[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 63 (Thursday, April 2, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16251-16252]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-8607]


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CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE


Proposed Collection: Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service 
(hereinafter ``Corporation''), as part of its continuing effort to 
reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance 
consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies 
with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing 
collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to 
ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format, 
reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized, 
collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of 
collection requirement on respondents can be properly assessed.
    Currently, the Corporation is soliciting comments concerning two 
proposed forms:
    (1) A revision of its Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request 
form (OMB #3045-0030), and
    (2) A new form, entitled ``Interest Accrual Form''.
    Copies of the forms can be obtained by contacting the office listed 
below in the address section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the 
ADDRESSES section on or before May 27, 1998.
    The Corporation is particularly interested in comments which:
     Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the 
Corporation, including whether the information will have practical 
utility;
     Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the 
burden of the proposed collection of information, including the 
validity of the methodology and assumptions used;
     Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and
     Minimize the burden of the collection of information on 
those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate 
automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection 
techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting 
electronic submissions of responses.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Levon Buller, National Service Trust, 
Corporation for National and Community Service, Mail Stop 7200, 1201 
New York Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20525.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Levon Buller, (202) 606-5000, ext. 
383.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    After completing a period of national service in an AmeriCorps 
project, an AmeriCorps member receives an ``education award'' that can 
be used to make a payment towards a student loan or pay for post-
secondary educational expenses. This award is an amount of money set 
aside in the member's ``account'' in the National Service Trust Fund. 
Members have seven years in which to draw against any unused balance.
    By law, during the period of time the AmeriCorps members are 
participating in national service, they are eligible for a postponement 
(a forbearance) on the repayment of any qualified student loan they 
have. The purpose of this is to temporarily suspend their obligation to 
make loan payments while they are earning a minimal living allowance in 
their national service position. Interest continues to accrue during 
this period, but payments are not required.
    Also, the Corporation's enabling legislation requires that it pay, 
on behalf of AmeriCorps members, all or a portion of the interest that 
accrues during their service period, if their loans were in forbearance 
during their service and if they successfully complete their terms of 
service. For an AmeriCorps member who serves in a full-time term (which 
includes serving a minimum of 1700 hours) for a year or less, the 
Corporation will pay all of the interest that accrued. For a person who 
serves in anything less than a full-time term, the percentage of 
accrued interest the Corporation pays is determined by a formula 
included in the Trust's regulations. The legislative intent for paying 
the interest is to keep the AmeriCorps members' qualified student loan 
debts from increasing during their service period.

II. Current Action

    Two forms with two separate sets of circumstances are being 
addressed by this Federal Register notice. Each form will be 
individually discussed below.
    A. Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request--renewal (OMB #3045-
0030) (Proposed new title: Forbearance Request for National Service)
    Currently, AmeriCorps members use an OMB-approved form entitled 
``Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request'' to obtain certification 
that they are in an approved national service position. The form also 
serves as the borrower's official request to the loan companies for 
forbearance. Since forbearance can be granted by the loan holder and 
not the Corporation, the form requests of the loan holder that a

[[Page 16252]]

forbearance be approved for the national service. The Corporation's 
role is to verify that the borrower is an AmeriCorps member and is 
eligible for this mandatory forbearance on qualified student loans. An 
AmeriCorps member completes one part of the form and sends it to the 
office of the National Service Trust. The Trust provides written 
verification that the borrower is in an approved national service 
position, then forwards the form to the loan holder at the address 
provided by the AmeriCorps member. The loan holder will act upon the 
request.
    This form has been adopted by many of the larger loan holders 
(e.g., Sallie Mae) and is given to their borrowers with the loan 
holders' own logos at the top of the form. Indeed, the form was 
originally developed with the assistance of Sallie Mae and 
representatives of several student loan associations. Having a separate 
form for forbearance based on AmeriCorps service clearly distinguishes 
it from forbearance requests based on one of the other conditions for 
which a borrower may be eligible (e.g., military service, employment in 
certain low income areas, student status).
    Several other loan holders have chosen to modify their own existing 
forbearance request forms by including an additional option-- 
``AmeriCorps service'' or ``national service'' --to the choices already 
available. The Corporation verifies national service participation 
using all types of forms presented to it, on a loan holder's unique 
form as well as the OMB approved form.
    The form needs some minor revisions. First, we propose changing the 
name of the form to better reflect its actual purpose--it is a form 
used by a borrower to request forbearance on a qualified student loan 
based on involvement in national service. Experience has shown that the 
form could use a more useful set of instructions for explaining the 
process for requesting forbearance and for completing the form.
    The Corporation seeks to continue using this particular form, 
albeit in a revised version. This is a voluntary form. It is one way to 
provide verification to a loan holder that one of its borrowers is 
eligible for the mandatory forbearance, at the same time allowing the 
borrower to request the forbearance from the loan company. The 
Corporation will continue its policy of verifying AmeriCorps 
participation on any form the loan holder wishes to use. The current 
form (Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request) is due to expire 
September 30, 1998.
    Type of Review: Renewal.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: (Proposed new title) Forbearance Request for National 
Service.
    OMB Number: None.
    Agency Number: None.
    Affected Public: AmeriCorps participants and the holders of their 
qualified student loans.
    Total Respondents: 6,000 annually.
    Frequency: Average of once per year per loan.
    Average Time Per Response: One minute for the AmeriCorps member to 
complete the form.
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 100 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
    B. Interest Accrual--new form.
    The Corporation pays all or a portion of the interest that accrues 
during a period of national service for those who successfully complete 
their service and have had their loans in forbearance during the 
service. Currently, AmeriCorps members ask their loan holders to report 
to the Corporation the amount of interest that accrued on their 
qualified student loans while they were in their national service 
position. When the Corporation receives this information, it is 
reviewed for accuracy and is either paid or returned to the loan holder 
for additional information.
    This information comes to the Corporation is many formats, with 
varying degrees of clarity and accuracy. Frequently, an amount of 
interest is reported without any accompanying dates--there is no 
indication of the period of time upon which the calculation was based. 
The Corporation can only pay the interest that accrued while the 
borrower was in the AmeriCorps program and the amount of interest the 
loan holder reports includes interest that began accruing well before 
or well after the national service period. Many times the Corporation 
receives from a loan holder a printout of the member's account, from 
which it is difficult or impossible to deduce the amount of interest 
that accrued during the service period. Sometimes the information from 
the loan holder reports interest that has accrued, but it is for a 
period of time that is different from the service period.
    This proposed form is intended to obtain clear and accurate 
information from loan holders in order to expedite the interest 
payments for AmeriCorps members. Members will complete the top section 
and indicate their dates of service. Then, they will mail the form to 
their loan holders where they will indicate the total amount of 
interest that accrued between those dates (or indicate a daily accrual 
amount), fill in the address where the payment should be sent, and 
return the form to the National Service Trust for payment.
    Type of Review: New.
    Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.
    Title: Interest Accrual.
    OMB Number: None.
    Agency Number: None.
    Affected Public: AmeriCorps members and the holders of their 
qualified student loans.
    Total Respondents: 6,000 annually.
    Frequency: Average of once per year per loan.
    Average Time Per Response: 2\1/2\ minutes, total (one minute for 
the AmeriCorps member to complete the form and one and a half minutes 
for the loan holder).
    Estimated Total Burden Hours: 250 hours.
    Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.
    Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget 
approval of the information collection request; they will also become a 
matter of public record.

    Dated: March 30, 1998.
Thomas L. Bryant,
Associate General Counsel.
[FR Doc. 98-8607 Filed 4-1-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6050-28-P