| 1 | 1 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . No. 4269 |
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| 2 | 2 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 3 | 3 | | ________________________________________ |
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| 4 | 4 | | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, January 22, 2024. |
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| 5 | 5 | | The committee on Higher Education to whom was referred the petition |
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| 6 | 6 | | (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1294) of Andres X. Vargas, Chynah |
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| 7 | 7 | | Tyler and others for legislation to facilitate student financial assistance, |
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| 8 | 8 | | reports recommending that the accompanying bill (House, No. 4269) |
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| 9 | 9 | | ought to pass. |
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| 10 | 10 | | For the committee, |
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| 11 | 11 | | DAVID M. ROGERS. 1 of 4 |
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| 12 | 12 | | FILED ON: 1/18/2024 |
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| 13 | 13 | | HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 4269 |
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| 14 | 14 | | The Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
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| 15 | 15 | | _______________ |
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| 16 | 16 | | In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court |
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| 17 | 17 | | (2023-2024) |
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| 18 | 18 | | _______________ |
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| 19 | 19 | | An Act to facilitate student financial assistance. |
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| 20 | 20 | | Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority |
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| 21 | 21 | | of the same, as follows: |
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| 22 | 22 | | 1 SECTION 1. Section 1D of Chapter 69 of the Massachusetts General Laws, as appearing |
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| 23 | 23 | | 2in the 2018 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after paragraph (iii) the following: - |
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| 24 | 24 | | 3 (iv) (a) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the commonwealth to maximize federal |
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| 25 | 25 | | 4and state postsecondary financial aid options through the encouragement and requirement of |
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| 26 | 26 | | 5graduating students to submit the applicable application for federal and state financial aid. |
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| 27 | 27 | | 6 Before graduating from high school, each student must submit a free application for |
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| 28 | 28 | | 7federal student aid, also known as FAFSA. |
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| 29 | 29 | | 8 (b) A student is not required to comply with section (a) if: (1) the student ’s parent or |
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| 30 | 30 | | 9guardian submits a signed form described in section (c) indicating that the parent or guardian |
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| 31 | 31 | | 10authorizes the student to decline to complete and submit the financial aid application; or (2) the |
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| 32 | 32 | | 11student signs and submits the form referenced in section (c) on the student ’s own behalf if the |
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| 33 | 33 | | 12student is 18 years of age or older or legally emancipated; or (3) the student’s school files the 2 of 4 |
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| 34 | 34 | | 13form referenced in section (c) to be approved by the school district, if the student has not reached |
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| 35 | 35 | | 1418 years of age. |
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| 36 | 36 | | 15 (c)The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall develop |
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| 37 | 37 | | 16and all school districts shall adopt two forms to be used for the purposes of subsection (b), as |
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| 38 | 38 | | 17follows: A form to be signed by a parent/guardian, or by a student over 18 years of age or legally |
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| 39 | 39 | | 18emancipated. This form shall be written in accessible language, translated into families’ preferred |
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| 40 | 40 | | 19languages, and require no personal information except for student and parent/guardian (if |
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| 41 | 41 | | 20applicable) name and signature. The form cannot require any information on citizenship status. |
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| 42 | 42 | | 21 A form filed by the school district on behalf of a student under the age of 18 who is not |
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| 43 | 43 | | 22legally emancipated. The form shall be signed by the principal of the student’s school and shall |
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| 44 | 44 | | 23include the following information: (a) attestation that the student meets all other graduation |
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| 45 | 45 | | 24requirements; (b) attestation that the school has made a good faith effort to contact the family |
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| 46 | 46 | | 25and to provide any support necessary to submit the FAFSA, including at least 3 personalized |
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| 47 | 47 | | 26communications in the family’s preferred language. |
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| 48 | 48 | | 27 Prior to completion of high school, each school district shall ensure that every student |
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| 49 | 49 | | 28complies with section (a) or (b) and must provide to each high school student and, if applicable, |
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| 50 | 50 | | 29their parent or guardian any support or assistance necessary to comply with this Section. |
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| 51 | 51 | | 30 (d) The commissioner shall provide guidance to districts related to the implementation of |
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| 52 | 52 | | 31this section regarding the distribution of information related to this requirement, reporting |
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| 53 | 53 | | 32requirements expected of school districts, and information to parents and guardians related to all |
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| 54 | 54 | | 33options for high school students. Provided further, each district must annually report to the |
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| 55 | 55 | | 34department of elementary and secondary education by September 30 the following: number of 3 of 4 |
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| 56 | 56 | | 35students completing and submitting the free application for federal student aid; the number of |
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| 57 | 57 | | 36students who received an exemption to this requirement through paragraph (iv) subsections |
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| 58 | 58 | | 37(b)(1), (b)(2) and (b)(3) separately and in combination, provided further that this data be broken |
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| 59 | 59 | | 38down by race; ethnicity; primary city or town of residence and such other categories that the |
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| 60 | 60 | | 39department may determine. |
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| 61 | 61 | | 40 SECTION 2 |
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| 62 | 62 | | 41 Section 2. (a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a |
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| 63 | 63 | | 42separate fund to be known as the FAFSA Trust Fund. The fund shall be administered by the |
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| 64 | 64 | | 43Commissioner of elementary and secondary education. The fund shall be credited with: (i) |
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| 65 | 65 | | 44revenue from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically |
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| 66 | 66 | | 45designated to be credited to the fund; (ii) interest earned on such revenues; and (iii) funds from |
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| 67 | 67 | | 46public and private sources such as gifts, grants and donations to aid districts in supporting |
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| 68 | 68 | | 47students, parents, and guardians with Free Application for Federal Student Aid submission. |
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| 69 | 69 | | 48Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and any money |
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| 70 | 70 | | 49remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund. |
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| 71 | 71 | | 50 (b) Amounts credited to the fund may focus on underserved communities across the |
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| 72 | 72 | | 51commonwealth, including those school districts with high concentrations of economically |
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| 73 | 73 | | 52disadvantaged students, and may be expended, without further appropriation, by the |
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| 74 | 74 | | 53commissioner for the following purposes: (i) to assist with the implementation and execution of |
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| 75 | 75 | | 54section (a), including staff and administrator training; (ii) for the development of workshops and |
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| 76 | 76 | | 55other support services and systems; and (iii) for the collaboration with stakeholder and 4 of 4 |
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| 77 | 77 | | 56community organizations to support students, parents, and guardians with Free Application for |
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| 78 | 78 | | 57Federal Student Aid submission. |
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| 79 | 79 | | 58 (c) Amounts received from private sources shall be approved by the commissioner of |
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| 80 | 80 | | 59elementary and secondary education and subject to review before being deposited in the fund to |
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| 81 | 81 | | 60ensure that pledged funds are not accompanied by conditions, explicit or implicit, on the |
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| 82 | 82 | | 61implementation of FAFSA workshops or other programming that may be detrimental to students, |
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| 83 | 83 | | 62parents, guardians, school districts, or that places limitations or restrictions on how funds can be |
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| 84 | 84 | | 63used to support the implementation of this section. The review shall be made publicly available. |
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| 85 | 85 | | 64 (d) Annually, not later than October 1, the commissioner shall report to the clerks of the |
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| 86 | 86 | | 65house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on education and the house and senate |
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| 87 | 87 | | 66committees on ways and means on the fund's activity. The report shall include, but not be limited |
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| 88 | 88 | | 67to: (i) the source and amount of funds received; (ii) the amounts distributed and the purpose of |
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| 89 | 89 | | 68expenditures from the fund, including but not limited to, funds expended to assist school districts |
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| 90 | 90 | | 69in meeting the requirements in section (a); (iii) any grants provided to high schools and other |
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| 91 | 91 | | 70stakeholder organizations; and (iv) anticipated revenue and expenditure projections for the next |
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| 92 | 92 | | 71year. |
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| 93 | 93 | | 72 SECTION 3. Section 1 of this act shall take effect on October 1, 2026. Section 2 of this |
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| 94 | 94 | | 73act shall take effect October 1, 2025. |
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