Sec. 4. FAFSA simplification
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Section 483(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1090(f) ) is amended to read as follows: The Secretary shall— make every effort to make available and allow applicants to utilize the data retrieval tool that is in existence on the date of enactment of the Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2018 to transfer data available from the Internal Revenue Service to reduce the amount of original data entry by applicants and strengthen the reliability of data used to calculate expected family contributions, including through the use of technology to— allow an applicant to automatically populate the electronic version of the forms under this section with data available from the Internal Revenue Service; direct an applicant to appropriate questions on such forms based on the applicant’s answers to previous questions; identify the type of form filed and whether certain forms or schedules, as identified by the Secretary, were filed with Federal form 1040; and allow an applicant to verify that the applicant or the family of the applicant did not file a Federal tax return without additional action on the part of the student; and allow single taxpayers, married taxpayers filing jointly, and married taxpayers filing separately to utilize such data retrieval tool to its full capacity.
The Secretary shall work with the Secretary of the Treasury to expand the capabilities of the Internal Revenue Service data retrieval tool by— incorporating all fields from Federal tax returns and W2 forms relevant to needs analysis; and incorporating line items from forms and schedules identified by the Secretary into the data retrieval tool. The Secretary, in coordination with the head of each agency that administers a specified means-tested Federal benefits program, shall examine how the agency can verify an applicant or an applicant’s family’s receipt of specified means-tested Federal benefits in order to compute an expected family contribution for low-income students in order to simplify, for students, the application process for student financial assistance.
The Secretary shall ensure that a student who is described in section 473(b)(3) or whose adjusted gross income or family adjusted gross income is less than $36,000 annually during the 24-month period preceding the date of the determination, is a full-time student, and submits a form under this section, shall receive a maximum Federal Pell Grant and a zero expected family contribution determination without additional action on the part of the student or the family of the student.
The Secretary shall ensure that a part-time student who is described in section 473(b)(3) and submits a form under this section shall receive a zero expected family contribution determination. The Secretary shall report to Congress annually on the Department's progress in maintaining and expanding the Internal Revenue Service data retrieval tool and in establishing cross agency linkages, as described in this subsection, and simultaneously make such reports publicly available. .
Section 483(a)(3) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1090(a)(3) ) is amended by adding at the end the following: 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 a minimum, enable applicants to— save data; and submit the electronic version of the forms under this paragraph to the Secretary through such tool. . The Secretary, in conjunction with the Director of the Census Bureau, shall determine the most common languages spoken at home in the United States and shall develop versions of the FAFSA form in each of those languages.
Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 ( 20 U.S.C. 1090 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: An institution of higher education may use information provided on a FAFSA to reach out to and counsel a student on the student's eligibility for means-tested benefits in which the student is not enrolled and outside scholarships for which a student is eligible. .
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Sec. 4
FAFSA simplification
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