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Clean Slate through Repayment Act of 2026
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove from a borrower's credit history the record of default on a defaulted loan made, insured, or guaranteed under title IV of such Act upon repayment of the full amount due on such loan, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill amends the Higher Education Act to require that when a borrower fully repays a defaulted federal student loan, the loan holder must request that credit reporting agencies remove the default record and related negative information from the borrower's credit history. Currently, federal student loan defaults remain on credit reports even after the borrower pays off the full amount owed. This requirement would apply to all federal student loans made, insured, or guaranteed under title IV of the Higher Education Act. The change would allow borrowers who have paid off their defaulted loans to have the default removed from their credit reports. The Secretary of Education, guaranty agencies, or other loan holders would be responsible for making the removal requests to consumer reporting agencies.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
3 cosponsors
Actions (2)
- Apr 16, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. · house
- Apr 16, 2026 Introduced in House
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Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 16, 2026
Ms. Ross (for herself, Ms. Stevens, Ms. Williams of Georgia, and Ms. Adams) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce
A BILL
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to remove from a borrower’s credit history the record of default on a defaulted loan made, insured, or guaranteed under title IV of such Act upon repayment of the full amount due on such loan, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Clean Slate through Repayment Act of 2026”.
SEC. 2. REMOVAL OF RECORD OF DEFAULT.
Part G of title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1088 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“SEC. 494A. REMOVAL OF RECORD OF DEFAULT.
“With respect to a borrower who repays in full the amount due on a defaulted loan made, insured, or guaranteed under this title, the Secretary, guaranty agency, or other holder of the loan, as applicable, shall request that any consumer reporting agency to which the default was reported remove the default (and any related adverse information) from such borrower’s credit history.”. <all>
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