H.R. 5528 — what changed

“(I) Format—Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of the Simplifying the Application for Student Aid Act, the Secretary shall make the electronic version of the forms under this paragraph available through a technology tool that can be used on mobile devices. Such technology tool shall, at minimum, enable applicants to—

“(i) save data; and

“(ii) submit their FAFSA to the Secretary through such tool.

“(J) Consumer testing—In developing and maintaining the electronic version of the forms under this paragraph and the technology tool for mobile devices under subparagraph (I), the Secretary shall conduct consumer testing with appropriate persons to ensure the forms and technology tool are designed to be easily usable and understandable by students and families. Such consumer testing shall include—

“(i) current and prospective college students, family members of such students, and other individuals with expertise in student financial assistance application processes;

“(ii) dependent students and independent students meeting the requirements under subsection (b) or (c) of section 479; and

“(iii) dependent students and independent students who do not meet the requirements under subsection (b) or (c) of section 479.”

changed “(f) Use of Internal Revenue Service data retrieval tool to To populate FAFSA

“(1) Simplification efforts—The Secretary shall—

changed “(A) make every effort to use allow applicants to utilize the current data retrieval tool to transfer data available from the Internal Revenue Service to reduce the amount of original data entry by applicants and strengthen the reliability of data used to calculate expected family contributions, including through the use of technology to—

changed “(i) allow an applicant to automatically populate the electronic version of the forms under this paragraph with data available from the Internal Revenue Service; and

“(ii) direct an applicant to appropriate questions on such forms based on the applicant’s answers to previous questions; and

changed “(B) allow single taxpayers, married taxpayers filing jointly, and married taxpayers filing separately to utilize the current data retrieval tool to its full capacity.

“(2) Use of tax return in application process—The Secretary shall continue to examine whether data provided by the Internal Revenue Service can be used to generate an expected family contribution without additional action on the part of the student and taxpayer.

“(3) Reports on FAFSA simplification efforts—Not less than once every other year, the Secretary shall report to the authorizing committees on the progress of the simplification efforts under this subsection.

“(4) Reports on FAFSA access—Not less than once every 10 years, the Secretary shall report to the authorizing committees on the needs of limited English proficient students using the FAFSA.”