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, the hidden student loan tax, generated a staggering $1.7 billion in revenue for the federal government in award year 2023-24, and $6.5 billion over the past four award years. The average undergraduate borrower in a four-year program will pay an estimated $227 in origination fees and associated interest if enrolled in a standard 10-year repayment plan, while the average graduate student in a two-year program pays about $1,370 in fees and interest on that fee if repaying over 10 years. Origination fees, a relic of bank-based student lending, increase complexity in the federal student loan system and should be eliminated.