I 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2015 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to simplify the financial aid 

application process, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 6, 2017 

Mr. DOGGETT (for himself, Ms. ADAMS, Ms. BARRAGA ́N, Mr. BEYER, Mr. 

BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mrs. 

BUSTOS, Mr. CA ́RDENAS, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mr. CARTWRIGHT, Mr. 

CASTRO of Texas, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CUELLAR, Mrs. DAVIS of California, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 

GARAMENDI, Mr. GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIE ́RREZ, Mr. HASTINGS, 

Mr. HIGGINS of New York, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Ms. EDDIE

BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIND, 

Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA ́N

of New Mexico, Ms. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. 

MEEKS, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. NADLER, Mr. NOLAN, Ms. 

NORTON, Mr. O’ROURKE, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. POCAN, Mr. PRICE of North 

Carolina, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. SA ́NCHEZ, Mr. 

SARBANES, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. 

SOTO, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Ms. TITUS, Mrs. TORRES, Ms. 

VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. WILSON of South Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to simplify 

the financial aid application process, and for other purposes. 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

2 

•HR 2015 IH

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Equitable Student Aid 

5 Access Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 

7 (a) SIMPLIFIED NEEDS TEST.—Section 479(b)(1) of 

8 the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 

9 1087ss(b)(1)) is amended— 

10 (1) in subparagraph (A)(i)— 

11 (A) in subclause (II), by adding ‘‘or’’ at 

12 the end; 

13 (B) in subclause (III), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

14 the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

15 (C) by striking subclause (IV); and 

16 (2) in subparagraph (B)(i)— 

17 (A) in subclause (II), by adding ‘‘or’’ at 

18 the end; 

19 (B) in subclause (III), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

20 the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

21 (C) by striking subclause (IV). 

22 (b) ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION.—Sec23 tion 479(c) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

24 U.S.C. 1087ss(c)) is amended— 

25 (1) in paragraph (1)— 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

3 

•HR 2015 IH

1 (A) by inserting ‘‘except as provided in 

2 paragraph (3),’’ before ‘‘in the case of’’; 

3 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

4 (i) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘or’’ at 

5 the end; 

6 (ii) in clause (iii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

7 the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

8 (iii) by striking clause (iv); and 

9 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

10 at the end; 

11 (2) in paragraph (2)— 

12 (A) by inserting ‘‘except as provided in 

13 paragraph (3),’’ before ‘‘in the case of’’; 

14 (B) in subparagraph (A)— 

15 (i) in clause (ii), by adding ‘‘or’’ at 

16 the end; 

17 (ii) in clause (iii) by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

18 the end and inserting ‘‘and’’; and 

19 (iii) by striking clause (iv); and 

20 (C) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 

21 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

22 (3) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol23 lowing: 

24 ‘‘(3)(A) in the case of a dependent student, the 

25 student or a member of the student’s household remstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

4 

•HR 2015 IH

1 ceived benefits at some time during the previous 24- 

2 month period under a means-tested Federal benefit 

3 program as defined under subsection (d); or 

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of an independent student 

5 (without regard to whether such student has depend6 ents), the student received benefits at some time 

7 during the previous 24-month period under a means8 tested Federal benefit program as defined under 

9 subsection (d).’’. 

10 (c) INCOME THRESHOLD.—Section 479(c) of the 

11 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss(c)) is 

12 amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘$23,000’’ 

14 and inserting ‘‘$30,000’’; and 

15 (2) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘$23,000’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘$30,000’’. 

17 (d) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT PRO18 GRAM.—Section 479(d)(2) of the Higher Education Act 

19 of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss(d)(2)) is amended by striking 

20 subparagraph (C) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(C) the Medicaid program established 

22 under title XIX of the Social Security Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.);’’. 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS

5 

•HR 2015 IH

1 SEC. 3. USING DATA FROM SECOND PRECEDING YEAR. 

2 Section 480(a)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 

3 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(a)(1)(B)) is amended— 

4 (1) by striking ‘‘may’’ in both places it appears 

5 and inserting ‘‘shall’’; and 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘sharing of data between’’ and 

7 inserting ‘‘sharing of data, to the extent such data 

8 is available, between’’. 

9 SEC. 4. EARLY FAFSA SUBMISSION. 

10 Section 483(a)(8) of the Higher Education Act of 

11 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090(a)(8)) is amended by striking ‘‘as 

12 early as practicable prior to January 1 of’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘not later than October 1 of the year preceding’’. 

14 SEC. 5. EFFECTIVE DATE. 

15 The amendments made by this Act shall apply with 

16 respect to award years beginning after the date of the en17 actment of this Act. 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSK30JT082PROD with BILLS