I 

108TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2956

To begin the process of simplifying the Federal student financial aid process, 

making it easier and more understandable for students and families 

to participate in Federal student financial aid programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2003

Mr. MCKEON (for himself, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. BOEHNER, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. 

PETRI, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. KELLER, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. GREENWOOD, 

Mrs. DAVIS of California, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. 

KUCINICH, Mr. OSBORNE, Mr. HOLT, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Mr. BALLENGER, Mr. SOUDER, Mr. CUNNINGHAM, Mr. UPTON, 

Mr. BLUNT, and Mr. EHLERS) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL

To begin the process of simplifying the Federal student financial aid process, making it easier and more understandable for students and families to participate in Federal student financial aid programs.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Financial Aid Simplification Act’’. 
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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend2 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment 

3 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference 

4 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi5 sion of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 

6 et seq.). 

7 SEC. 2. SIMPLIFICATION OF THE FREE APPLICATION FOR 

8 FEDERAL STUDENT AID (FASFA). 

9 Section 491 (20 U.S.C. 1098) is amended—

10 (1) by redesignating subsection (k) as sub11 section (l); and 

12 (2) by inserting after subsection (j) the fol13 lowing new subsection: 

14 ‘‘(k) SPECIAL STUDY OF SIMPLIFICATION OF NEED

15 ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION FOR TITLE IV AID.—

16 ‘‘(1) STUDY REQUIRED.—The Advisory Com17 mittee shall conduct a thorough study of the feasi18 bility of simplifying the need analysis methodology 

19 for all Federal student financial assistance programs 

20 and the process of applying for such assistance. 

21 ‘‘(2) REQUIRED SUBJECTS OF STUDY.—In per22 forming the study, the Advisory Committee shall, at 

23 a minimum, examine the following: 

24 ‘‘(A) whether the methodology used to cal25 culate the expected family contribution can be 
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1 simplified without significant adverse effects on 

2 program intent, costs, integrity, delivery, and 

3 distribution of awards; 

4 ‘‘(B) whether the number of data elements, 

5 and, accordingly, the number and complexity of 

6 questions asked of students and families, used 

7 to calculate the expected family contribution 

8 can be reduced without such adverse effects; 

9 ‘‘(C) whether the procedures for deter10 mining such data elements, including deter11 mining and updating offsets and allowances, is 

12 the most efficient, effective, and fair means to 

13 determine a family’s available income and as14 sets; 

15 ‘‘(D) whether the nature and timing of ap16 plication required in section 483 (a)(1), eligi17 bility and award determination, financial aid 

18 processing, and funds delivery can be stream19 lined further for students and families, institu20 tions, and States; 

21 ‘‘(E) whether it is feasible to allow stu22 dents to complete limited sections of the finan23 cial aid application that only apply to their spe24 cific circumstances and the State in which they 

25 reside; 
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1 ‘‘(F) whether a widely disseminated print2 ed form, or the use of an Internet or other elec3 tronic means, can be developed to notify indi4 viduals of an estimation of their approximate 

5 eligibility for grant, work-study and loan assist6 ance upon completion and verification of the 

7 simplified application form; and 

8 ‘‘(G) whether information provided on 

9 other Federal forms (such as the form applying 

10 for supplemental security income under title 

11 XVI of the Social Security Act, the form for ap12 plying for food stamps under the Food Stamp 

13 Act of 1977, and the schedule for applying for 

14 the earned income tax credit under section 32 

15 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) that are 

16 designed to determine eligibility for various 

17 Federal need-based assistance programs could 

18 be used to qualify potential students for the 

19 simplified needs test. 

20 ‘‘(3) ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In con21 ducting the feasibility study, the Advisory Commit22 tee’s primary objective under this subsection shall be 

23 simplifying the financial aid application forms and 

24 process and obtaining a substantial reduction in the 

25 number of required data items. In carrying out that 
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1 objective, the Advisory Committee shall pay special 

2 attention to the needs of low-income and moderate3 income students and families. 

4 ‘‘(4) CONSULTATION.—

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Advisory Com6 mittee shall consult with a broad range of inter7 ested parties in higher education, including par8 ents and students, high school guidance coun9 selors, financial aid and other campus adminis10 trators, and administrators of intervention and 

11 outreach programs. 

12 ‘‘(B) FORMS DESIGN EXPERT.—With the 

13 goal of making significant changes to the form 

14 to make the questions more easily understand15 able, the Advisory Committee shall consult a 

16 forms design expert to ensure that the revised 

17 application form is easily readable and under18 stood by parents, students and other members 

19 of the public. 

20 ‘‘(C) CONGRESSIONAL CONSULTATION.—

21 The Advisory Committee shall consult on a reg22 ular basis with the Committee on Education 

23 and the Workforce of the House of Representa24 tives and the Committee on Health, Education, 

25 Labor and Pensions of the Senate in carrying 
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1 out the feasibility study required by this sub2 section. 

3 ‘‘(D) DEPARTMENTAL CONSULTATION.—

4 The Secretary of Education shall provide such 

5 assistance to the Advisory Committee as is re6 quested and practicable in conducting the study 

7 required by this subsection. 

8 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—The Advisory Committee shall, 

9 not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

10 of the Financial Aid Simplification Act, prepare and 

11 submit a report on the study required by this section 

12 to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

13 of the House of Representatives and the Committee 

14 on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the 

15 Senate. 

16 ‘‘(6) IMPLEMENTATION.—Within 1 year of sub17 mission of such report, the Secretary of Education 

18 shall consult with the Committee on Education and 

19 the Workforce of the House of Representatives and 

20 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and 

21 Pensions of the Senate and shall subsequently ini22 tiate a redesign of the form required by the Sec23 retary under section 483. Such redesign shall in24 clude the testing of alternative simplified versions of 

25 the free Federal form. The Secretary shall report on 
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1 the progress of these efforts to the Committee on 

2 Education and the Workforce of the House of Rep3 resentatives and the Committee on Health, Edu4 cation, Labor and Pensions of the Senate not later 

5 than one year after receipt of the Advisory Com6 mittee report required by this section.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. SIMPLIFIED NEEDS TEST IMPROVEMENTS. 

8 Section 479 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended—

9 (1) by striking clause (i) of subsection (b)(1)(A) 

10 and inserting the following: 

11 ‘‘(i) the student’s parents file a form 

12 described in paragraph (3) or certify that 

13 they are not required to file an income tax 

14 return, or the student’s parents or the stu15 dent received benefits under a means-test16 ed Federal benefit program;’’; 

17 (2) by striking clause (i) of subsection 

18 (b)(1)(B) and inserting the following: 

19 ‘‘(i) the student (and the student’s 

20 spouse, if any) files a form described in 

21 paragraph (3) or certifies that the student 

22 (and the student’s spouse, if any) is not re23 quired to file an income tax return, or the 

24 student (or the student’s spouse, if any) 
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1 received benefits under a means-tested 

2 Federal benefit program;’’; 

3 (3) by striking subparagraph (A) of subsection 

4 (c)(1) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) the student’s parents file a form de6 scribed in subsection (b)(3) or certify that they 

7 are not required to file an income tax return, 

8 or the student’s parents or the student received 

9 benefits under a means-tested Federal benefit 

10 program;’’; 

11 (4) by striking subparagraph (A) of subsection 

12 (c)(2) and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(A) the student (and the student’s 

14 spouse, if any) files a form described in sub15 section (b)(3) or certifies that the student (and 

16 the student’s spouse, if any) is not required to 

17 file an income tax return, or the student (or the 

18 student’s spouse, if any) received benefits under 

19 a means-tested Federal benefit program;’’; and 

20 (5) by adding at the end the following new sub21 section: 

22 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION OF MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL

23 BENEFIT PROGRAM.—For purposes of this section, the 

24 term ‘means-tested Federal benefit program’ means a 

25 mandatory spending program of the Federal Government 
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1 in which eligibility for the programs’ benefits, or the 

2 amount of such benefits, or both, are determined on the 

3 basis of income or resources of the individual or family 

4 seeking the benefit, and includes the supplemental security 

5 income program under title XVI of the Social Security, 

6 the food stamp program under the Food Stamp Act of 

7 1977, and the free and reduced price school lunch pro8 gram under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

9 Act.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. EXPANDING INFORMATION DISSEMINATION RE11 GARDING ELIGIBILITY FOR PELL GRANTS. 

12 Sec 483(a) (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)) is amended by add13 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

14 ‘‘(8) EXPANDING INFORMATION DISSEMINATION

15 REGARDING ELIGIBILITY FOR PELL GRANTS.—The 

16 Secretary shall make special efforts, in conjunction 

17 with State efforts, to notify students and their par18 ents who qualify for a free lunch under the Richard 

19 B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 1751 et seq.), the Food Stamps program, or such 

21 programs as the Secretary shall determine, of their 

22 potential eligibility for a maximum Pell Grant, and 

23 shall disseminate such informational materials as the 

24 Secretary deems necessary.’’. 
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1 SEC. 5. IMPLEMENTATION. 

2 Sections 482(c) and 492 of the Higher Education Act 

3 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1089(c), 1098a) shall not apply to 

4 the regulations implementing the amendments made by 

5 section 2 of this Act.

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