Senate committee on Health Education and pensions will please come to order. Im usually on time and excuse me for being late. We reauthorize a Higher Education act. Today were looking at ways to simplify the free application for student aid or fafsa to make it easier for students to apply for federal Financial Aid. Well introduce the witnesses and after your testimony senators will have five minutes of questions. Senators may be coming and going because of the tax bill. Nearly four years ago in a hearing before this committee an unusual thing happened. Four witnesses from diverse back grntds agreed that almost all of the 108 questions on the free application for federal student aid or fafsa are unnecessary. The fafsa is the government form 20 million families fill out every year to qualify for it federal aid that helps nearly 20 Million Students attend universities. Weve spent a lot of time holding this to remind people of all it questions even though most people fill it out online. Theres still the same number of questions. End of the hearing i asked the witnesses if they could simplify the fafsa in four separate letters to us they said they could do it together in one letter. Senator bennet and i then had the same reaction. If theres that much consensus on how to make it easier for nearly 20 million families to apry for federal aid, why dont we actually do it . Well, that was four years ago. Senator bennet and i set about to turn 108 questions into two. On a post karbd that dr. Scott clayton, who is here today recmebded in her testimony four years guy. Are lets take a moment to talk about why simplifying the fafsa is important. Which means if you elect, youll have to fill it out again to continue to receive your aid for sophomore year and beyond. Weve heard over and over iagain how difficult it is the first time. Second, this complexity frustrates it goal of the pel grant which is to help low if hadcome Students Attend College because it discourages them from apply frag aid. I know in tennessee post secondary education is nou free, the complexity of the fafsa is the single biggest impediment to more students taking advantage of what we call tennessee promise. The former president in memphis bleechbs he loses 1500 students each simester because of the complexity of the form. Third, this wastes time and money that can be better spent using the right major and understand the impacts of taking out student loans. After four years of discussion over how to simplify the fafsa, it is time to come to a result. Our first ord orch business after the first of to the year will be to markup a reauthorization in the Higher Education act. Our central focus will be to make it simpler and easier to apply for federal aid and to pay their loans back and to cut through the jungle of red tape that federal law and regulations imposes so College Administrators can spend their time and money instead for the benefit of students. We have a number of bipartisan proposals that seek to do the same things. Senator bennet, ber, isaacson, king and booker introduced our legislation to cut 108 questions down to two questions. We have listened to students, College President s. We have done this in a bipartisan way for four years. Well hear some of those good ideas today. Senator murray as a bill to simplify for homeless students and students without parents. We work would the Obama Administration to allow students to fill out with their Tax Information from two years before they if had role in college instead of one so they could file in the fall, rather than wait in the spring. The result is senator ben squt i are completing a bill to reduce 108 questions to as few as 15 and no more than 25 questions depending on how you answer questions about your family. We will do this prince pale by taking the Tax Information that americans give to the federal government and incorporating that Tax Information into the fafsa. Over and over again ive been asked if ive already given my Tax Information to the federal government, dwhie i have to give it again to the fafsa . My information is you shouldnt have to. Once is enough. Our proposal will tell students the amount of their pel grant, money they dont have to pay back, instead of after theyve already been accepted for schools. I have a long perspective on this. As education secretary i over saw the implementation of it first fafsa shortly before i left office. While the fafsa is a complex form today it was actually created then to reduce the burden on students by combining state, and Financial Aid applications if to one single application. The first had four pages of kwelgzs and 12 pages of directions. Todays fafsa is 10 pages with directions included on the form plus an additional 66 pages of instructions. Now 25 years later i sit here as chairman of the Senate Education committee trying to update the Higher Education act and once again simplify how they apry for federal fine angle aid. I want our committee to discuss different proposals and write and pass a final bill. 25 years after the first fafs and after the first hearing, it is time to bring it discussion to a result. Weicide be able to say to the nearly 20 million families if had stead of answering 1 heir 8 questions, you only have to answer 15 to 25. Once is enough. To give your basic information about family size and income to the federal government and if stead of waiting until youve been admitted to college, well tell you about your pell grant while youre still shopping around for schools. Thank you very much for, mr. Chairman and i want to thank all of our witnesses for being here today. I look forward to hearing from all of you about your experiences with the fafsa form and how we can best improve access to federal Financial Aid. However, navigating fafsa is one of the many challenges students are facing and for them they dont come up one at a time. Theyre are are had wrapped together. College students are taking on mountains of debt and theyre concerned about finding a job after school, whether its preparing them for the work force and respected by employers and a lot more. So in order to epihad our students, we have to make sure were trying to solve the big problems as well as the smaller ones. We need tackle the issues that Impact College students the most and i believe on this committee that has done so much good Work Together that we can do that. Thats why its so critical we take a compry hencive approach to update the Higher Education act. Chairman alexander and i have heard concerns that pursuing a comp reense haddive approach would be too difficult. In these partisan times well never be able to get it done and thats what we heard, by the way bfore we did no child left behind. People said it was too toxic to touch. They said we should just focus on low hanging fruit and leave the rest for another time, another congress. Thankfully chairman alexander and i pushed those nay sayers aside. We got to work and we got it done. So im hopeful and confident we can Work Together on a comp reense haddive aproach to reauthirthe act. There are too many issues when it comes to accessing affordable, high quality education. Weve got to take a holistic aproach to Higher Education reform to build a system that epis the most students. We can Work Together to address issues like fafsa simp luification and i know how imp portent that is and we must also tackle the big problems this critical law aims to address. Because i believe in order to truly solve it challenges students face, we have to address four major issues, the rising cost of college, School Programs not held had accountable for students success. Barriers for working families, students of color and first generation students to attend college and ongoing threats to runnering in a safe environment. Theyre whether import ntd. First, weve got to address sky rocketing costs of college and find ways for more students to graduate without debt and we must consider the full cost beyond just tuition. Housing, textbooks, child care. Secondly we need to make sure colleges and Work Force Training programs are producing good outcomes for students and preparing them for the jobs of tomorrow and being held accountable with had that is ntd the case and that as to include providing stutdants with the information they need to make smart choices about their future befear they enroll in classes with an expensive price tag. Third, we need improve underrepresented students ability to access Higher Education and finally we need insure every student as it ability to learn in a safe if environment, free from discrimination and violence and that must if hadclude doing more to combat the National Epidemic of Campus Sexual Assault and beginning to address dangerous hazing practices. Of course simplifying the fafsaicide be part of our reauthorizatio reauthorization. Ive heard had across my state how complicated and difficult fill thouth application can be. Simplifying fafsa would help ease the burden of College Costs for students who may be leaving money on the table and by addressing concerns from nontraditional backgrounds we can help open the doors of opportunity to students who otherwise might not get the Financial Aid they need. And security requirements, verification, refiling the form each year can create real barriers for students who deserve our help. While its clear simplifying would help, it aloan cannot solve the challenges that families across the country face in addressing and affording Higher Education. So this is a good first step and i hope we can continue this conversation with a comprehensive solution in mind and have hearings on a variety of issues impacting their students and families. This committee has a history of Bipartisan Solutions to complex problems and i am confident. Our students are counting on the and before i close i want to make one final point. Its so important i feed to mention before we get too deep. One of the largest hurdles is how secretary devoes and the department of education are today picking and choosing when to follow laws written by this committee and passed by the congress. Right now secretary devos and her department are blatantly violating the k12 law we just updated two years ago. They wont follow the very stat ware language this committee settled on. You and i Work Together on every Student Succeeds act. We reached an agreement while ifcluding clear requirements in the statute. Theyre in black and white. Theyre in the law and have nothing to do with regulations. And i had deeply troubled that vilashz oz of the law are being ignored by the department of education. The law requires in statute that states identify three distinct categories of schools for improvement. Bottom 5 , all schools where one subgroup is consistently underperforming and schools where any subgroup is performing as poorly as the bottom 5 . But plans are now being approved that violate this and there are more examples id be happy to talk through but chairman, alexander if today it department is choosing to implement whatever it feels like, which i believe they are in the approval of state plans so far, this this committee needs to hear from the secretary directly on how she intends to fall though Laws Congress agrees to shall especially as we begin to reauthorize the hea. I hope we can hear from the Department Soon and then i believe we can begin addressing the critically important issues in Higher Education. Thank you, mr. Chairman. Thank you, senator murray for your comments on both subjects and ill be looking forward to talking to you about following the law. We even put provisions in the law to prohib hadt a secretary from doing certain things. As far as Higher Education, i agree with what you said. Im eager to sit down and visit with you and get started on reauthorizing the Higher Education act. We figured out how, in this committee too, tackle big issues and accommodate lots of points of views and come out with results and i think people appreciate it when we do. My hope would be that we can take the bipartisan work over it last three or four years really and turn it if had to a result in the First Quarter of next year and i look forward to working with you on that. Im pleased to welcome our witnesses to todays hearing focussed on simplifying the fafsa. Like to ask senator ben toot introduce the first witness. Thank you, mr. Chairman and id like to thank you and Ranking Member murray for focusing our attention on the important issue. I want to thank you for your partnership on fafsa. I know our first witness agrees with what were trying to do. Its my plesher to introduce nancy from my home state of colorado. For the last 13 years shes served as president of the Colorado Community college system. The largest system in the state that educates one out of three of our undergraduate students. Theyve launched ambitious initiatives to make college more affordable. Under her leadership, the system revamped the Education Program and streamlined so they can graduate faster and with less debtd. So more students can pursue a ninetyfouryear degree and increased saving our students and families roughly 90 million in tuition costs. Her leadership in Higher Education is just the latest chapter in a career of public service. Previously served in theed ministration and as chief economist for the legislature. She announced her retirement. And thanked for her servees to colorado and her time to join us this morning. I now recognize senator cane for ms. Williams. Thank you and all to the chair and ranking. Its an honor to introduce Elaine Williams who is a richmonder just like me but here because of her really inspirational work as a community advocate. Ms. Williams is a recent graduate of the Virginia Common Wealth UniversitySchool Social work and i have bcu grads and social Work Programs on my staff. She currently works with the wyca helping people avoid homelessness and she was an unaccompanied homeless child coming if to college and grappling with fafsa. Especially not just the form but the verification requirements of fafsa. So i hope well get if had to the form and the issues. Now she is the cofounded change it world rva which is a Nonprofit Organization to serve youth experiencing homelessness in richmond and in college she work would a group called advocates for richmond youth, a passion for homeless kids is a big driver for her. So thank you for your dedication and your Inspirational Service and we look forward to hearing from you today about how we can better serve young people who face some of the same challenges you face. Our third witness is dr. Clayton. Shes an education at Teachers College columbus university. Community College Research center and the brookings institution. Shes testified before the senate twice. Earlier including in the hearing four years ago that led to the fast act. She made her first fafsa simplification proposal in 2007. She earned her ph. D. From harva harvard. Our next witness is mr. Justin draeger, president of the National Association of student Financial Aid administrators. His organization represents those who serve 90 of american College Students. Prior to becoming president of his organization he worked as a Financial Aid director regulatory policy analyst and spokesperson. Dr. Kim reuben in the Tax Policy Center that irving institute. Her research focuses on fiscal institutions, Public Sector labor markets, state and local tax policy and budgets. He conducted a Detailed Analysis of various fafsa proposals today. She earned her ph. D. From m. I. T. As a reminder if youll sums are your testimony in five minutes, that will leave more time for senators to ask questions and i would simply mention this is what we call a bipartisan hearing which means senator murray and i have agreed on the subject and weve agreed on the witnesses. So it ought to be a good discussion. Why dont we begin with dr. Mccallen and well go down the line. Welco welcome. Thank you. Thank you, chairman alexander, Ranking Member murray and members of the committee. Thank fryou fl the opportunitie to speak food. The colorado serving approximately 138,000 students at 13 colleges in 39 locations. And despite the fact we intentionally keep our tuition low, our students do strug tool pay for college. Approximately 40 of our students receive some form of federal or state fine apancial and when you f