I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4245 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce the complexity 

and length of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 

Mrs. MCBATH (for herself and Mr. GARCI ́A of Illinois) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to reduce 

the complexity and length of the Free Application for 

Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). 

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 ‘‘HOPE (Heightening 

5 Opportunities for Pathways to Education) for FAFSA 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 

8 (a) DATA ELEMENTS.—Section 474(b) of the Higher 

9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087nn(b)) is amended 


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1 in paragraph (4), by inserting before ‘‘the net’’ the fol2 lowing: ‘‘only in the case of a pathway three applicant,’’. 

3 (b) DEPENDENT STUDENTS.—Section 475 of such 

4 Act (20 U.S.C. 1087oo) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (a)(3), by inserting before 

6 ‘‘the student’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case of a 

7 pathway three applicant,’’; 

8 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(B), by inserting before 

9 ‘‘the parents’ ’’ the following: ‘‘only in the case of a 

10 pathway three applicant,’’; and 

11 (3) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘award pe12 riod’’ and inserting ‘‘award year’’. 

13 (c) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITHOUT DEPEND14 ENTS OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 476(a)(1)(B) of 

15 such Act (20 U.S.C. 1087pp(a)(1)(B)) is amended by in16 serting before ‘‘the family’s contribution’’ the following: 

17 ‘‘only in the case of a pathway three applicant,’’. 

18 (d) INDEPENDENT STUDENTS WITH DEPENDENTS

19 OTHER THAN A SPOUSE.—Section 477(a)(1)(B) of such 

20 Act (20 U.S.C. 1087qq(a)(1)(B)) is amended by inserting 

21 before ‘‘the family’s contribution’’ the following: ‘‘only in 

22 the case of a pathway three applicant,’’. 

23 SEC. 3. ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 

24 Section 479 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 

25 U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 479. ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION. 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall consider an 

3 applicant to have an expected family contribution equal 

4 to zero if— 

5 ‘‘(1) in the case of a dependent student— 

6 ‘‘(A)(i) the student’s parents are not re7 quired to file— 

8 ‘‘(I) a Federal income tax return; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(II) with respect to Internal 

11 Revenue Service Form 1040, any of 

12 the following forms: Schedule A, 

13 Schedule B, Schedule C, Schedule C– 

14 EZ, Schedule D, Schedule E, Sched15 ule F, Schedule H, Schedule J, and 

16 Schedule SE; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the adjusted gross in18 come of the parents is less than or equal 

19 to $34,000; or 

20 ‘‘(B) the student’s parents, or the student, 

21 received a benefit at some time during the pre22 vious 24-month period under a means-tested 

23 Federal benefit program; 

24 ‘‘(2) in the case of an independent student 

25 without regard to whether the student has depend26 ents other than a spouse— 


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1 ‘‘(A)(i) the student (and the student’s 

2 spouse, if any) certifies— 

3 ‘‘(I) that the student (and the 

4 student’s spouse, if any)— 

5 ‘‘(aa) is not required to file 

6 a Federal income tax return; or 

7 ‘‘(bb) with respect to Inter8 nal Revenue Service Form 1040, 

9 any of the following forms: 

10 Schedule A, Schedule B, Sched11 ule C, Schedule C–EZ, Schedule 

12 D, Schedule E, Schedule F, 

13 Schedule H, Schedule J, and 

14 Schedule SE; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the sum of the adjusted gross in16 come of the student and spouse (if appro17 priate) is less than or equal to $34,000; or 

18 ‘‘(B) the student received a benefit at some 

19 time during the previous 24-month period 

20 under a means-tested Federal benefit program; 

21 or 

22 ‘‘(3) the applicant is a pathway one applicant 

23 under section 483(a)(13). 


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1 ‘‘(b) EARNED INCOME CREDIT.—An individual is not 

2 required to qualify or file for the earned income credit in 

3 order to be eligible under this section. 

4 ‘‘(c) ADJUSTMENTS.—The Secretary shall annually 

5 adjust the income level necessary to qualify an applicant 

6 for the zero expected family contribution. The income level 

7 shall be annually increased by the estimated percentage 

8 change in the Consumer Price Index, as defined in section 

9 478(f), for the most recent calendar year ending prior to 

10 the beginning of an award year, and rounded up to the 

11 nearest $1,000. 

12 ‘‘(d) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT PROGRAM

13 DEFINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, a ‘means14 tested Federal benefit program’ means a mandatory 

15 spending program of the Federal Government, other than 

16 a program under this title, in which eligibility for the pro17 gram’s benefits, or the amount of such benefits, are deter18 mined on the basis of income or resources of the individual 

19 or family seeking the benefit, and may include such pro20 grams as— 

21 ‘‘(1) the supplemental security income program 

22 under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.); 

24 ‘‘(2) the supplemental nutrition assistance pro25 gram under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 


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1 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.), a nutrition assistance program 

2 carried out under section 19 of such Act (7 U.S.C. 

3 2028), and a supplemental nutrition assistance pro4 gram carried out under section 1841(c) of title 48 

5 of the United States Code; 

6 ‘‘(3) the program of block grants for States for 

7 temporary assistance for needy families established 

8 under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 

9 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.); 

10 ‘‘(4) the special supplemental nutrition program 

11 for women, infants, and children established by sec12 tion 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 

13 U.S.C. 1786); 

14 ‘‘(5) the State Medicaid program under title 

15 XIX of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et 

16 seq.); and 

17 ‘‘(6) any other program identified by the Sec18 retary.’’. 

19 SEC. 4. FAFSA PATHWAYS. 

20 Section 483(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 1090) is amended by adding at the end the 

22 following: 

23 ‘‘(13) FAFSA PATHWAYS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) MEMORANDUM OF UNDER25 STANDING.—Not later than the first day of the 


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1 first award year beginning after the first Octo2 ber after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

3 Secretary shall seek to enter into a Memo4 randum of Understanding with the Secretary of 

5 Health and Human Services, the Secretary of 

6 Agriculture, and the Secretary of the Treasury, 

7 under which any information exchanged under 

8 an income and eligibility verification system es9 tablished pursuant to section 1137 of the Social 

10 Security Act by State agencies administering a 

11 program listed in paragraph (1), (4), or (5) of 

12 subsection (b) of such section which may be of 

13 use in establishing or verifying eligibility or 

14 benefit amounts under such program shall be 

15 made available to the Secretary of Education to 

16 assist in determining whether the applicant (or, 

17 in the case of a dependent applicant, whether 

18 the applicant or the applicant’s parents) re19 ceived a benefit at some time during the pre20 vious 24-month period under a means-tested 

21 Federal benefit program, but subject to the re22 quirements of Federal law. 

23 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT FOR ALL APPLICANTS

24 AND THE SECRETARY.—For any award year for 


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1 which an applicant applies for financial assist2 ance under this title— 

3 ‘‘(i) the applicant shall provide on the 

4 form described in this subsection whether 

5 the applicant received (or, in the case of a 

6 dependent applicant, whether the applicant 

7 or the parents of the applicant received) a 

8 benefit at some time during the previous 

9 24-month period under a means-tested 

10 Federal benefit program; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) the Secretary, to the extent prac12 ticable and pursuant to the Memorandum 

13 of Understanding entered into under sub14 paragraph (A), and without any further 

15 action by the applicant, shall verify the ap16 plicant’s (or, in the case of a dependent 

17 applicant, the applicant’s or the applicant’s 

18 parents) receipt of such benefit. 

19 ‘‘(C) PATHWAY ONE APPLICANTS.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an 

21 applicant who received (or, in the case of 

22 a dependent applicant, an applicant who 

23 received or whose parents received) a ben24 efit at some time during the previous 24- 

25 month period under a means-tested FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:33 Sep 10, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4245.IH H4245

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1 eral benefit program, the applicant shall 

2 not be required to provide any further in3 come or asset information on the form 

4 under this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(ii) DESIGNATION.—For purposes of 

6 this section and part F, an applicant de7 scribed in clause (i) shall be referred to as 

8 a ‘pathway one applicant’. 

9 ‘‘(D) PATHWAY TWO APPLICANTS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an 

11 applicant who is not a pathway one appli12 cant and is described in clause (ii), the 

13 Secretary, to the extent practicable, shall 

14 use the data retrieval tool under section 

15 484(q) to obtain any information for the 

16 applicant beyond the information described 

17 in subparagraph (A) for purposes of the 

18 form under this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—An applicant 

20 described in this clause is an applicant who 

21 certifies that— 

22 ‘‘(I) the applicant is not required 

23 to file or, in the case of a dependent 

24 applicant, no parent of the applicant 

25 is required to file— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) a Federal income tax 

2 return; or 

3 ‘‘(bb) with respect to Inter4 nal Revenue Service Form 1040, 

5 any of the following forms: 

6 Schedule A, Schedule B, Sched7 ule C, Schedule C–EZ, Schedule 

8 D, Schedule E, Schedule F, 

9 Schedule H, Schedule J, and 

10 Schedule SE; and 

11 ‘‘(II) the sum of the adjusted 

12 gross income of the applicant or, in 

13 the case of a dependent applicant, the 

14 parents of the applicant, is less than 

15 or equal to $60,000. 

16 ‘‘(iii) DESIGNATION.—For purposes of 

17 this section and part F, an applicant de18 scribed in clause (i) shall be referred to as 

19 a ‘pathway two applicant’. 

20 ‘‘(E) PATHWAY THREE APPLICANTS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—With respect to an 

22 applicant who is not a pathway one appli23 cant or a pathway two applicant, the Sec24 retary, to the extent practicable, shall use 

25 the data retrieval tool under section 484(q) 


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1 to obtain any information for the applicant 

2 beyond the information described in sub3 paragraph (A) for purposes of the form 

4 under this subsection. 

5 ‘‘(ii) DESIGNATION.—For purposes of 

6 this section and part F, an applicant de7 scribed in clause (i) shall be referred to as 

8 a ‘pathway three applicant’. 

9 ‘‘(F) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT

10 PROGRAM DEFINED.—For purposes of this 

11 paragraph, the term ‘means-tested Federal ben12 efit program’ has the meaning given the term 

13 in section 479(d).’’. 

Æ 


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