I 
114TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5528 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to simplify the FAFSA, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 20, 2016 
Mr. HECK of Nevada (for himself, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. POLIS, and Mr. 
POCAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com-
mittee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to simplify 
the FAFSA, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Simplifying the Appli-
cation for Student Aid Act’’. 
SEC. 2. USING DATA FROM SECOND PRECEDING YEAR. 
Section 480(a)(1)(B) of the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1087vv(a)(1)(B)) is amended by striking 
‘‘may’’ in both places it appears and inserting ‘‘shall’’. 
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SEC. 3. CALCULATION OF ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT PERCENT-
AGE FOR FEDERAL PELL GRANTS. 
Section 401(b)(7)(C)(iv)(I) of the Higher Education 
Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070a(b)(7)(C)(iv)(I)) is amended 
by striking ‘‘calendar year’’ and inserting ‘‘fiscal year’’. 
SEC. 4. FAFSA SIMPLIFICATION. 
(a) FAFSA SIMPLIFICATION.—Section 483 of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1090) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)(3), by adding at the end 
the following: 
‘‘(I) FORMAT.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of the enactment of the Simpli-
fying the Application for Student Aid Act, the 
Secretary shall make the electronic version of 
the forms under this paragraph available 
through a technology tool that can be used on 
mobile devices. Such technology tool shall, at 
minimum, enable applicants to— 
‘‘(i) save data; and 
‘‘(ii) submit their FAFSA to the Sec-
retary through such tool. 
‘‘(J) CONSUMER TESTING.—In developing 
and maintaining the electronic version of the 
forms under this paragraph and the technology 
tool for mobile devices under subparagraph (I), 
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the Secretary shall conduct consumer testing 
with appropriate persons to ensure the forms 
and technology tool are designed to be easily 
usable and understandable by students and 
families. Such consumer testing shall include, 
but is not limited to— 
‘‘(i) current and prospective college 
students, family members of such students, 
and other individuals with expertise in stu-
dent financial assistance application proc-
esses; 
‘‘(ii) dependent students and inde-
pendent students meeting the requirements 
under subsection (b) or (c) of section 479; 
and 
‘‘(iii) dependent students and inde-
pendent students who do not meet the re-
quirements under subsection (b) or (c) of 
section 479.’’; and 
(2) by amending subsection (f) to read as fol-
lows: 
‘‘(f) USE OF INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE DATA 
RETRIEVAL TOOL TO POPULATE FAFSA.— 
‘‘(1) SIMPLIFICATION
EFFORTS.—The Sec-
retary shall— 
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‘‘(A) make every effort to use data avail-
able from the Internal Revenue Service to re-
duce the amount of original data entry by appli-
cants and strengthen the reliability of data used 
to calculate expected family contributions, in-
cluding through the use of technology to— 
‘‘(i) automatically populate the elec-
tronic version of the forms under this 
paragraph with data available from the In-
ternal Revenue Service; and 
‘‘(ii) direct an applicant to appro-
priate questions on such forms based on 
the applicant’s answers to previous ques-
tions; and 
‘‘(B) allow single taxpayers, married tax-
payers filing jointly, and married taxpayers fil-
ing separately to utilize the data retrieval tool 
to its full capacity. 
‘‘(2) USE
OF
TAX
RETURN
IN
APPLICATION 
PROCESS.—The Secretary shall continue to examine 
whether data provided by the Internal Revenue Serv-
ice can be used to generate an expected family con-
tribution without additional action on the part of the 
student and taxpayer. 
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‘‘(3) REPORTS ON FAFSA SIMPLIFICATION EF-
FORTS.—Not less than once every other year, the 
Secretary shall report to the authorizing committees 
on the progress of the simplification efforts under 
this subsection. 
‘‘(4) REPORTS
ON
FAFSA
ACCESS.—Not less 
than once every 10 years, the Secretary shall report 
to the authorizing committees on the needs of lim-
ited English proficient students using the FAFSA.’’. 
(b) FUNDING.— 
(1) USE OF EXISTING FUNDS.—Of the amount 
authorized to be appropriated to the Department of 
Education to maintain the Free Application for Fed-
eral Student Aid, $3,000,000 shall be available to 
carry out this Act and the amendments made by this 
Act. 
(2) NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS AUTHORIZED.—No 
funds are authorized by this Act to be appropriated 
to carry out this Act or the amendments made by 
this Act. 
Æ 
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