College Cost Reduction and Access Act

The College Cost Reduction and Access Act includes provisions to make undergraduate and graduate education more affordable for aspiring social-impact professionals. It also establishes that unaccompanied homeless youth qualify as independent students for purposes of federal financial aid.

Download the full text of the College Cost Reduction and Access Act.

• Download the U.S. Department of Education’s Questions and Answers: Federal Student Aid and Homeless Youth fact sheet.
• Download a June 2016 letter from U.S. Department of Education Secretary John King to Senator Patty Murray regarding Department efforts to simplify and clarify the FAFSA application process for unaccompanied homeless youth. The letter specifies that local homeless education liaisons can make “subsequent year letters of verification” of independent student status for unaccompanied homeless youth for whom they have the necessary information to write these letters.
• Download a July 2015 U.S. Department of Education Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) clarifying the implementation of providing independent student status for unaccompanied homeless youth on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The DCL clarifies that unaccompanied homeless students between the ages of 21 and 24 are to be considered independent students.
• Download the U.S. Department of Education’s Application and Verification Guide (AVG).
  The AVG provides financial aid administrators (FAAs) with guidance on the processing of Free Applications for Federal Student Aid (FAFSAs), including as relates to independent student status for unaccompanied homeless youth. See Chapter 5 – Special Cases for specific references to unaccompanied homeless youth.
• Download the federal interagency letter entitled, Aligning Federal Supports and Program Delivery for College Access and Completion.

Access FAFSA data on unaccompanied homeless youth.