Reduce Barriers to College Act
Official title: To require the Internal Revenue Service to meet higher standards in security screening and to improve the process for obtaining return information and verifica… Show full official titleShow less
Official title: To require the Internal Revenue Service to meet higher standards in security screening and to improve the process for obtaining return information and verification of nonfiling in connection with completing a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
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Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Reduce Barriers to College Act
This bill requires the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to ensure that the implemented authentication processes used for all current and future online applications provide the level of assurance required by National Institute of Standards and Technology standards for the determined level of authentication risk.
Within 90 days of the enactment of this bill, the IRS must establish an online portal for individuals to request that a verification of nonfiling for any taxable year be submitted to the Department of Education as part of the process of completing the individual's Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The portal must authenticate an individual's identity using a valid Social Security number and any one of several documents specified in the bill.
The bill amends the Higher Education Act of 1965 to permit certain independent students applying for federal student aid using the simplified needs test to obtain a verification of nonfiling from the IRS in lieu of certifying that the student (and the student's spouse, if any) is not required to file a federal income tax return.
- Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML
Cite this page
U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 3516: Reduce Barriers to College Act. 115th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-3516/
"H.R. 3516: Reduce Barriers to College Act." 115th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-3516/.
H.R. 3516, 115th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-3516/.
[H.R. 3516: Reduce Barriers to College Act](https://openamerica.io/bill/115-HR-3516/)