12 2 STA T .3 2 84PUBLIC LA W 11 0– 31 5— AU G .14 , 2008 ex e cutiv e of fice rs of h i g her e d uc a tio nw ithade m onstrated commitment to sim pl if y ing the FA F S A , and such other individuals as the C omptroller G eneral and the Secretary of E ducation may designate .‘ ‘ (B) S TUDYREQ U I RED. —T he Comptroller General, in consultation with the study group convened under su b para - graph (A) shall— ‘‘(i) review and build on the wor k of the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of the Treasury, and individuals with expertise in analysis of financial need, to assess alternative approaches for calculating the expected family contribution under the statutory need analysis formula in effect on the day before the date of enactment of the H igher Education O pportunity Act and under a new calculation that will use substantially less income and asset information than was used for the 20 0 8– 200 9 FAFSA
‘‘(ii) conduct an additional analysis if necessary; and ‘‘(iii) make recommendations to the authori z ing committees. ‘‘(C) O BJ E C TI V E SOF STUDY.—The ob j ectives of the study re q uired under subparagraph (B) are— ‘‘(i) to determine methods to shorten the FAFSA and make the FAFSA easier and less time-consuming to complete, thereby increasing higher education access for low-income students; ‘‘(ii) to identify changes to the statutory need anal- ysis formula that will be necessary to reduce the amount of financial information students and families need to provide to receive a determination of eligibility for student financial aid without causing significant redistribution of Federal grants and subsidized loans under this title; and ‘‘(iii) to review State and institutional needs and uses for data collected on the FAFSA, and to determine the best means of addressing such needs in the case of modification of the FAFSA as described in clause (i), or modification of the need analysis formula as described in clause (ii). ‘‘( D ) R EQUIRED SUBJECTS OF STUDY.—The study required under subparagraph (B) shall examine— ‘‘(i) with respect to simplification of the financial aid application process using the statutory require- ments for need analysis— ‘‘( I ) additional steps that can be taken to sim- plify the financial aid application process for stu- dents who (or, in the case of dependent students, whose parents) are not required to file a Federal income tax return for the prior taxable year; ‘‘(II) information on State use of information provided on the FAFSA, including— ‘‘(aa) whether a State uses, as of the time of the study, or can use, a student ’ s expected family contribution based on data from two years prior to the student’s planned enroll- ment date; Recom me nda-ti on s.
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