Legislation Proposes to Relieve Residents' Student Loan Debt

The U.S. Senate has passed the Higher Education Access Act of 2007, which, if enacted, would allow family medicine residents to defer their student loan repayment plans until they complete additional education, such as a fellowship or a four-year resident training program.

The bill is the Senate version of similar legislation passed by the U.S. House on July 11. Both pieces of legislation align with a key position in the AAFP policy on medical student debt relief. Since 2006, the Academy has called on Congress to expand deferment of interest and principal payments on medical student loans until completion of postgraduate training.

The legislation next will go to a House-Senate conference committee, which will attempt to iron out differences in the legislation before sending it back through both houses of Congress for a final vote and on to the president's desk for his signature.

If signed into law, the measure would eliminate the current three-year limit on economic hardship deferments. Instead, medical residents could defer their student loan payments until they had completed all their training.