[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 24 (Thursday, February 7, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1137-S1138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Van Hollen):
  S. 416. 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 the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) 
Fairness Act of 2019, common sense legislation I am introducing with my 
colleague from Maryland, Senator Van Hollen 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 that too often has left them without a path 
forward to earning a college education and joining the middle class.
  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 for 
students to sit with their families and make informed financial 
decisions on which college or university will provide 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. Many of these students face 
difficult personal and financial situations. For instance, some have 
left home due to abusive family environments; others may have parents 
who are incarcerated. Still others may be unable to locate their 
parents. All of the students in these circumstances 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 she or he is 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 of Maryland, 
for instance, must submit nine different pieces of financial 
information, a personal statement, and references 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.
  Mr. President, I think it is unfair that we place additional burdens 
on these students. We should not make opening the door to a brighter 
future harder than it is already. In Maryland, we know that access to a 
high-quality, yet affordable, education is the key to success and 
increasingly required for entry into the middle class. Regardless of a 
student's background or the circumstances that he or she has fought to 
overcome, it is my belief that this Congress should work to ensure 
maximum access to higher education.
  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 form as a ``provisional independent'' student and 
receive a provisional determination of their Federal financial aid 
award from the Department of Education. The colleges that the student 
applies to would receive notification of the student's special 
circumstances and conduct outreach to inform the student of the process 
for completing a dependency override. After a student has completed the 
dependency override form, the school would provide the student with a 
final financial aid award package that includes Federal, State, and 
institutional need- and merit-based aid so the student could bargain 
shop for the best financial aid award package between multiple schools. 
After such students have been admitted to college, this legislation 
would allow them to remain focused on their classwork instead of annual 
recertification of their independent status by maintaining the 
dependency override decision for as long as they remain in school or if 
the university is made aware of new information about their status. My 
legislation would provide students with a pathway to complete the 
FAFSA, one of the first steps towards applying to college and obtaining 
a foothold in the middle class. It also provides students with an 
opportunity to identify the colleges and universities that match up the 
best with their financial situation and educational goals.
  I am proud to lead this Senate effort with my colleague from Maryland 
and appreciate the work of our delegation, especially U.S. 
Representatives Elijah E. Cummings, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, and John 
P. Sarbanes, who are introducing a companion bill in the U.S. House of 
Representatives. I urge my Senate colleagues to join in this effort to 
help some of our most vulnerable and disadvantaged 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 bill be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be 
printed in the Record, as follows:

                                 S. 416

       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 
     2019''.

     SEC. 2. PROVISIONAL INDEPENDENCE 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--

[[Page S1138]]

       ``(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 a provisional determination of the student's 
     Federal financial aid award, but subject to verification 
     under paragraph (2)(E) for the purpose of the final 
     determination of the award;
       ``(B) upon completion of the forms developed by the 
     Secretary under subsection (a), provide an estimate of the 
     student's Federal Pell Grant award, based on the assumption 
     the student is determined to be an independent student;
       ``(C) ensure that, on each form developed under this 
     section, there is a single and easily understood screening 
     question to identify an applicant for aid who wishes to 
     provisionally apply for independent status under sections 
     479A and 480(d)(1)(I); and
       ``(D) 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 accepted for admission who completes the 
     forms as an independent student under paragraph (1)(A), a 
     financial aid administrator--
       ``(A) shall notify the student of the institutional process 
     and requirements for an adjustment under sections 479A and 
     480(d)(1)(I) that will result in a determination of 
     independence under such sections within a reasonable time 
     after the student completes the forms developed by the 
     Secretary under subsection (a) as an independent student for 
     the purpose of a provisional determination of the student's 
     Federal financial aid award;
       ``(B) may make an adjustment under sections 479A and 
     480(d)(1)(I) for a determination of independence in the 
     absence of conflicting information;
       ``(C) shall provide a final 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 most other provisionally independent students their 
     final determinations of Federal financial aid awards, or 
     during the award year in which the student initially submits 
     an application, whichever comes sooner;
       ``(D) shall, 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;
       ``(E) in accordance with paragraph (B), may consider as 
     adequate verification that a student qualifies for an 
     adjustment under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I)--
       ``(i) submission of a court order or official Federal or 
     State documentation that the student's parent or legal 
     guardian is incarcerated in any Federal or State penal 
     institution;
       ``(ii) a documented phone call with, or a written statement 
     from--

       ``(I) a child welfare agency authorized by a State or 
     county;
       ``(II) a Tribal child welfare authority;
       ``(III) an independent living case worker; or
       ``(IV) a public or private agency, facility, or program 
     serving the victims of abuse, neglect, assault, or violence;

       ``(iii) a documented phone call with, or a written 
     statement from, an attorney, a guardian ad litem, or a court 
     appointed special advocate, documenting that person's 
     relationship to the student;
       ``(iv) a documented phone call with, or a written statement 
     from, a representative of a program under chapter 1 or 2 of 
     subpart 2 of part A; or
       ``(v) submission of a copy of the student's biological or 
     adoptive parents' or legal guardians'--

       ``(I) certificates of death; or
       ``(II) verified obituaries;

       ``(F) if a student does not have, and cannot get, 
     documentation from any of the designated authorities 
     described in subparagraph (E) of whether a student may 
     qualify for an adjustment under sections 479A and 
     480(d)(1)(I) that will result in a determination of 
     independence, may base the verification and final 
     determination on--
       ``(i) a documented interview with the student that is 
     limited to whether the student meets the requirements, and 
     not about the reasons for the student's situations; and
       ``(ii) an attestation from the student that they meet the 
     requirements, which includes a description of the approximate 
     dates that the student ended the financial or caregiving 
     relationship with their parent or legal guardian, to the best 
     of the student's knowledge;
       ``(G) retain all documents related to the adjustment under 
     sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I), including documented 
     interviews, for the duration of the student's enrollment at 
     the institution and for a minimum of 1 year after the student 
     is no longer enrolled at the institution; and
       ``(H) shall presume that any student who has obtained an 
     adjustment under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) and a final 
     determination of independence for a preceding award year at 
     an institution to be independent for a subsequent award year 
     at the same institution unless--
       ``(i) the student informs the institution that 
     circumstances have changed; or
       ``(ii) the institution has specific conflicting information 
     about the student's independence.''.

     

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