As the U.S. Senate debates withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, one member is trying to help soldiers fend off their tuition bills.

Sen. Evan Bayh, an Indiana Democrat, has proposed legislation that would make soldiers participating in the direct-loan program, in which they borrowed directly from the Education Department, eligible for the same deferment of interest-rate accrual that some soldiers already get from private lenders who provide federally guaranteed loans.

Active-duty soldiers already can defer student-loan payments, but the interest continues to accrue in many instances. Mr. Bayh’s plan would expand the deferment to cover the actual accrual of interest; extend the deferment to the spouses of active-duty soldiers; increase the eligibility period to five years from three years; and end a restriction that now limits eligibility for the deferment to loans issued after July 2001.

The senator’s proposals would apply only to the direct-loan program, said Jonathan Swain, a spokesman for Mr. Bayh. The deferment of interest-rate accrual already is available in the bank-based program of federally backed student lending, for soldiers whose income levels made them eligible for the subsidy payments while they were in college, Mr. Swain said.

“This bill fills a gap that was being missed,” he said.

Senator Bayh may try to attach his proposal as an amendment to a budget bill, though he doesn’t have a particular one in mind, Mr. Swain said.

The senator has no estimate of the cost of his plan, though he cites figures from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service in estimating that it could mean an average savings of $1,183 to $1,479 in interest payments for soldiers activated for 12 to 15 months. —Paul Basken