File Once FAFSA Act of 2016

Summary: File Once FAFSA Act of 2016 This bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to revise the Free Application for Federal Student Aid process for low-income students applying for Federal Pell Grants. Specifically, the bill allows dependent students to apply for aid once. Thus, students who receive Pell Grants need not apply again in subsequent years, unless they become independent of their family.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``File Once FAFSA Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FAFSA SIMPLIFICATION.

    (a) One-Time FAFSA Filing for Dependent Students.--Section 483(a) 
of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(13) One-time fafsa filing for dependent students.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Notwithstanding any other 
                provision of this section and subject to subparagraphs 
                (B) and (C), an applicant who submits a FAFSA for the 
                first time during the period required for the 
                completion of the first undergraduate baccalaureate 
                course of study being pursued by such applicant and is 
                determined to be a dependent student who is eligible to 
                receive a Federal Pell Grant for the academic year for 
                which the applicant submitted such FAFSA--
                            ``(i) for any succeeding academic year for 
                        which the applicant does not submit a FAFSA and 
                        for which the applicant submits a certification 
                        form described in subparagraph (D) based on 
                        which the Secretary confirms that the applicant 
                        is a dependent student for such year--
                                    ``(I) shall not be required to 
                                submit a FAFSA to receive financial 
                                assistance under this title; and
                                    ``(II) shall have an expected 
                                family contribution for such year that 
                                is equal to the expected family 
                                contribution of the applicant 
                                determined for the academic year for 
                                which the applicant submitted a FAFSA 
                                during such period, except that an 
                                adjustment to such expected family 
                                contribution may be made under section 
                                479A;
                            ``(ii) if the applicant submits a FAFSA for 
                        any succeeding academic year--
                                    ``(I) shall have an expected family 
                                contribution for such year that is 
                                determined based on such FAFSA; and
                                    ``(II) shall be required to submit 
                                a FAFSA for any other academic year for 
                                which the applicant seeks financial 
                                assistance under this title; and
                            ``(iii) if the applicant is determined to 
                        be an independent student for any succeeding 
                        academic year or does not submit a 
                        certification form described in subparagraph 
                        (D), shall submit a FAFSA for such succeeding 
                        academic year and any other academic year for 
                        which the applicant seeks financial assistance 
                        under this title.
                    ``(B) Adjustment of expected family contribution.--
                With respect to an applicant described in subparagraph 
                (A)(i) who receives an adjustment under section 479A to 
                the expected family contribution of the applicant for 
                an academic year, for any succeeding academic year 
                after the academic year for which the adjustment was 
                made, subclause (II) of such subparagraph shall be 
                applied to such applicant by substituting `expected 
                family contribution of the applicant as most recently 
                adjusted under section 479A for such applicant' for the 
                `expected family contribution of the applicant 
                determined for the academic year for which the 
                applicant submitted a FAFSA during such period'.
                    ``(C) Rule for certain students.--With respect to 
                an applicant who submits a FAFSA for academic year 
                2016-2017 and enrolls in an institution of higher 
                education for such year, subparagraph (A) shall be 
                applied--
                            ``(i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 
                        by substituting `academic year 2016-2017' for 
                        `the first time'; and
                            ``(ii) in clause (i)(II), by substituting 
                        `academic year 2016-2017' for `the academic 
                        year for which the applicant submitted a FAFSA 
                        during such period'.
                    ``(D) Dependent student certification form.--The 
                Secretary, in cooperation with representatives of 
                agencies and organizations involved in student 
                financial assistance, shall use behavioral science 
                insights to produce, distribute, and process free of 
                charge a short and simple consumer-tested dependent 
                student certification form that uses skip logic to 
                bypass fields that are inapplicable to an applicant. 
                Such form shall not require an applicant to provide 
                data that the Secretary may otherwise obtain with 
                respect to the applicant (such as age or active duty 
                military status), and may only contain the data 
                elements required for purposes of subparagraph (A)(i)--
                            ``(i) to confirm that the applicant is a 
                        dependent student;
                            ``(ii) to allow the applicant to update the 
                        contact information of such applicant or the 
                        Federal School Code of the institution of 
                        higher education in which the applicant is, or 
                        will be enrolled, for the academic year for 
                        which the applicant submits such form; and
                            ``(iii) to ask whether the applicant's need 
                        and eligibility for financial assistance under 
                        this title has not changed substantially since 
                        the most recent of the following:
                                    ``(I) The applicant submitted a 
                                FAFSA.
                                    ``(II) The applicant received an 
                                adjustment under section 479A to the 
                                expected family contribution of the 
                                applicant.
                    ``(E) Succeeding academic year defined.--In this 
                paragraph, the term `succeeding academic year'--
                            ``(i) when used with respect to an 
                        applicant who submits a FAFSA for the first 
                        time for an academic year during the period 
                        required for the completion of the first 
                        undergraduate baccalaureate course of study 
                        being pursued by such applicant, means any 
                        academic year during such period that follows 
                        the academic year for which the applicant 
                        submits such FAFSA; and
                            ``(ii) when used with respect to an 
                        applicant described in subparagraph (C), means 
                        any academic year after academic year 2016-2017 
                        during the period required for the completion 
                        of the first undergraduate baccalaureate course 
                        of study being pursued by such applicant.''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section shall be 
effective with respect to determining the expected family contribution 
of applicants for award year 2017-2018 and each succeeding award year.