Congress·In Committee·H.R. 7536

GRADUATE Act

Rep. Goldman's GRADUATE Act Would Expand Student Loan Tax Deduction to $10,000 Under House Review

Feb 12·View on Congress.gov

This bill is one vehicle in a longer effort. See the full story across every version.View effort →

Next up: A house committee

A house committee must act next: committee consideration.

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How we got here

This bill’s path across every version that has carried it.

Reintroduced
Reintroduced from H.R. 6594 (118th), which died when its Congress ended.
H.R. 6594 (118th) →

Key Points

This bill, introduced by Representative Goldman, would change the tax rules to let people deduct both the interest and the principal they pay on student loans. Currently, the law only allows a tax break for the interest portion of a loan payment.
The new rules would allow most borrowers to deduct up to $10,000 of their total loan payments from their taxable income. Families would also get an extra $500 deduction for every dependent they claim, such as a child.
The full tax break would be available for individuals making up to $125,000 a year or married couples making up to $250,000. People earning more than those amounts would see the size of their deduction gradually decrease.
This change is designed to help people pay off their student debt faster by lowering their yearly tax bill. It recognizes that paying back the actual loan amount is just as much of a financial burden as paying the interest.
If Congress passes this bill, the new tax benefits would begin for the 2026 tax year. This would give the government and taxpayers time to prepare for the change in how education expenses are reported.

TaxesEducation

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works

Life & Work

Current students who are already making payments on existing student loans (such as graduate students or those who returned to school) would benefit from the expanded deduction. Additionally, current students can plan ahead knowing that when they graduate, their future loan payments — both interest and principal — could be tax-deductible up to $10,000 per year, easing the financial burden of taking on education debt.

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Programs

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Feb 12, 2026House

Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Feb 12, 2026

Introduced in House

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Related News

1 article

Quiver Quantitative·Feb 25

New Bill: Representative Daniel S. Goldman introduces H.R. 7536: Generating Relief for Academic Debt Using Assisted Tax Efficiency Act

The GRADUATE Act proposes expanding the student loan interest deduction to include principal payments. It increases the maximum deduction to $10,000 for the taxpayer plus $500 per dependent, with income phase-outs starting at $125,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples.

No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.