I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1277 
To expand college opportunities by significantly simplifying the Federal 
student aid application process. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 14, 2005 
Mr. EMANUEL (for himself, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. RYAN of 
Ohio, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. HOLT, 
Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Ms. SOLIS, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. WATSON, Mr. FILNER, 
Mr. OWENS, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Mr. SKEL-
TON, Mr. JEFFERSON, Mr. SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. 
PAYNE, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. ETHERIDGE, Mr. ISRAEL, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. 
SLAUGHTER, Mr. NEAL of Massachusetts, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. LINDA T. 
SA´NCHEZ of California, and Mr. FORD) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
A BILL 
To expand college opportunities by significantly simplifying 
the Federal student aid application process. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; REFERENCE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘College Aid Made EZ Act’’.
(b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 
provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 
is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 
a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid-
ered to be made to a section or other provision of the 
Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 
SEC. 2. EXPANDING THE AUTO-ZERO AND FURTHER SIM-
PLIFYING THE SIMPLIFIED NEEDS TEST. 
(a) SIMPLIFIED NEEDS TEST.—Section 479 (20 
U.S.C. 1087ss) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (b)— 
(A) in paragraph (1)— 
(i) by striking clause (i) of subpara-
graph (A) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(i) the student’s parents— 
‘‘(I) file, or are eligible to file, a 
form described in paragraph (3); or 
‘‘(II) certify that they are not re-
quired to file an income tax return; or 
‘‘(III) or the student received 
benefits at some time during the pre-
vious 12-month period under a means- 
tested Federal benefit program as de-
fined under subsection (d); and’’; and
(ii) by striking clause (i) of subpara-
graph (B) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(i) the student (and the student’s 
spouse, if any)— 
‘‘(I) files, or is eligible to file, a 
form described in paragraph (3); or 
‘‘(II) certifies that the student 
(and the student’s spouse, if any) is 
not required to file an income tax re-
turn; or 
‘‘(III) received benefits at some 
time during the previous 12-month 
period under a means-tested Federal 
benefit program as defined under sub-
section (d); and’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘A stu-
dent or family files a form described in this 
subsection, or subsection (c), as the case may 
be, if the student or family, respectively, files’’ 
and inserting ‘‘In the case of an independent 
student, the student, or in the case of a depend-
ent student, the parent, files a form described 
in this subsection, or subsection (c), as the case 
may be, if the student or parent, as appro-
priate, files’’;
(2) in subsection (c)— 
(A) in paragraph (1), by striking subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) the student’s parents— 
‘‘(i) file, or are eligible to file, a form 
described in subsection (b)(3); or 
‘‘(ii) certify that they are not required 
to file an income tax return; or 
‘‘(iii) or the student received benefits 
at some time during the previous 12-month 
period under a means-tested Federal ben-
efit program as defined under subsection 
(d); and 
‘‘(B) the sum of the adjusted gross income 
of the parents is less than or equal to $25,000; 
or’’; and 
(B) in paragraph (2), by striking subpara-
graphs (A) and (B) and inserting the following: 
‘‘(A) the student (and the student’s 
spouse, if any)— 
‘‘(i) files, or is eligible to file, a form 
described in subsection (b)(3); or 
‘‘(ii) certifies that the student (and 
the student’s spouse, if any) is not re-
quired to file an income tax return; or
‘‘(iii) received benefits at some time 
during the previous 12-month period under 
a means-tested Federal benefit program as 
defined under subsection (d); and 
‘‘(B) the sum of the adjusted gross income 
of the student and spouse (if appropriate) is 
less than or equal to $25,000.’’; and 
(C) by inserting after the last sentence of 
such subsection the following: ‘‘The Secretary 
shall annually adjust the income level necessary 
to qualify an applicant for the zero expected 
family contribution under this subsection. The 
income level shall be adjusted according to in-
creases in the Consumer Price Index, as speci-
fied in section 478(f).’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new sub-
sections: 
‘‘(d) MEANS-TESTED
FEDERAL
BENEFIT
PRO-
GRAM.—For the purposes of this section, the term ‘means- 
tested Federal benefit program’ means a mandatory 
spending program of the Federal Government in which eli-
gibility for the program’s benefits, or the amount of such 
benefits, or both, are determined on the basis of income 
or resources of the individual or family seeking the benefit, 
and includes the supplemental security income program
under title XVI of the Social Security Act, the food stamp 
program under the Food Stamp Act of 1977, the free and 
reduced price school lunch program established under the 
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, the tem-
porary assistance to needy families program established 
under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, and 
the women, infants and children program established 
under Section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966. 
‘‘(e) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 
shall regularly evaluate the impact of the eligibility guide-
lines in subsections (b)(1)(A)(i), (b)(1)(B)(i), (c)(1)(A) 
and (c)(2)(A) of this section. In particular, the Secretary 
shall evaluate whether the means-tested Federal benefit 
programs (as defined by subsection (d)) ensure that the 
Simplified Needs Test continues to be targeted to the 
maximum number of low- and moderate-income stu-
dents.’’. 
SEC. 3. IMPROVEMENTS TO PAPER AND ELECTRONIC 
FORMS. 
(a) COMMON FINANCIAL AID FORM DEVELOPMENT 
AND PROCESSING.—Section 483 (20 U.S.C. 1090) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) by striking paragraphs (1), (2), and 
(5);
(B) by redesignating paragraphs (3), (4), 
(6), and (7), as paragraphs (9), (10), (11), and 
(12), respectively; 
(C) by inserting before paragraph (9), as 
redesignated by subparagraph (B), the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coopera-
tion with representatives of agencies and organiza-
tions involved in student financial assistance, shall 
produce, distribute, and process free of charge com-
mon financial reporting forms as described in this 
subsection to be used for application and reapplica-
tion to determine the need and eligibility of a stu-
dent for financial assistance under parts A through 
E (other than subpart 4 of part A). These forms 
shall be made available to applicants in both paper 
and electronic formats and shall be referred to as 
the ‘Free Application for Federal Student Aid’ or 
the ‘FAFSA’ . 
‘‘(2) EARLY ESTIMATES.—The Secretary shall 
permit applicants to complete such forms as de-
scribed in this subsection in the years prior to en-
rollment in order to obtain an estimate of the family 
contribution, as defined by section 473. Such appli-
cants shall be permitted to update information sub-
mitted on forms described in this subsection using 
the process required under paragraph (5)(A). 
‘‘(3) PAPER FORMAT.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
produce, distribute, and process common forms 
in paper format to meet the requirements of 
paragraph (1). The Secretary shall develop a 
common paper form for applicants who do not 
meet the requirements of subparagraph (B). 
‘‘(B) EZ FAFSA.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall develop and use a simplified paper 
application form, to be known as the ‘EZ 
FAFSA’, to be used for applicants meeting 
the requirements of section 479(c). 
‘‘(ii) 
REDUCED
DATA
REQUIRE-
MENTS.—The EZ FAFSA shall permit an 
applicant to submit for financial assistance 
purposes, only the data elements required 
to make a determination of whether the 
applicant meets the requirements under 
section 479(c). 
‘‘(iii) STATE
DATA.—The Secretary 
shall include on the EZ FAFSA such data 
items as may be necessary to award State
financial assistance, as provided under 
paragraph (6), except that the Secretary 
shall not include a State’s data if that 
State does not permit its applicants for 
State assistance to use the EZ FAFSA. 
‘‘(iv) FREE AVAILABILITY AND PROC-
ESSING.—The provisions of paragraph (7) 
shall apply to the EZ FAFSA, and the 
data collected by means of the EZ FAFSA 
shall be available to institutions of higher 
education, guaranty agencies, and States 
in accordance with paragraph (9). 
‘‘(v) TESTING.—The Secretary shall 
conduct appropriate field testing on the 
EZ FAFSA. 
‘‘(C) PROMOTING
THE
USE
OF
ELEC-
TRONIC FAFSA.— 
‘‘(i) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary 
shall make all efforts to encourage all ap-
plicants to utilize the electronic forms de-
scribed in paragraph (4). 
‘‘(ii) MAINTENANCE OF THE FAFSA IN 
A
PRINTABLE
ELECTRONIC
FILE.—The 
Secretary shall maintain a version of the 
paper forms described in subparagraphs
(A) and (B) in a printable electronic file 
that is easily portable. The printable elec-
tronic file will be made easily accessible 
and downloadable to students on the same 
website used to provide students with the 
electronic application forms described in 
paragraph (4) of this subsection. The Sec-
retary shall enable students to submit a 
form created under this subparagraph that 
is downloaded and printed from an elec-
tronic file format in order to meet the fil-
ing requirements of this section and in 
order to receive aid from programs under 
this title. 
‘‘(iii) REPORTING
REQUIREMENT.— 
The Secretary shall report annually to 
Congress on the impact of the digital di-
vide on students completing applications 
for title IV aid described under this para-
graph and paragraph (4). The Secretary 
will also report on the steps taken to elimi-
nate the digital divide and phase out the 
paper form described in subparagraph (A) 
of this paragraph. The Secretary’s report 
will specifically address the impact of the