans or are rehabilitating defaulted loans. Its primary goal is to streamline access to income-driven repayment (IDR) plans through enhanced notification and automatic enrollment procedures. The bill also authorizes the Secretary of Education to use tax return information, with borrower approval, to determine income and family size for these purposes. For borrowers who are at least 31 days delinquent on a covered loan, the Secretary must provide a detailed notification. This notification includes information about their delinquency, all eligible repayment plans, and the estimated monthly payments under various options, including IDR plans. Borrowers are given clear instructions on how to select a repayment plan and can opt out of tax information disclosure at any time. A key provision involves automatic enrollment for persistently delinquent borrowers. If a borrower is 75 days delinquent, has not selected a new plan, and their current payments are higher than an available IDR plan, the Secretary will automatically enroll them in the IDR plan offering the lowest monthly payment. Borrowers retain the flexibility to change this automatically selected plan at any time. The bill also addresses borrowers rehabilitating defaulted loans. The Secretary is authorized to use approved tax information to determine income for these borrowers. After the 6th rehabilitation payment, borrowers will be notified of the process, and after the 9th payment, they will be automatically enrolled in the lowest-payment IDR plan if eligible. Supporting amendments include clarifying that borrowers with a $0 IDR payment may not need to provide additional income documentation for recertification. Most of the provisions related to automatic enrollment and the use of IRS data are set to take effect on July 1, 2028 , applying to award year 2028-2029 and subsequent years.