WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) today announced that Congress is set to finish the job of simplifying the FAFSA as well as strengthen Historically Black Colleges and Universities and restore Pell grants for prisoners. The provisions to reduce the FAFSA from 108 questions to a maximum of 36 questions, forgive HBCU capital financing 
loans, and restore Pell grants for prisoners will be included in broader government funding legislation that the Senate will consider this week.
“The progress that this legislation represents for underserved and low-income students cannot be 
overstated,” Senator Jones said. “From day one, I have been working with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to make a positive, meaningful impact for students and colleges in Alabama and across the country. Simplifying the burdensome FAFSA is a substantial step to make college more affordable and accessible. Further, I am thrilled that we could work together to find a way to forgive the debt many of our HBCUs carry. Even before this pandemic, HBCUs were already consistently under-resourced while providing quality education to many first-generation students.”
The bipartisan agreement would:
· Simplify the Free Application for Federal Student Aid:
o Reduce total questions on the FAFSA from 108 questions to a maximum of 36 questions
o Greatly reduce the Department of Education’s lengthy financial data verification process by instead using data from the Internal Revenue Service
o Create simpler Pell Grant eligibility guidelines for maximum and minimum awards, so many applicants will know if they will get a maximum or minimum grant to go to college
o Enable an additional 555,000 students qualify for Pell grants each year; and enable an additional 1.7 million students qualify to receive the maximum Pell grant award each year
· Restore the ability for incarcerated individuals to get a Pell grant
· Forgive outstanding debt of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) with loans under the federal Capital Financing Loan Program
· Repeal a requirement that limits how long students can borrow under the subsidized student loan program
Last December, Congress passed the FUTURE Act introduced by Senator Jones which permanently reauthorized $255 million in annual funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and took the first step in simplifying the FAFSA form by allowing students to authorize the Internal Revenue Service to fill out the 22 FAFSA questions related to income taxes, eliminating the need to send the same tax information to the federal government twice.
Media Release/Office of Alabama Senator Doug Jones
