The Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, specifies a loan origination fee of 1 percent for all Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans, and a fee of 4 percent for all Direct PLUS Loans for both parent borrowers and graduate and professional student borrowers. Student loan origination fees generated a staggering $1.7 billion in revenue for the federal government in award year 2019-20, and $6.7 billion over the past four award years. These fees, a relic of the increased cost to operate federal student loans under the defunct bank-based student lending program, now work solely as a federal budget deficit reduction tool. Congress should eliminate student loan origination fees, the hidden student loan tax.