[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 166 (Wednesday, August 27, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51144-51146]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20275]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2014-ICCD-0125]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 2015-
2016 Federal Student Aid Application

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid (FSA), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 
U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a revision of an existing 
information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
October 27, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Comments submitted in response to this notice should be 
submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at 
http://www.regulations.gov by selecting Docket ID number ED-2014-ICCD-
0125 or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the 
regulations.gov site is not available to the public for any reason, ED 
will temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please note 
that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the 
comment period will not be accepted; ED will ONLY accept comments 
during the comment period in this mailbox when the regulations.gov site 
is not available. Written requests for information or comments 
submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Mailstop L-OM-2-
2E319, Room 2E115, Washington, DC 20202.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Douglas Pineda Robles (202) 377-
4578.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), in 
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with 
an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing 
collections of information. This helps ED assess the impact of its 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand the ED's information 
collection requirements and provide the requested data in the desired 
format. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed information 
collection request (ICR) that is described below. ED is especially 
interested in public comments addressing the following issues: (1) Is 
this collection necessary to the proper functions of ED; (2) will this 
information be processed and used in a timely manner; (3) is the 
estimate of burden accurate; (4) how might ED enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (5) how 
might ED minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, 
including through the use of information technology. Please note that 
written comments received in response to this notice will be considered 
public records.
    Title of Collection: 2015-2016 Federal Student Aid Application.
    OMB Control Number: 1845-0001.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    RespondentsAffected Public: Individuals.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 44,992,857.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 24,083,155.
    Abstract: Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 
amended (HEA), mandates that the Secretary of Education ``. . . shall 
produce, distribute, and process free of charge common financial 
reporting forms as described in this subsection to be used for 
application and reapplication to determine the need and eligibility of 
a student for financial assistance . . .''.
    The determination of need and eligibility are for the following 
title IV, HEA, federal student financial assistance programs: The 
Federal Pell Grant Program; the Campus-Based programs (Federal 
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work-Study 
(FWS), and the Federal Perkins Loan Program); the William D. Ford 
Federal Direct Loan Program; the Teacher Education Assistance for 
College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant; and the Iraq and 
Afghanistan Service Grant.
    Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education 
(hereafter ``the Department''), subsequently developed an application 
process to collect and process the data necessary to determine a 
student's eligibility to receive title IV, HEA program assistance. The 
application process involves an applicant's submission of the Free 
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA[supreg]). After submission 
of the FAFSA, an applicant receives a Student Aid Report (SAR), which 
is a summary of the data they submitted on the FAFSA. The applicant 
reviews the SAR, and, if necessary, will make corrections or updates to 
their submitted FAFSA data. Institutions of higher education listed by 
the applicant on the FAFSA

[[Page 51145]]

also receive a summary of processed data submitted on the FAFSA which 
is called the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR).
    The Department seeks OMB approval of all application components as 
a single ``collection of information''. The aggregate burden will be 
accounted for under OMB Control Number 1845-0001. The specific 
application components, descriptions and submission methods for each 
are listed in Table one.

                               Table 1--Federal Student Aid Application Components
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Component                                   Description                       Submission method
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                           Initial Submission of FAFSA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAFSA on the Web (FOTW)..............  Online FAFSA that offers applicants a customized  Submitted by the
                                        experience..                                      applicant via
                                                                                          www.fafsa.gov.
FOTW--Renewal........................  Online FAFSA for applicants who have previously
                                        completed the FAFSA.
FOTW--EZ.............................  Online FAFSA for applicants who qualify for the
                                        Simplified Needs Test (SNT) or Automatic Zero
                                        (Auto Zero) needs analysis formulas.
FOTW--EZ Renewal.....................  Online FAFSA for applicants who have previously
                                        completed the FAFSA and who qualify for the SNT
                                        or Auto Zero needs analysis formulas.
FAFSA on the Phone (FOTP)............  The Federal Student Aid Information Center        Submitted through
                                        (FSAIC) representatives assist applicants by      www.fafsa.gov for
                                        filing the FAFSA on their behalf through FOTW.    applicants who call 1-
                                                                                          800-4-FED-AID.
FOTP--EZ.............................  FSAIC representatives assist applicants who
                                        qualify for the SNT or Auto Zero needs analysis
                                        formulas by filing the FAFSA on their behalf
                                        through FOTW.
FAA Access...........................  Online tool that a financial aid administrator    Submitted through
                                        (FAA) utilizes to submit a FAFSA..                www.faaacess.ed.gov by
                                                                                          a FAA on behalf of an
                                                                                          applicant.
FAA Access--Renewal..................  Online tool that a FAA can utilize to submit a
                                        Renewal FAFSA.
FAA Access--EZ.......................  Online tool that a FAA can utilize to submit a
                                        FAFSA for applicants who qualify for the SNT or
                                        Auto Zero needs analysis formulas.
FAA Access--EZ Renewal...............  Online tool that a FAA can utilize to submit a
                                        FAFSA for applicants who have previously
                                        completed the FAFSA and who qualify for the SNT
                                        or Auto Zero needs analysis formulas.
Electronic Other.....................  This is a submission done by a FAA, on behalf of  The FAA may be using
                                        the applicant, using the Electronic Data          their mainframe
                                        Exchange (EDE).                                   computer or software
                                                                                          to facilitate the EDE
                                                                                          process.
PDF FAFSA or Paper FAFSA.............  The paper version of the FAFSA printed by the     Mailed by the
                                        Department for applicants who are unable to       applicant.
                                        access the Internet or the online version of
                                        the FAFSA for applicants who can access the
                                        Internet but are unable to complete the form
                                        using FOTW.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                     Correcting Submitted FAFSA Information and Reviewing FAFSA Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOTW--Corrections....................  Any applicant who has a Federal Student Aid PIN   Submitted by the
                                        (FSA PIN)--regardless of how they originally      applicant via
                                        applied--may make corrections using FOTW          www.fafsa.gov.
                                        Corrections.
Electronic Other--Corrections........  With the applicant's permission, corrections can  The FAA may be using
                                        be made by a FAA using the EDE.                   their mainframe
                                                                                          computer or software
                                                                                          to facilitate the EDE
                                                                                          process.
Paper SAR--This is a SAR and an        The full paper summary that is mailed to paper    Mailed by the
 option for corrections..               applicants who did not provide an e-mail          applicant.
                                        address and to applicants whose records were
                                        rejected due to critical errors during
                                        processing. Applicants can write corrections
                                        directly on the paper SAR and mail for
                                        processing.
FAA Access--Corrections..............  An institution can use FAA Access to correct the  Submitted through
                                        FAFSA.                                            www.faaacess.ed.gov by
                                                                                          a FAA on behalf of an
                                                                                          applicant.
Internal Department Corrections......  The Department will submit an applicant's record  There is no burden to
                                        for system-generated corrections.                 the applicants under
                                                                                          this correction type
                                                                                          as these are system-
                                                                                          based corrections.
FSAIC Corrections....................  Any applicant, with their Data Release Number     These changes are made
                                        (DRN), can change the postsecondary               directly in the CPS
                                        institutions listed on their FAFSA or change      system by a FSAIC
                                        their address by calling FSAIC.                   representative.
SAR Electronic (eSAR)................  The eSAR is an online version of the SAR that is  Cannot be submitted for
                                        available on FOTW to all applicants with a PIN.   processing.
                                        Notifications for the eSAR are sent to students
                                        who applied electronically or by paper and
                                        provided an e-mail address. These notifications
                                        are sent by e-mail and include a secure
                                        hyperlink that takes the user to the FOTW site.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 51146]]

    This information collection also documents an estimate of the 
annual public burden as it relates to the application process for 
federal student aid. The Applicant Burden Model (ABM), measures 
applicant burden through an assessment of the activities each applicant 
conducts in conjunction with other applicant characteristics and in 
terms of burden, the average applicant's experience. Key determinants 
of the ABM include:
    [ballot] The total number of applicants that will potentially apply 
for federal student aid;
    [ballot] How the applicant chooses to complete and submit the FAFSA 
(e.g., by paper or electronically via FOTW[supreg]);
    [ballot] How the applicant chooses to submit any corrections andor 
updates (e.g., the paper SAR or electronically via FOTW Corrections);
    [ballot] The type of SAR document the applicant receives (eSAR, SAR 
acknowledgment, or paper SAR);
    [ballot] The formula applied to determine the applicant's expected 
family contribution (EFC) (full need analysis formula, Simplified Needs 
Test or Automatic Zero); and
    [ballot] The average amount of time involved in preparing to 
complete the application.
    The ABM is largely driven by the number of potential applicants for 
the application cycle. The total application projection for 2015-2016 
is based upon two factors--estimates of the total enrollment in all 
degree-granting institutions and the percentage change in FAFSA 
submissions for the last completed or almost completed application 
cycle. The ABM is also based on the application options available to 
students and parents. The Department accounts for each application 
component based on web trending tools, survey information, and other 
Department data sources.
    For 2015-2016, the Department is reporting a net burden decrease of 
2,081,212 hours.

    Dated: August 21, 2014.
Tomakie Washington,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Privacy, 
Information and Records Management Services, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2014-20275 Filed 8-26-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P