[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Page S1950]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
By Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen):
S. 2596. A bill to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to amend
the process by which students with certain special circumstances apply
for Federal financial aid; to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions.
Mr. CARDIN. Mr. President, I would like to bring the Senate's
attention to Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Fairness
Act of 2018, the common sense legislation I am introducing with the
junior Senator from Maryland today. This legislation seeks to eliminate
a barrier that potential college students with difficult personal and
financial circumstances face when applying for Federal financial aid.
This body has worked to improve the college application process for
students and their families over the last several years and
successfully lobbied the Department of Education to allow students and
their families to submit their FAFSA application in October and utilize
prior-prior year tax data. These changes provide future college
students and their families with several months to submit their
financial information instead of a short time frame between January and
February to meet State and institutional based deadlines for need- and
merit-based financial aid programs. These steps have made it easier to
students to sit with their families and make informed financial
decisions on which college or university will provide the student with
the highest quality yet least expensive college education.
Despite our work, a number of our students are being left behind and
cannot take advantage of these changes. Those students, who face
difficult personal and financial situations, including those who have
left home due to abusive family environments, have parents who are
incarcerated, or are unable to locate their parents are unable to fill
out the FAFSA application. Rather than fill out one universal Federal
financial aid application form, a potential college student must
contact each institution they are applying to and undergo a
``dependency override'' process before a college or university will put
together an estimated financial aid package for the student. Under this
process, a student applying to one university in my state must submit
nine different pieces of financial information, personal statement, and
references in order to verify their independent status. These students,
often first generation students unfamiliar with the process for
applying to school, may give up on the dependency override process and
fail to finish the college application process or leave significant
Federal financial aid on the table.
The FAFSA Fairness Act would seek to correct this inequity for some
of our most vulnerable students. If enacted, my legislation would allow
students in these difficult personal and financial circumstances to
fill out a FAFSA as a ``provisional independent'' student that colleges
and universities would be able to provide those students with an
initial financial aid award package. Once the student has had the
opportunity to review the financial aid award packages from the schools
they applied to and selected the school of their choice, that school's
financial aid administrators will work with the student to complete the
``dependency override'' process and finalize the student's financial
aid award package.
I'm proud to lead the Senate efforts with my seatmate from Maryland
and appreciate the work of my colleague from Maryland's 7th
Congressional District to lead this effort in the House of
Representatives. I urge my colleagues to join in this effort to help
students achieve their dream of higher education despite their
difficult family and financial circumstances.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the joint
resolution be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the text of the joint resolution was
ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows:
S. 2596
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``FAFSA Fairness Act of
2018''.
SEC. 2. CHANGES TO THE FAFSA FOR CERTAIN STUDENTS.
Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C.
1090) is amended--
(1) in subsection (h)(1), by inserting the following before
the semicolon: ``, including the special circumstances under
which a student may qualify for a determination of
independence''; and
(2) by adding at the end the following:
``(i) Provisional Independent Students.--
``(1) Requirements for the secretary.--The Secretary
shall--
``(A) enable each student who, based on the special
circumstance specified in subsection (h)(1), may qualify for
an adjustment under section 479A that will result in a
determination of independence under such section and section
480(d)(1)(I), to complete the forms developed by the
Secretary under subsection (a) as an independent student for
the purpose of an initial determination of the student's
Federal financial aid award by a financial aid administrator
at an institution of higher education to which the student is
applying for financial aid, but subject to verification under
paragraph (2)(B) for the purpose of the final determination
of the award; and
``(B) specify, on the forms, the consequences under section
490(a) of knowingly and willfully completing the forms as an
independent student under subparagraph (A) without meeting
the special circumstances to qualify for such a
determination.
``(2) Requirements for financial aid administrators.--With
respect to a student who completes the forms as an
independent student under paragraph (1)(A), a financial aid
administrator shall--
``(A) provide an initial determination of the student's
Federal financial aid award to the student in the same manner
as, and by not later than the date that, the administrator
provides other independent students their initial
determinations of Federal financial aid awards; and
``(B) in making a final determination of the student's
Federal financial aid award, use the discretion provided
under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) to verify whether the
student meets the special circumstances to qualify as an
independent student.
``(3) Definition.--For purposes of this subsection, the
term `other independent students' means students--
``(A) who meet the definition of `independent' under
section 480(d)(1); and
``(B) whose independent status is not subject to
verification by a financial aid administrator under paragraph
(2)(B).''.
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