HR 3446 114th Congress House

Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2015

Official title: To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary to provide for the use of data from the second preceding tax year to carry out the simplific… Show full official titleShow less

Official title: To amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Secretary to provide for the use of data from the second preceding tax year to carry out the simplification of applications for the estimation and determination of financial aid eligibility, to increase the income threshold to qualify for zero expected family contribution, and for other purposes.

Introduced: September 8, 2015 Introduced by: Doggett, Lloyd Democratic · Texas See on congress.gov

Education Higher educationStudent aid and college costsTax administration and collection, taxpayers

Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Mar 23, 2016

Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.

Sep 8, 2015

Referred to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

Sep 8, 2015

Introduced in House

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Latest action March 23, 2016

Referred to the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training.

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2015

This bill amends title IV (Student Assistance) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 to require the Department of Education (ED) to provide for the use of tax information from the second preceding tax year (the "prior, prior year") to determine a student's financial aid eligibility. It requires data sharing between the Internal Revenue Service and ED, pursuant to taxpayer consent.

The bill also increases from $23,000 to $30,000 the adjusted gross income threshold used to determine whether a student qualifies for an automatic zero expected family contribution (EFC) in the calculation of such student's financial need. A dependent student is eligible for an automatic zero EFC if the student's parents have adjusted gross income up to $30,000. An independent student with non-spouse dependents is eligible for a zero EFC if the student and spouse have adjusted gross income up to $30,000.

Related & companion bills 1

Bill text 1 version

Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 2

Education and Workforce Committee
House of Representatives
Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee
House of Representatives · subcommittee of Education and Workforce Committee

Cosponsors 5

Peters, Scott H.

California · Mar 2, 2016

Carson, André

Indiana · Sep 8, 2015

Moore, Gwen

Wisconsin · Sep 8, 2015

Pocan, Mark

Wisconsin · Sep 8, 2015

Wilson, Frederica S.

Florida · Sep 8, 2015

Cite this page click to expand

APA

U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 3446: Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2015. 114th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-3446/

MLA

"H.R. 3446: Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2015." 114th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-3446/.

Bluebook (legal)

H.R. 3446, 114th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-3446/.

Markdown link

[H.R. 3446: Simplifying Financial Aid for Students Act of 2015](https://openamerica.io/bill/114-HR-3446/)