I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1075 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to amend the process by which students with certain special circumstances apply for Federal fi- nancial aid. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 7, 2019 Mr. CUMMINGS (for himself, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, and Mr. SARBANES) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu- cation and Labor A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to amend the process by which students with certain special cir- cumstances apply for Federal financial aid. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘FAFSA Fairness Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. PROVISIONAL INDEPENDENCE FOR CERTAIN STU- 6 DENTS. 7 Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 8 U.S.C. 1090) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Feb 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1075.IH H1075 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1075 IH (1) in subsection (h)(1), by inserting the fol- 1 lowing before the semicolon: ‘‘, including the special 2 circumstances under which a student may qualify for 3 a determination of independence’’; and 4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 5 ‘‘(i) PROVISIONAL INDEPENDENT STUDENTS.— 6 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENTS FOR THE SECRETARY.— 7 The Secretary shall— 8 ‘‘(A) enable each student who, based on 9 the special circumstance specified in subsection 10 (h)(1), may qualify for an adjustment under 11 section 479A that will result in a determination 12 of independence under such section and section 13 480(d)(1)(I), to complete the forms developed 14 by the Secretary under subsection (a) as an 15 independent student for the purpose of a provi- 16 sional determination of the student’s Federal fi- 17 nancial aid award, but subject to verification 18 under paragraph (2)(E) for the purpose of the 19 final determination of the award; 20 ‘‘(B) upon completion of the forms devel- 21 oped by the Secretary under subsection (a), 22 provide an estimate of the student’s Federal 23 Pell Grant award, based on the assumption the 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Feb 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1075.IH H1075 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1075 IH student is determined to be an independent stu- 1 dent; 2 ‘‘(C) ensure that, on each form developed 3 under this section, there is a single and easily 4 understood screening question to identify an ap- 5 plicant for aid who wishes to provisionally apply 6 for independent status under sections 479A and 7 480(d)(1)(I); and 8 ‘‘(D) specify, on the forms, the con- 9 sequences under section 490(a) of knowingly 10 and willfully completing the forms as an inde- 11 pendent student under subparagraph (A) with- 12 out meeting the special circumstances to qualify 13 for such a determination. 14 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR FINANCIAL AID AD- 15 MINISTRATORS.—With respect to a student accepted 16 for admission who completes the forms as an inde- 17 pendent student under paragraph (1)(A), a financial 18 aid administrator— 19 ‘‘(A) shall notify the student of the institu- 20 tional process and requirements for an adjust- 21 ment under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) 22 that will result in a determination of independ- 23 ence under such sections within a reasonable 24 time after the student completes the forms de- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Feb 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1075.IH H1075 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1075 IH veloped by the Secretary under subsection (a) 1 as an independent student for the purpose of a 2 provisional determination of the student’s Fed- 3 eral financial aid award; 4 ‘‘(B) may make an adjustment under sec- 5 tions 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) for a determina- 6 tion of independence in the absence of con- 7 flicting information; 8 ‘‘(C) shall provide a final determination of 9 the student’s Federal financial aid award to the 10 student in the same manner as, and by not 11 later than the date that, the administrator pro- 12 vides most other provisionally independent stu- 13 dents their final determinations of Federal fi- 14 nancial aid awards, or during the award year in 15 which the student initially submits an applica- 16 tion, whichever comes sooner; 17 ‘‘(D) shall, in making a final determination 18 of the student’s Federal financial aid award, 19 use the discretion provided under sections 479A 20 and 480(d)(1)(I) to verify whether the student 21 meets the special circumstances to qualify as an 22 independent student; 23 ‘‘(E) in accordance with paragraph (B), 24 may consider as adequate verification that a 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Feb 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1075.IH H1075 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1075 IH student qualifies for an adjustment under sec- 1 tions 479A and 480(d)(1)(I)— 2 ‘‘(i) submission of a court order or of- 3 ficial Federal or State documentation that 4 the student’s parent or legal guardian is 5 incarcerated in any Federal or State penal 6 institution; 7 ‘‘(ii) a documented phone call with, or 8 a written statement from— 9 ‘‘(I) a child welfare agency au- 10 thorized by a State or county; 11 ‘‘(II) a Tribal child welfare au- 12 thority; 13 ‘‘(III) an independent living case 14 worker; or 15 ‘‘(IV) a public or private agency, 16 facility, or program serving the vic- 17 tims of abuse, neglect, assault, or vio- 18 lence; 19 ‘‘(iii) a documented phone call with, 20 or a written statement from, an attorney, 21 a guardian ad litem, or a court appointed 22 special advocate, documenting that per- 23 son’s relationship to the student; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Feb 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1075.IH H1075 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1075 IH ‘‘(iv) a documented phone call with, or 1 a written statement from, a representative 2 of a program under chapter 1 or 2 of sub- 3 part 2 of part A; or 4 ‘‘(v) submission of a copy of the stu- 5 dent’s biological or adoptive parents’ or 6 legal guardians’— 7 ‘‘(I) certificates of death; or 8 ‘‘(II) verified obituaries; 9 ‘‘(F) if a student does not have, and can- 10 not get, documentation from any of the des- 11 ignated authorities described in subparagraph 12 (E) of whether a student may qualify for an ad- 13 justment under sections 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) 14 that will result in a determination of independ- 15 ence, may base the verification and final deter- 16 mination on— 17 ‘‘(i) a documented interview with the 18 student that is limited to whether the stu- 19 dent meets the requirements, and not 20 about the reasons for the student’s situa- 21 tions; and 22 ‘‘(ii) an attestation from the student 23 that they meet the requirements, which in- 24 cludes a description of the approximate 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Feb 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1075.IH H1075 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1075 IH dates that the student ended the financial 1 or caregiving relationship with their parent 2 or legal guardian, to the best of the stu- 3 dent’s knowledge; 4 ‘‘(G) retain all documents related to the 5 adjustment under sections 479A and 6 480(d)(1)(I), including documented interviews, 7 for the duration of the student’s enrollment at 8 the institution and for a minimum of 1 year 9 after the student is no longer enrolled at the in- 10 stitution; and 11 ‘‘(H) shall presume that any student who 12 has obtained an adjustment under sections 13 479A and 480(d)(1)(I) and a final determina- 14 tion of independence for a preceding award year 15 at an institution to be independent for a subse- 16 quent award year at the same institution un- 17 less— 18 ‘‘(i) the student informs the institu- 19 tion that circumstances have changed; or 20 ‘‘(ii) the institution has specific con- 21 flicting information about the student’s 22 independence.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:55 Feb 20, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1075.IH H1075 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS