Student Aid Improvement Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2557 To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve the financial aid process for students, to provide continued support for minority-serving institutions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 Mr. ALEXANDER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to improve the financial aid process for students, to provide contin- ued support for minority-serving institutions, and for other purposes. 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; REFERENCES. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Student Aid Improvement Act of 2019’’. 5 (b) REFERENCES.—Except as otherwise expressly 6 provided, whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal 7 is expressed in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2557 IS a section or other provision, the reference shall be consid- 1 ered to be made to a section or other provision of the 2 Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.). 3 SEC. 2. CONTINUED SUPPORT FOR MINORITY-SERVING IN- 4 STITUTIONS. 5 Sec. 371(b)(1)(A) (20 U.S.C. 1067q(b)(1)(A)) is 6 amended by striking ‘‘for each of the fiscal years 2008 7 through 2019.’’ and all that follows, and inserting the fol- 8 lowing: ‘‘for fiscal year 2020 and each fiscal year there- 9 after.’’. 10 SEC. 3. MAKING IT EASIER TO APPLY FOR FEDERAL AID 11 AND MAKING THAT AID PREDICTABLE. 12 (a) NEED ANALYSIS.— 13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 471 (20 U.S.C. 14 1087kk) is amended to read as follows: 15 ‘‘SEC. 471. AMOUNT OF NEED. 16 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as otherwise provided 17 therein, beginning with award year 2021–2022, the 18 amount of need of any student for financial assistance 19 under this title (except subpart 1 or 2 of part A) is equal 20 to— 21 ‘‘(1) the cost of attendance of such student; 22 minus 23 ‘‘(2) the student aid index (as defined in section 24 473) for such student; minus 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2557 IS ‘‘(3) other financial assistance not received 1 under this title (as defined in section 480(j)). 2 ‘‘(b) EFFECTIVE DATE OF CHANGES.—The amend- 3 ments made to this title under the Student Aid Improve- 4 ment Act of 2019 shall take effect beginning with award 5 year 2021–2022. The amounts provided under such 6 amendments for award year 2020–2021 shall be used sole- 7 ly as a base to determine adjustments for subsequent 8 award years.’’. 9 (2) MAXIMUM AID UNDER PART D.—Section 10 451 (20 U.S.C. 1087a) is amended by adding at the 11 end the following: 12 ‘‘(c) MAXIMUM AID.—The maximum dollar amount 13 of financial assistance provided under this part to a stu- 14 dent shall not exceed the cost of attendance for such stu- 15 dent.’’. 16 (b) STUDENT AID INDEX.—Section 473 (20 U.S.C. 17 1087mm) is amended to read as follows: 18 ‘‘SEC. 473. STUDENT AID INDEX. 19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose of this title, 20 other than subpart 1 or 2 of part A, the term ‘student 21 aid index’ means, with respect to a student, an index that 22 reflects an evaluation of a student’s approximate financial 23 resources to contribute toward the student’s postsecondary 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2557 IS education for the academic year, as determined in accord- 1 ance with this part. 2 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL RULE FOR STUDENTS ELIGIBLE FOR 3 THE TOTAL MAXIMUM PELL GRANT.—The Secretary 4 shall consider an applicant to automatically have a student 5 aid index equal to zero if the applicant is eligible for the 6 total maximum Federal Pell Grant under subpart 1 of 7 part A, except if the applicant has a calculated student 8 aid index of less than zero the Secretary shall consider 9 the negative number as the student aid index for the appli- 10 cant. 11 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULE FOR NONFILERS.—For an appli- 12 cant (or, as applicable, an applicant and spouse, or an ap- 13 plicant’s parents) not required filed a Federal tax return 14 for the applicable tax year, the Secretary shall for the pur- 15 poses of this title consider the student aid index as equal 16 to ¥$1,500 for the applicant. 17 ‘‘(d) SPECIAL RULE FOR RECIPIENTS OF MEANS- 18 TESTED BENEFITS.—For an applicant (including the stu- 19 dent, the student’s parent, or the student’s spouse, as ap- 20 plicable) who at any time during the previous 24-month 21 period was a recipient of a means-tested Federal benefit 22 program, the Secretary shall consider an applicant to 23 automatically have a student aid index equal to zero, ex- 24 cept if the applicant has a calculated student aid index 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2557 IS of less than zero the Secretary shall consider the negative 1 number as the student aid index for the applicant. 2 ‘‘(e) MEANS-TESTED FEDERAL BENEFIT PRO- 3 GRAM.—In this section, the term ‘means-tested Federal 4 benefit program’ means any of the following: 5 ‘‘(1) The supplemental security income program 6 under title XVI of the Social Security Act (42 7 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.). 8 ‘‘(2) The supplemental nutrition assistance pro- 9 gram under the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 (7 10 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.). 11 ‘‘(3) The program of block grants for States for 12 temporary assistance for needy families established 13 under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act 14 (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.). 15 ‘‘(4) The special supplemental nutrition pro- 16 gram for women, infants, and children established 17 by section 17 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 18 U.S.C. 1786). 19 ‘‘(5) The Medicaid program under title XIX of 20 the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).’’. 21 (c) DETERMINATION OF STUDENT AID INDEX.—Sec- 22 tion 474 (20 U.S.C. 1087nn) is amended to read as fol- 23 lows: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2557 IS ‘‘SEC. 474. DETERMINATION OF STUDENT AID INDEX. 1 ‘‘The student aid index— 2 ‘‘(1) for a dependent student shall be deter- 3 mined in accordance with section 475; 4 ‘‘(2) for a single independent student or a mar- 5 ried independent student without dependents (other 6 than a spouse) shall be determined in accordance 7 with section 476; and 8 ‘‘(3) for an independent student with depend- 9 ents other than a spouse shall be determined in ac- 10 cordance with section 477.’’. 11 (d) STUDENT AID INDEX FOR DEPENDENT STU- 12 DENTS.—Section 475 (20 U.S.C. 1087oo) is amended to 13 read as follows: 14 ‘‘SEC. 475. STUDENT AID INDEX FOR DEPENDENT STU- 15 DENTS. 16 ‘‘(a) COMPUTATION OF STUDENT AID INDEX.— 17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each dependent stu- 18 dent, the student aid index is equal to (except as 19 provided in paragraph (2)) the sum of— 20 ‘‘(A) the assessment of the parents’ ad- 21 justed available income (determined in accord- 22 ance with subsection (b)); 23 ‘‘(B) the assessment of the student’s avail- 24 able income (determined in accordance with 25 subsection (g)); and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 2557 IS ‘‘(C) the student’s available assets (deter- 1 mined in accordance with subsection (h)). 2 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—If the sum of paragraphs 3 (1), (2), and (3) with respect to a dependent student 4 is less than ¥$1,500, the student aid index for the 5 dependent student shall be ¥$1,500. 6 ‘‘(b) ASSESSMENT OF PARENTS’ ADJUSTED AVAIL- 7 ABLE INCOME.—The assessment of parents’ adjusted 8 available income is equal to the amount determined by— 9 ‘‘(1) computing adjusted available income by 10 adding— 11 ‘‘(A) the parents’ available income (deter- 12 mined in accordance with subsection (c)); and 13 ‘‘(B) the parents’ available assets (deter- 14 mined in accordance with subsection (d)); 15 ‘‘(2) assessing such adjusted available income in 16 accordance with the assessment schedule set forth in 17 subsection (e); and 18 ‘‘(3) considering such assessment resulting 19 under paragraph (2) as the amount determined 20 under this subsection. 21 ‘‘(c) PARENTS’ AVAILABLE INCOME.— 22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The parents’ available in- 23 come is determined by subtracting from total income 24 (as defined in section 480)— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 2557 IS ‘‘(A) Federal income taxes; 1 ‘‘(B) an allowance for payroll taxes, deter- 2 mined in accordance with paragraph (2); 3 ‘‘(C) an income protection allowance, de- 4 termined in accordance with paragraph (3); and 5 ‘‘(D) an employment expense allowance, 6 determined in accordance with paragraph (4). 7 ‘‘(2) ALLOWANCE FOR PAYROLL TAXES.—The 8 allowance for payroll taxes is equal to the sum of— 9 ‘‘(A) the total amount earned by the par- 10 ents, multiplied by the rate of tax under section 11 3101(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 12 and 13 ‘‘(B) the amount earned by the parents 14 that does not exceed such contribution and ben- 15 efit base (twice such contribution and benefit 16 base, in the case of a joint return) for the year 17 of the earnings, multiplied by the rate of tax 18 applicable to such earnings under section 19 3101(a) of such Code. 20 ‘‘(3) INCOME PROTECTION ALLOWANCE.—The 21 income protection allowance for award year 2020– 22 2021 and each succeeding award year shall equal 23 the amount determined in the following table, as ad- 24 justed by the Secretary pursuant to section 478(b): 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 2557 IS ‘‘Income Protection Allowance 2020–2021 (to be adjusted for 2021–2022 and succeeding years) Family Size (including student) Amount 2 ...................................................................................................... $19,080 3 ...................................................................................................... $23,760 4 ...................................................................................................... $29,340 5 ...................................................................................................... $34,620 6 ...................................................................................................... $40,490 For each additional add .................................................................. $4,750. ‘‘(4) EMPLOYMENT EXPENSE ALLOWANCE.— 1 The employment expense allowance is equal to the 2 lesser of $4,000 or 35 percent of the single parent’s 3 earned income or married parents’ combined earned 4 income (or is equal to a successor amount as ad- 5 justed by the Secretary pursuant to section 478(g)). 6 ‘‘(d) PARENTS’ AVAILABLE ASSETS.— 7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 8 ‘‘(A) DETERMINATION.—Except as pro- 9 vided in subparagraph (B), the parents’ avail- 10 able assets are equal to— 11 ‘‘(i) the difference between the par- 12 ents’ net assets and the education savings 13 and asset protection allowance (determined 14 in accordance with paragraph (2)); multi- 15 plied by 16 ‘‘(ii) 12 percent. 17 ‘‘(B) NOT LESS THAN ZERO.—Parents’ 18 available assets under this subsection shall not 19 be less than zero. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 2557 IS ‘‘(2) EDUCATION SAVINGS AND ASSET PROTEC- 1 TION ALLOWANCE.—The education savings and asset 2 protection allowance is calculated according to the 3 following table (or a successor table prescribed by 4 the Secretary under section 478(d)): 5 ‘‘Education Savings and Asset Protection Allowances for Parents of Dependent Students If the age of the oldest parent is— And there are two parents one parent then the allowance is— 25 or less ........................ $0 $0 26 .................................... $300 $100 27 .................................... $700 $200 28 .................................... $1,000 $300 29 .................................... $1,300 $500 30 .................................... $1,600 $600 31 .................................... $2,000 $700 32 .................................... $2,300 $800 33 .................................... $2,600 $900 34 .................................... $2,900 $1,000 35 .................................... $3,300 $1,100 36 .................................... $3,600 $1,200 37 .................................... $3,900 $1,300 38 .................................... $4,200 $1,500 39 .................................... $4,600 $1,600 40 .................................... $4,900 $1,700 41 .................................... $5,100 $1,700 42 .................................... $5,200 $1,700 43 .................................... $5,300 $1,800 44 .................................... $5,400 $1,800 45 .................................... $5,500 $1,900 46 .................................... $5,700 $1,900 47 .................................... $5,800 $1,900 48 .................................... $6,000 $2,000 49 .................................... $6,100 $2,000 50 .................................... $6,300 $2,100 51 .................................... $6,400 $2,100 52 .................................... $6,600 $2,200 53 .................................... $6,800 $2,200 54 .................................... $6,900 $2,300 55 .................................... $7,100 $2,300 56 .................................... $7,300 $2,400 57 .................................... $7,500 $2,500 58 .................................... $7,700 $2,500 59 .................................... $7,900 $2,600 60 .................................... $8,200 $2,700 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:20 Oct 03, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2557.IS S2557 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 2557 IS ‘‘Education Savings and Asset Protection Allowances for Parents of Dependent Students—Continued If the age of the oldest parent is— And there are two parents one pa [Text truncated for display. 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