PUBLIC LAW 102-325—JULY 23, 1992 106 STAT. 605 as defined in section 476(b)(2) for independent students without dependents other than a spouse. "(3) QUALIFYING FORMS.— A student or family files a form described in this paragraph if the student or family, respectively, files— "(A) a form 1040A or 1040EZ required pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; or "(B) an income tax return required pursuant to the tax code of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau. "(c) ZERO EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION.—The Secretary shall consider an applicant to have an expected family contribution equal to zero if— "(1) in the case of a dependent student— "(A) the student's parents did not file, and were not required to file, a form 1040 required pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and "(B) the sum of the adjusted gross income of the parents is less than or equal to the maximum amount of income (rounded annually to the nearest thousand dollars) that may be earned in order to claim the maximum Federal earned income credit; or "(2) in the case of an independent student with dependents other than a spouse— "(A) the student (and the student's spouse, if any) did not fUe, and was not required to file, a form 1040 required pursuant to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; and "(B) the smn'of the adjusted gross income of the student and spouse (if appropriate) is less than or equal to the maximum amoxint of income (rounded annually to the nearest thousand dollars) that may be earned in order to claim the maximum Federal earned income credit. An individual is not required to qusilify or file for the earned income credit in order to be eligible under this subsection. SEC. 479A. DISCRETION OF STUDENT FINANCIAL AID ADMINISTRA- 20 USC 1087tt. TORS. "(a) IN GENERAL. — Nothing in this part shall be interpreted as limiting the authority of the finemcisd aid administrator, on the basis of adequate docimientation, to make adjustments on a caseby-case basis to the cost of attendance or the values of the data items required to calculate the expected student or parent contribution (or both) to allow for treatment of an individual eligible applicant with special circimistances. However, this autiiority shall not be construed to permit aid administrators to deviate from the contributions expected in the absence of special circumstances. Special circumstances shall be conditions mat differentiate an individual student from a class of students rather than conditions that exist across a class of students. Adequate documentation for such adjustments shall substantiate such special circumstances of individual students. In addition, nothing in this title shall be interpreted as limiting the authority of the studentfinsmciedaid administrator in such cases to request and use supplementary information about the finsincial status or personal circumstances of eligible applicants in selecting recipients and determining the amoiint of awards under this title. No student or parent shall be charged
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