College Aid Made EZ Act
Latest action · Jun 27, 2007 Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 20, 2007
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
College Aid Made EZ Act - Amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) to require the Secretary of Education (Secretary) to make the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA): (1) consumer-friendly, with 50% fewer data elements within five years of this Act's enactment; (2) available in both paper and (downloadable) electronic formats; (3) flexible enough to permit applicants to enter data years before enrolling and selectively update information; and (4) include data elements relevant to state student aid determinations.
Directs the Secretary to develop a simplified paper EZ FAFSA for applicants having no expected family contributions and simplified electronic FAFSAs for applicants to whom a simplified needs test applies.
Directs the Secretary to conduct a demonstration program assessing the feasibility and benefits of allowing dependent students to apply for aid in their junior year of high school.
Reduces the types of income and benefits which are considered untaxed and thereby included in student need analyses.
Excludes untaxed distributions from qualified education benefits as income or assets in computing expected family contributions in student aid calculations. Treats a qualified education benefit as: (1) the parent's asset when considering the family contribution for a dependent student; and (2) the student's asset when considering such contribution for independent students. Excludes from need analyses any untaxed distributions from state prepaid tuition plans or Coverdell education savings accounts.
Urges the Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury to develop a process allowing the Department of Education, with the applicant's permission, to complete the FAFSA by drawing income information directly from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Allows the Secretary to use the previous tax year's income information to facilitate this end.
Cosponsors 39
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 20, 2007 to Nov 15, 2007, with 14 there on the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-OH | Betty Sutton | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-MA | Bill Delahunt | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-CA | Diane E. Watson | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-CO | Ed Perlmutter | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-PA | Joe Sestak | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-KY | John A. Yarmuth | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-MA | John F. Tierney | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-NY | John J. Hall | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-NY | Michael A. Arcuri | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-KS | Nancy E. Boyda | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-IL | Rahm Emanuel | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-TX | Ruben Hinojosa | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-OH | Tim Ryan | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-NY | Timothy H. Bishop | Original | Mar 20, 2007 |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Mar 23, 2007 |
Actions 3
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 27, 2007Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness.
- Mar 20, 2007Introduced in House
- Mar 20, 2007Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Education.
- Administrative fees
- Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues
- Congressional reporting requirements
- Economics and Public Finance
- Education
- Education of the disadvantaged
- Education savings accounts
- Electronic data interchange
- Electronic government information
- Federal aid to education
- Government lending
- Government Operations and Politics
- Government paperwork
- Government publicity
- Higher education
- Identification devices
- Income
- Income tax
- Internet
- Right of privacy
- Scholarships
- Science, Technology, Communications
- Social Welfare
- Student aid
- Student loan funds
- Tax returns
- Taxation
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 20, 2007Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.