I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1608 

To expand college opportunities by significantly simplifying the Federal 

student aid application process. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 20, 2007 

Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California (for himself, Mr. EMANUEL, Mr. 

HINOJOSA, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. SESTAK, Mr. 

YARMUTH, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Mr. ARCURI, Mrs. BOYDA of Kansas, Mr. 

DELAHUNT, Mr. HALL of New York, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Ms. SUTTON, 

and Ms. WATSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To expand college opportunities by significantly simplifying 

the Federal student aid application process. 

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; REFERENCE. 

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

5 ‘‘College Aid Made EZ Act’’. 

6 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 

7 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 

8 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 


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1 a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid2 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the 

3 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 

4 SEC. 2. IMPROVEMENTS TO PAPER AND ELECTRONIC 

5 FORMS AND PROCESSES. 

6 (a) COMMON FINANCIAL AID FORM DEVELOPMENT

7 AND PROCESSING.—Section 483 (20 U.S.C. 1090) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) in subsection (a)— 

10 (A) by striking paragraphs (1), (2), and 

11 (5); 

12 (B) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), 

13 (6), and (7), as paragraphs (9), (10), (11), and 

14 (12), respectively; 

15 (C) by inserting before paragraph (9), as 

16 redesignated by subparagraph (B), the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera19 tion with representatives of agencies and organiza20 tions involved in student financial assistance, shall 

21 produce, distribute, and process free of charge com22 mon financial reporting forms as described in this 

23 subsection to be used for application and reapplica24 tion to determine the need and eligibility of a stu25 dent for financial assistance under parts A through 


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1 E (other than subpart 4 of part A). These forms 

2 shall be made available to applicants in both paper 

3 and electronic formats and shall be referred to as 

4 the ‘Free Application for Federal Student Aid’ or 

5 the ‘FAFSA’ . The Secretary shall work to make the 

6 FAFSA consumer-friendly and to make questions on 

7 the FAFSA easy for students and parents to read 

8 and understand. 

9 ‘‘(2) EARLY ESTIMATES.—The Secretary 

10 shall— 

11 ‘‘(A) permit applicants to enter data in 

12 such forms as described in this subsection in 

13 the years prior to enrollment in order to esti14 mate the applicant’s family contribution (as de15 fined in section 473); 

16 ‘‘(B) permit applicants to update informa17 tion submitted on forms described in this sub18 section, without needing to re-enter previously 

19 submitted information; and 

20 ‘‘(C) develop a means to inform applicants, 

21 in the years prior to enrollment, of student aid 

22 options for individuals in similar financial situa23 tions. 

24 ‘‘(3) PAPER FORMAT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

2 produce, distribute, and process common forms 

3 in paper format to meet the requirements of 

4 paragraph (1). The Secretary shall develop a 

5 common paper form for applicants who do not 

6 meet the requirements of subparagraph (B). 

7 ‘‘(B) EZ FAFSA.— 

8 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

9 shall develop and use a simplified paper 

10 application form, to be known as the ‘EZ 

11 FAFSA’, to be used for applicants meeting 

12 the requirements of section 479(c). 

13 ‘‘(ii) REDUCED DATA REQUIRE14 MENTS.—The EZ FAFSA shall permit an 

15 applicant to submit for financial assistance 

16 purposes, only the data elements required 

17 to make a determination of whether the 

18 applicant meets the requirements under 

19 section 479(c). 

20 ‘‘(iii) STATE DATA.—The Secretary 

21 shall include on the EZ FAFSA such data 

22 items as may be necessary to award State 

23 financial assistance, as provided under 

24 paragraph (6), except that the Secretary 

25 shall not include a State’s data if that 


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1 State does not permit its applicants for 

2 State assistance to use the EZ FAFSA. 

3 ‘‘(iv) FREE AVAILABILITY AND PROC4 ESSING.—The provisions of paragraph (7) 

5 shall apply to the EZ FAFSA, and the 

6 data collected by means of the EZ FAFSA 

7 shall be available to institutions of higher 

8 education, guaranty agencies, and States 

9 in accordance with paragraph (9). 

10 ‘‘(v) TESTING.—The Secretary shall 

11 conduct appropriate field testing on the 

12 EZ FAFSA. 

13 ‘‘(C) PROMOTING THE USE OF ELEC14 TRONIC FAFSA.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

16 shall make all efforts to encourage all ap17 plicants to utilize the electronic forms de18 scribed in paragraph (4). 

19 ‘‘(ii) MAINTENANCE OF THE FAFSA IN

20 A PRINTABLE ELECTRONIC FILE.—The 

21 Secretary shall maintain a version of the 

22 paper forms described in subparagraphs 

23 (A) and (B) in a printable electronic file 

24 that is easily portable. The printable elec25 tronic file will be made easily accessible 


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1 and downloadable to students on the same 

2 website used to provide students with the 

3 electronic application forms described in 

4 paragraph (4) of this subsection. The Sec5 retary shall enable students to submit a 

6 form created under this subparagraph that 

7 is downloaded and printed from an elec8 tronic file format in order to meet the fil9 ing requirements of this section and in 

10 order to receive aid from programs under 

11 this title. 

12 ‘‘(iii) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.— 

13 The Secretary shall report annually to 

14 Congress on the impact of the digital di15 vide on students completing applications 

16 for title IV aid described under this para17 graph and paragraph (4). The Secretary 

18 will also report on the steps taken to elimi19 nate the digital divide and phase out the 

20 paper form described in subparagraph (A) 

21 of this paragraph. The Secretary’s report 

22 will specifically address the impact of the 

23 digital divide on the following student pop24 ulations: independent students, adults, and 

25 dependent students. 


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1 ‘‘(4) ELECTRONIC FORMAT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

3 produce, distribute, and process common forms 

4 in electronic format to meet the requirements of 

5 paragraph (1). The Secretary shall develop 

6 common electronic forms for applicants who do 

7 not meet the requirements of subparagraph (C) 

8 of this paragraph. 

9 ‘‘(B) STATE DATA.—The Secretary shall 

10 include on the common electronic forms space 

11 for information that needs to be entered for the 

12 applicant to be eligible for State financial as13 sistance, as provided under paragraph (6), ex14 cept the Secretary shall not require applicants 

15 to enter data required by any State other than 

16 the applicant’s State of residence. 

17 ‘‘(C) SIMPLIFIED APPLICATIONS: FAFSA ON

18 THE WEB.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

20 shall develop and use a simplified elec21 tronic application form to be used by appli22 cants meeting the requirements under sub23 section (c) of section 479 and an addi24 tional, separate simplified electronic appli25 cation form to be used by applicants meetVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:44 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1608.IH H1608

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1 ing the requirements under subsection (b) 

2 of section 479. 

3 ‘‘(ii) REDUCED DATA REQUIRE4 MENTS.—The simplified electronic applica5 tion forms shall permit an applicant to 

6 submit for financial assistance purposes, 

7 only the data elements required to make a 

8 determination of whether the applicant 

9 meets the requirements under subsection 

10 (b) or (c) of section 479. 

11 ‘‘(iii) STATE DATA.—The Secretary 

12 shall include on the simplified electronic 

13 application forms such data items as may 

14 be necessary to award state financial as15 sistance, as provided under paragraph (6), 

16 except that the Secretary shall not require 

17 applicants to enter data required by any 

18 State other than the applicant’s state of 

19 residence. 

20 ‘‘(iv) AVAILABILITY AND PROC21 ESSING.—The data collected by means of 

22 the simplified electronic application forms 

23 shall be available to institutions of higher 

24 education, guaranty agencies, and States 

25 in accordance with paragraph (9). 


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1 ‘‘(v) TESTING.—The Secretary shall 

2 conduct appropriate field testing on the 

3 forms developed under this subparagraph. 

4 ‘‘(D) USE OF FORMS.—Nothing in this 

5 subsection shall be construed to prohibit the use 

6 of the forms developed by the Secretary pursu7 ant to this paragraph by an eligible institution, 

8 eligible lender, guaranty agency, State grant 

9 agency, private computer software provider, a 

10 consortium thereof, or such other entities as the 

11 Secretary may designate. 

12 ‘‘(E) PRIVACY.—The Secretary shall en13 sure that data collection under this paragraph 

14 complies with section 552a of title 5, United 

15 States Code, and that any entity using the elec16 tronic version of the forms developed by the 

17 Secretary pursuant to this paragraph shall 

18 maintain reasonable and appropriate adminis19 trative, technical, and physical safeguards to 

20 ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the 

21 information, and to protect against security 

22 threats, or unauthorized uses or disclosures of 

23 the information provided on the electronic 

24 version of the forms. Data collected by such 

25 electronic version of the forms shall be used 


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1 only for the application, award, and administra2 tion of aid awarded under this title, State aid 

3 awarded under section 415C, or aid awarded by 

4 eligible institutions or such entities as the Sec5 retary may designate. No data collected by such 

6 electronic version of the forms shall be used for 

7 making final aid awards under this title until 

8 such data have been processed by the Secretary 

9 or a contractor or designee of the Secretary, ex10 cept as may be permitted under this title. 

11 ‘‘(F) SIGNATURE.—Notwithstanding any 

12 other provision of this Act, the Secretary may 

13 permit an electronic form under this paragraph 

14 to be submitted without a signature, if a signa15 ture is subsequently submitted by the applicant 

16 or if the applicant uses a personal identification 

17 number provided by the Secretary under sub18 paragraph (G) of this paragraph. 

19 ‘‘(G) PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUM20 BERS AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary may assign 

21 to applicants personal identification numbers— 

22 ‘‘(i) to enable the applicants to use 

23 such numbers in lieu of a signature for 

24 purposes of completing a form under this 

25 paragraph; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) to enable the applicants to use 

2 such numbers in lieu of a signature for 

3 purposes of completing forms required by 

4 States under section 415C; and 

5 ‘‘(iii) for any purpose determined by 

6 the Secretary to enable the Secretary to 

7 carry out this title. 

8 ‘‘(5) STREAMLINING.— 

9 ‘‘(A) STREAMLINED REAPPLICATION PROC10 ESS.— 

11 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

12 shall develop streamlined reapplication 

13 forms and processes, including both paper 

14 and electronic reapplication processes, con15 sistent with the requirements of this sub16 section, for an applicant who applies for fi17 nancial assistance under this title in the 

18 next succeeding academic year subsequent 

19 to the year in which such applicant first 

20 applied for financial assistance under this 

21 title. 

22 ‘‘(ii) MECHANISMS FOR REAPPLICA23 TION.—The Secretary shall develop appro24 priate mechanisms to support reapplica25 tion. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) IDENTIFICATION OF UPDATED

2 DATA.—The Secretary shall determine, in 

3 cooperation with States, institutions of 

4 higher education, agencies, and organiza5 tions involved in student financial assist6 ance, the data elements that can be up7 dated from the previous academic year’s 

8 application. 

9 ‘‘(iv) REDUCED DATA AUTHORIZED.— 

10 Nothing in this title shall be construed as 

11 limiting the authority of the Secretary to 

12 reduce the number of data elements re13 quired of reapplicants. 

14 ‘‘(v) ZERO FAMILY CONTRIBUTION.— 

15 Applicants determined to have a zero fam16 ily contribution pursuant to section 479(c) 

17 shall not be required to provide any finan18 cial data in a reapplication form, except 

19 that which is necessary to determine eligi20 bility under such section. 

21 ‘‘(B) REDUCTION OF DATA ELEMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(i) REDUCTION REQUIRED.—Of the 

23 number of data elements on the FAFSA 

24 on the date of enactment of the College 

25 Aid Made EZ Act (including questions on 


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1 the FAFSA for the purposes described in 

2 paragraph (6)), the Secretary, in coopera3 tion with representatives of agencies and 

4 organizations involved in student financial 

5 assistance, shall reduce the number of such 

6 data elements required to be entered by 

7 the applicant by 50 percent within 5 years 

8 after such date of enactment. Reductions 

9 of data elements under paragraph (3)(B), 

10 (4)(C), or (5)(A)(iv) shall not be counted 

11 towards such 50 percent reduction unless 

12 those data elements are reduced for all ap13 plicants. 

14 ‘‘(ii) REPORT.—The Secretary shall 

15 submit a report on the process of this re16 duction to each House of Congress within 

17 2 years after such date of enactment. 

18 ‘‘(6) STATE REQUIREMENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

20 include on the forms developed under this sub21 section, such State-specific nonfinancial data 

22 items as the Secretary determines are necessary 

23 to meet State requirements for need-based 

24 State aid under section 415C, except as pro25 vided in paragraphs (3)(B)(iii) and (4)(C)(iii) 


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1 of this subsection. Such items shall be selected 

2 in consultation with State agencies that submit 

3 applications under section 415C in order to as4 sist in the awarding of State financial assist5 ance in accordance with the terms of this sub6 section, except as provided in paragraphs 

7 (3)(B)(iii) and (4)(C)(iii) of this subsection. 

8 The number of such data items shall not be less 

9 than the number included on the form on Octo10 ber 7, 1998, unless a State notifies the Sec11 retary that the State no longer requires those 

12 data items for the distribution of State need13 based aid. 

14 ‘‘(B) ANNUAL REVIEW.—The Secretary 

15 shall conduct an annual review process to deter16 mine which forms and nonfinancial data items 

17 the States require to award need-based State 

18 aid and other application requirements that the 

19 States may impose. 

20 ‘‘(C) STATE USE OF SIMPLIFIED FORMS.— 

21 The Secretary shall encourage States to take 

22 such steps as necessary to encourage the use of 

23 simplified application forms, including those de24 scribed in paragraphs (3)(B) and (4)(C), to 


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1 meet the requirements under subsection (b) or 

2 (c) of section 479. 

3 ‘‘(D) FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE.—The 

4 Secretary shall publish on an annual basis a no5 tice in the Federal Register requiring State 

6 agencies to inform the Secretary— 

7 ‘‘(i) if the State agency is unable to 

8 permit applicants to utilize the simplified 

9 application forms described in paragraphs 

10 (3)(B) and (4)(C); and 

11 ‘‘(ii) of the State-specific nonfinancial 

12 data that the State agency requires for de13 livery of State need-based financial aid. 

14 ‘‘(E) STATE NOTIFICATION TO THE SEC15 RETARY.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Each State agency 

17 that submits an application under section 

18 415C shall notify the Secretary— 

19 ‘‘(I) whether the State permits 

20 an applicant to file a form described 

21 in paragraph (3)(B) or (4)(A) of this 

22 subsection for purposes of deter23 mining eligibility for State need-based 

24 grant aid; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) the State-specific non2 financial data that the State agency 

3 requires for delivery of State need4 based financial aid. 

5 ‘‘(ii) ACCEPTANCE OF FORMS.—In the 

6 event that a State does not permit an ap7 plicant to file a form described in para8 graph (3)(B) or (4)(A) of this subsection 

9 for purposes of determining eligibility for 

10 State need-based grant aid— 

11 ‘‘(I) the State shall notify the 

12 Secretary if the State is not permitted 

13 to do so because of either State law or 

14 because of agency policy; and 

15 ‘‘(II) the notification under sub16 clause (I) shall include an estimate of 

17 the program cost to permit applicants 

18 to complete simplified application 

19 forms under paragraphs (3)(B) and 

20 (4)(A) of this subsection. 

21 ‘‘(iii) LACK OF NOTIFICATION BY THE

22 STATE.—If a State does not notify the 

23 Secretary pursuant to clause (i), the Sec24 retary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(I) permit residents of that 

2 State to complete simplified applica3 tion forms under paragraphs (3)(B) 

4 and (4)(A) of this subsection; and 

5 ‘‘(II) not require any resident of 

6 that State to complete any non7 financial data previously required by 

8 that State under this section. 

9 ‘‘(7) CHARGES TO STUDENTS AND PARENTS

10 FOR USE OF FORMS PROHIBITED.— 

11 ‘‘(A) FEES PROHIBITED.—The FAFSA, in 

12 whatever form (including the EZ–FAFSA, 

13 paper, electronic, simplified, or reapplication), 

14 shall be produced, distributed, and processed by 

15 the Secretary and no parent or student shall be 

16 charged a fee for the collection, processing, or 

17 delivery of financial aid through the use of the 

18 FAFSA. The need and eligibility of a student 

19 for financial assistance under parts A through 

20 E of this title (other than under subpart 4 of 

21 part A) may only be determined by using the 

22 FAFSA developed by the Secretary pursuant to 

23 this subsection. No student may receive assist24 ance under parts A through E of this title 

25 (other than under subpart 4 of part A), except 


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1 by use of the FAFSA developed by the Sec2 retary pursuant to this subsection. No data col3 lected on a form for which a fee is charged shall 

4 be used to complete the FAFSA. 

5 ‘‘(B) NOTICE.—Any entity that provides to 

6 students and parents, or charges students or 

7 parents for, any value-added services with re8 spect to or in connection with the FAFSA, such 

9 as completion of the FAFSA, submission of the 

10 FAFSA, or tracking of the FAFSA for a stu11 dent, shall provide to students and parents 

12 clear and conspicuous notice that— 

13 ‘‘(i) the FAFSA is a free Federal stu14 dent aid application; 

15 ‘‘(ii) the FAFSA can be completed 

16 without professional assistance; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) includes the current Internet ad18 dress for the FAFSA on the Department’s 

19 web site. 

20 ‘‘(8) APPLICATION PROCESSING CYCLE.—The 

21 Secretary shall enable students to submit a form 

22 created under this subsection in order to meet the 

23 filing requirements of this section and in order to re24 ceive aid from programs under this title and shall 

25 initiate the processing of applications under this 


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1 subsection as early as practicable prior to October 

2 15 of the year prior to the student’s planned year 

3 of enrollment.’’; 

4 (2) by adding at the end of subsection (a) the 

5 following paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(13) EARLY APPLICATION AND AWARD DEM7 ONSTRATION PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(A) PROGRAM REQUIRED.—The Secretary 

9 shall, no later than two years after the date of 

10 enactment of the College Aid Made EZ Act, im11 plement an early application demonstration pro12 gram enabling dependent students to complete 

13 applications under this subsection in their jun14 ior year of high school, or in the academic year 

15 that is two years prior to their intended year of 

16 enrollment, and to be eligible to receive aid 

17 under this title and such aid as may be avail18 able from participants, including State financial 

19 assistance as provided under section 415C and 

20 other aid provided by participating institutions. 

21 ‘‘(B) PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES.—The 

22 purpose of the demonstration program under 

23 this paragraph shall be to measure the benefits, 

24 in terms of student aspirations and plans to at25 tend college, and the adverse effects, in terms 


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1 of program costs, integrity, distribution, and 

2 delivery of aid under this title, of implementing 

3 an early application system for all dependent 

4 students that allows dependent students to 

5 apply for financial aid using information from 

6 the year prior to the year prior to enrollment. 

7 Additional objectives associated with implemen8 tation of the demonstration program are the 

9 following: 

10 ‘‘(i) Measure the feasibility of ena11 bling dependent students to apply for Fed12 eral, State, and institutional financial aid 

13 in their junior year of high school, using 

14 information from the year prior to the year 

15 prior to enrollment, by completing any of 

16 the application forms under this sub17 section. 

18 ‘‘(ii) Identify whether receiving final 

19 financial aid awards no later than the fall 

20 of the senior year provides students with 

21 additional time to compete for the limited 

22 resources available for State and institu23 tional financial aid and positively impacts 

24 the college aspirations and plans of these 

25 students. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Measure the impact of using in2 come information from the years prior to 

3 enrollment on— 

4 ‘‘(I) eligibility for financial aid 

5 under this title and for other institu6 tional aid; and 

7 ‘‘(II) the cost of financial aid 

8 programs under this title. 

9 ‘‘(iv) Effectively evaluate the benefits 

10 and adverse effects of the demonstration 

11 program on program costs, integrity, dis12 tribution, and delivery of aid. 

13 ‘‘(C) PARTICIPANTS.—The Secretary shall 

14 select States and institutions within those 

15 States to participate in the demonstration pro16 gram under this paragraph that are partici17 pating in the programs under this title and that 

18 are willing to make final financial aid awards to 

19 students based on their application information 

20 from the year prior to the year prior to enroll21 ment. The Secretary shall also select as partici22 pants in the demonstration program secondary 

23 schools and dependent students that are located 

24 in the participating States. 


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1 ‘‘(D) APPLICATION PROCESS.—The Sec2 retary shall insure that the following provisions 

3 are included in the demonstration program: 

4 ‘‘(i) Participating States and institu5 tions shall allow participating students to 

6 apply for financial aid during their junior 

7 year of high school using information from 

8 the year prior to the year prior to enroll9 ment and all provisions available under 

10 this title and shall award final financial aid 

11 awards to participating students based on 

12 the applications provided under this dem13 onstration program. 

14 ‘‘(ii) Participating States and institu15 tions shall not require students partici16 pating in this demonstration program to 

17 complete an additional application in the 

18 year prior to enrollment in order to receive 

19 State aid under section 415C and any 

20 other institutional aid. 

21 ‘‘(iii) Financial aid administrators at 

22 participating institutions shall be allowed 

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1 lined under section 479A and section 

2 480(d)(7). 

3 ‘‘(E) EVALUATION.—The Secretary shall 

4 conduct a rigorous evaluation of this dem5 onstration program in order to measure its ben6 efits and adverse effects as indicated under sub7 paragraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(F) OUTREACH.—The Secretary shall 

9 make appropriate efforts in order to notify 

10 States of the demonstration program under this 

11 paragraph. Upon determination of participating 

12 States, the Secretary shall continue to make ef13 forts to notify institutions and dependent stu14 dents within participating States of the oppor15 tunity to participate in the demonstration pro16 gram and of the participation requirements.’’ 

17 (3) by striking subsection (b); and 

18 (4) by redesignating subsections (c), (d), and 

19 (e) as subsections (b), (c), and (d), respectively. 

20 (b) MASTER CALENDAR.—Section 482(a)(1) (20 

21 U.S.C. 1089(a)(1)) is amended by striking subparagraphs 

22 (B) and (C) and inserting the following: 

23 ‘‘(B) by March 1: proposed modifications, 

24 updates, and notices pursuant to sections 


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1 479(c)(2)(C), 478, and 483(a)(6) published in 

2 the Federal Register; 

3 ‘‘(C) by June 1: final modifications, up4 dates, and notices pursuant to sections 478, 

5 479(c)(2)(C), and 483(a)(6) published in the 

6 Federal Register;’’. 

7 SEC. 3. INCREASING ACCESS TO TECHNOLOGY. 

8 Section 483 (20 U.S.C. 1087ss) is further amended 

9 by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(e) ADDRESSING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE.—The Sec11 retary shall utilize savings accrued by moving more appli12 cants to the electronic forms described in subsection (a)(4) 

13 to improve access to the electronic forms described in sub14 section (a)(4) for applicants meeting the requirements of 

15 section 479(c).’’ 

16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

17 (a) TOTAL INCOME.—Section 480(a) (20 U.S.C. 

18 1087vv(a)) is amended— 

19 (1) in paragraph (1), by inserting before the pe20 riod at the end the following: ‘‘, except that the Sec21 retary may, by regulation, provide for the use of the 

22 previous tax year when and to the extent necessary 

23 to carry out the sense of Congress in section 5(a) of 

24 the College Aid Made EZ Act’’; and 

25 (2) in paragraph (2)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘and no portion’’ and in2 serting ‘‘no portion’’; and 

3 (B) by inserting ‘‘and no distribution from 

4 any qualified education benefit described in sub5 section (f)(3) that is not subject to Federal in6 come tax,’’ after ‘‘1986,’’. 

7 (b) UNTAXED INCOME AND BENEFITS.—Section 

8 480(b) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(b)) is amended to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(b) UNTAXED INCOME AND BENEFITS.— 

11 ‘‘(1) The term ‘untaxed income and benefits’ 

12 means— 

13 ‘‘(A) child support received; 

14 ‘‘(B) workman’s compensation; 

15 ‘‘(C) veteran’s benefits such as death pen16 sion, dependency, and indemnity compensation, 

17 but excluding veterans’ education benefits as 

18 defined in subsection (c); 

19 ‘‘(D) interest on tax-free bonds; 

20 ‘‘(E) housing, food, and other allowances 

21 (excluding rent subsidies for low-income hous22 ing) for military, clergy, and others (including 

23 cash payments and cash value of benefits); 


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1 ‘‘(F) cash support or any money paid on 

2 the student‘s behalf, except, for dependent stu3 dents, funds provided by the student’s parents; 

4 ‘‘(G) untaxed portion of pensions; 

5 ‘‘(H) payments to individual retirement ac6 counts and Keogh accounts excluded from in7 come for Federal income tax purposes; and 

8 ‘‘(I) any other untaxed income and bene9 fits, such as Black Lung Benefits, Refugee As10 sistance, railroad retirement benefits, or Job 

11 Training Partnership Act noneducational bene12 fits or benefits received through participation in 

13 employment and training activities under title I 

14 of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. 

15 ‘‘(2) The term ‘untaxed income and benefits’ 

16 shall not include the amount of additional child tax 

17 credit claimed for Federal income tax purposes.’’. 

18 (c) ASSETS.—Section 480(f) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(f)) 

19 is amended— 

20 (1) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘shall not be 

21 considered an asset of a student for purposes of sec22 tion 475’’ and inserting ‘‘shall be considered an 

23 asset of the parent for purposes of section 475’’; 

24 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (4) and (5) as 

25 paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; and 


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1 (3) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(4) A qualified education benefit shall be con4 sidered an asset of the student for purposes of sec5 tion 476 and 477.’’. 

6 (d) OTHER FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 

7 480(j)(2) (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(j)(2)) is amended by insert8 ing ‘‘, or a distribution that is not includable in gross in9 come under section 529 of such Code, under another pre10 paid tuition plan offered by a State, or under a Coverdell 

11 education savings account under section 530 of such 

12 Code,’’ after ‘‘1986’’. 

13 SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE CONGRESS; REPORT. 

14 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of the Con15 gress that— 

16 (1) in order to simplify the Free Application for 

17 Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which serves as an 

18 entry point for the scholarships, grants, loans, and 

19 work-study assistance that make it possible for mil20 lions of students to attend college, the Secretary of 

21 Education and of the Secretary of the Treasury 

22 should work together to develop a process by which 

23 the Department of Education will, with the aid ap24 plicant’s permission, draw income information diVerDate Aug 31 2005 17:44 Mar 23, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1608.IH H1608

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1 rectly from the Internal Revenue Service for the 

2 purpose of completing the FAFSA; and 

3 (2) this process would— 

4 (A) ease the burden of reporting income5 related information for applicants; 

6 (B) increase the efficiency, accuracy, and 

7 security of the FAFSA filing process; 

8 (C) significantly reduce the need for fur9 ther verification by the Department of Edu10 cation, institutions, and applicants; and 

11 (D) protect the security, privacy, and safe12 ty of all data used in the FAFSA filing process. 

13 (b) REPORT.—The Secretary of Education shall, 

14 within one year after the date of enactment of this Act— 

15 (1) provide the Congress with information on 

16 the progress in devising the simplified process de17 scribed in subsection (a); and 

18 (2) inform the Congress of any necessary statu19 tory changes for the purpose of increasing the effi20 ciency and effectiveness of the FAFSA application 

21 process. 

Æ 


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