File Once FAFSA Act of 2016

To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to simplify the FAFSA requirements for dependent students, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the File Once FAFSA Act of 2016 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) (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 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 the first time (ii) in clause (i)(II), by substituting academic year 2016–2017 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.

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.