H.R. 2679 – Match Veterans to Student Loan Protections Act

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 15, 2026 at 3:51 PM UTC

The Match Veterans to Student Loan Protections Act changes the Higher Education Act so that the Education Department and the Veterans Affairs Department work together to find veterans who qualify for federal student loan discharge because of a service‑connected disability. It requires a quarterly computer match to locate borrowers with a 100% disability rating or who are deemed unemployable, then notifies them of their eligibility and how to apply without needing to submit proof of the rating. The bill also calls for annual data collection and reporting to Congress on how many veterans apply for and receive loan discharges.

Key Provisions

The Education and Veterans Affairs secretaries must run a quarterly computer‑matching program to identify borrowers with a 100% service‑connected disability rating or who are unemployable due to such a condition.
Identified borrowers must be promptly notified that they qualify for loan discharge and given simple instructions to apply, without having to provide documentation of their disability rating.
The Education Secretary must annually collect and report to Congress data on the number of applications received, approved, and completed discharges, broken out by the two categories of eligibility.
Borrowers whose loans are discharged must receive a notification confirming the discharge.
Within 90 days of the law’s enactment, the Education Secretary must submit a plan for carrying out the matching program, and a follow‑up report is required if the program is not implemented within one year.

Legislative Activity

Stay on top of the latest movement without scrolling through every action

1 earlier action

HouseIntro Referral Latest Action

Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Education and Workforce Committee

May 25, 2017

View full timeline

HouseIntro Referral

Introduced in House

May 25, 2017

HouseIntro Referral

Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Education and Workforce Committee

May 25, 2017

Bill Text

Latest available legislative text

Reading Mode

Raw Text PDF XML

Introduced in HouseIssued May 25, 2017

I

115th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2679

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

May 25, 2017

Mr. Costello of Pennsylvania (for himself, Mr. Barletta, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Byrne, Mr. Coffman, Mr. Takano, Ms. Titus, and Ms. Sinema) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

A BILL

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve service-connected disability determinations for purposes of loan discharge.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Match Veterans to Student Loan Protections Act.

2.

Improved disability determinations

(a)

In general

Section 437(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (2)—

(A)

by striking A borrower and inserting the following:

(A)

In general

A borrower

; and

(B)

by adding at the end the following

(B)

Matching program

(i)

In general

The Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall carry out a computer matching program under which the Secretary of Education identifies, on at least a quarterly basis, borrowers—

(I)

who have been assigned a disability rating of 100 percent (or a combination of ratings equaling 100 percent or more) by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for a service-connected disability (as defined in section 101 of title 38, United States Code); or

(II)

who have been determined by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to be unemployable due to a service-connected condition, as described in subparagraph (A).

(ii)

Borrower notification

With respect to each borrower who is identified by the Secretary of Education under clause (i), the Secretary shall, as soon as practicable after such identification—

(I)

notify the borrower of the borrower’s eligibility for loan discharge under this subsection; and

(II)

provide the borrower with simple instructions on how to apply for such loan discharge, including an explanation that the borrower shall not be required to provide any documentation of the borrower’s disability rating to receive such discharge.

; and

(2)

by adding at the end the following:

(3)

Data collection and report to congress

The Secretary shall annually collect and submit to the Committees on Education and the Workforce and Veterans’ Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committees on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and Veterans’ Affairs of the Senate, data about borrowers applying for and receiving loan discharges under this subsection, which shall include the following, disaggregated by borrowers applying for or receiving such discharges under subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (2):

(A)

The number of applications received under this subsection.

(B)

The number of such applications that were approved.

(C)

The number of loan discharges that were completed under this subsection.

(4)

Notification to borrowers

The Secretary shall notify each borrower whose liability on a loan has been discharged under this subsection that such loan has been discharged.

.

(b)

Reports

(1)

Plan

Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report that includes a plan to carry out the activities described under section 437(a)(2)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087(a)(2)), as added by this section.

(2)

Follow-up Report

If the Secretary of Education has not carried out the activities described under section 437(a)(2)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as added by this section, by the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Education shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress, by such date, a report that includes an explanation of why those activities have not been implemented.