FORMS AND REGULATIONS.

SEC. 483. FORMS AND REGULATIONS. (a) Forms and Processing.— Section 483 of the Act (20 U.S.C. 1090) is amended by striking subsections (a) and (b) and inserting the following: “Sec. 483. (a) Common Financial Aid Form and Processing.— “(1) Single form required.— The Secretary, in cooperation with representatives of agencies and organizations involved in student financial assistance, shall produce, distribute, and process free of charge a common financial reporting form to be used to determine the need and eligibility of a student for financial assistance under parts A C, D, and E of this title (other than under subpart 4 of part A) and to determine the need of a student for the purpose of part B of this title. The Secretary may include on the form developed pursuant to this paragraph not more than eight nonfinancial data items selected in consultation with the States to assist the States in awarding State student financial assistance. Such form shall satisfy the requirements of section 411(d) of this title. For the purpose of collecting eligibility and other data for the purpose of part B, the Secretary shall develop a separate, identifiable loan application document (pursuant to section 432(m)) that applicants or institutions in which the students are enrolled or accepted for enrollment shall submit directly to 106 STAT. 613eligible lenders and on which the applicant shall clearly indicate a choice of a lender. “(2) Charges to students and parents for use of form prohibited.— The common financial reporting form prescribed by the Secretary under paragraph (1) shall be produced, distributed, and processed by the Secretary and no parent or student shall be charged a fee for the collection, processing, or delivery of financial aid through the use of such form. The need and eligibility of a student for financial assistance under parts A C, D, and E of this title (other than under subpart 4 of part A) and the need of a student for the purpose of part B of this title, may only be determined by using the form developed by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection. No student may receive assistance under parts A, C, D, and E of this title (other than under subpart 4 of part A) or have the student’s need established for the purpose of part B of this title, except by use of the form developed by the Secretary pursuant to this section. “(3) Distribution of data.— Institutions of higher education and States shall receive, without charge, the data collected by the Secretary using the form developed pursuant to this section for the purposes of determining need and eligibility for institutional and State financial aid awards. “(4) Contracts for collection and processing.— (A) The Secretary shall, to the extent practicable, enter into not less than 5 contracts with States, institutions of higher education, or private organizations for the purposes of the timely collection and processing of the form developed pursuant to paragraph (1) and the timely delivery of the data submitted on such form. The Secretary shall use such contracts to assist States and institutions of higher education with the collection of additional data required to award State or institutional financial assistance, except that the Secretary shall not include these additional data items on the common financial reporting form developed pursuant to this section. The Secretary shall include in each such contract a requirement that— “(i) any charges by the contractor to the student or parent for additional data items required by a State or institution for any purpose (regardless of the method of collection) shall be reasonable and shall not exceed the marginal cost of collecting, processing, and delivering such additional data, taking into account any payment received by the contractor to produce, distribute, and process the common financial reporting form prescribed by the Secretary pursuant to paragraph (1); and “(ii) the contractor will require any person or entity to whom the contractor provides such additional data to agree not to collect from any student or parent any charge that would not be permitted under this subparagraph for any such additional data. “(B) To the extent practicable, the Secretary shall ensure that at least one contractor, or a portion of one contract, under this paragraph will serve graduate and professional students. “(C) As part of the procurement process for the 1993–1994 award year, and for all procurements thereafter pertaining to the contracts under this paragraph, the Secretary shall 106 STAT. 614require all entities competing for such contracts to comply with all requirements of this subsection and to— “(i) use the common financial reporting form as prescribed in paragraph (1), which shall be clearly identified as the ‘Free Application for Federal Student Aid’; and “(ii) use a common, simplified reapplication form as the Secretary shall prescribe pursuant to subsection (b), in each award year. “(D) The Secretary shall reimburse all approved contractors at a reasonable predetermined rate for processing such applications, for issuing eligibility reports, and for carrying out other services or requirements that may be prescribed by the Secretary. “(E) All approved contractors shall be required to adhere to all editing, processing, and reporting requirements established by the Secretary to ensure consistency. “(F) No approved contractor shall enter into exclusive arrangements with guarantors, lenders, secondary markets, or institutions of higher education for the purpose of reselling or sharing of data collected for the multiple data entry process. All data collected under a contract issued by the Secretary pursuant to this paragraph for the multiple data entry process is the exclusive property of the Secretary and may not be transferred to a third party by an approved contractor without the Secretary’s express written approval. “(b) Streamlined Reapplication process.— (1) The Secretary shall, within 240 days after the date of enactment of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992, develop a streamlined reapplication form and process, including electronic reapplication process, consistent with the requirements of subsection (a), for those recipients who apply for financial aid funds under this title in the next succeeding academic year subsequent to the initial year in which such recipients apply. “(2) The Secretary shall develop appropriate mechanisms to support reapplication. “(3) The Secretary shall determine, in cooperation with States, institutions of higher education, agencies and organizations involved in student financial assistance, the data elements that can be updated from the previous academic year’s application. “(4) Nothing in this title shall be interpreted as limiting the authority of the Secretary to reduce the number of data elements required of reapplicants. “(5) Individuals determined to have a zero family contribution pursuant to section 479 shall not be required to provide any financial data, except that which is necessary to determine eligibility under that section.”. (b) Additional Amendments.— Section 483 is further amended— (1) by striking subsections (d) and (f); (2) by amending subsection (e) to read as follows: “(e) Toll-Free Information.— The Secretary shall contract for, or establish, and publicize a toll-free telephone service to provide timely and accurate information to the general public. The information provided shall include specific instructions on completing the application form for assistance under this title. Such service shall also include a service accessible by telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDD’s) and shall, in addition to the services provided for in the previous sentence, refer such students to the national 106 STAT. 615clearinghouse on postsecondary education that is authorized under section 633(c) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.”; and (3) by adding at the end the following new subsections: “(f) Preparer.— Any financial aid application required to be made under this title shall include the name, signature, address, social security number, and organizational affiliation of the preparer of such financial aid application. “(g) Special Rule.— Nothing in section 1544 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1992 shall relieve processors or institutions of higher education of any or all obligations under this section.”.