To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide enhanced student loan relief to educators, and for other purposes.

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 8896 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 8896 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to provide enhanced student loan relief to educators, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES May 19, 2026 Ms. Leger Fernandez (for herself, Mrs. Hayes, Ms. Craig, Ms. Stansbury, Mr. Garcia of Illinois, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Peters, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Norton, Mr. DeSaulnier, and Mr. Correa) 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 provide enhanced student loan relief to educators, 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 ``Loan Forgiveness for Educators Act of 2026''. SEC. 2. LOAN FORGIVENESS AND CANCELLATION FOR EDUCATORS. (a) Enhanced Teacher Loan Forgiveness Under the FFEL Program.-- Section 428J of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1078-10) is amended to read as follows: ``SEC. 428J. LOAN FORGIVENESS FOR EDUCATORS. ``(a) Purpose.--It is the purpose of this section to enhance student access to a well-prepared, diverse, and stable educator workforce by eliminating debt burdens for educators in return for service teaching and leading in high need schools or early childhood education programs. ``(b) Program Authorized.--Not later than 270 days after the date of enactment of the Loan Forgiveness for Educators Act of 2026, the Secretary shall carry out a program, through the holder of the loan, of assuming, as required under subsection (c), the obligation to repay a covered loan for qualifying educators engaged in qualifying service. A qualifying educator ma