[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 72 (Monday, April 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18121-18123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-07620]


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 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2017-ICCD-0044]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 2018-
2019 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

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, ED is 
proposing a revision of the existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
June 16, 2017.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2017-ICCD-. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal 
mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. Please note that comments 
submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the comment period 
will not be accepted. Written requests for information or comments 
submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance, U.S. Department of 
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Room 224-84, Washington, DC 
20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact the Applicant Products Team at 
[email protected].

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 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 function 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 the Collection: 2018-2019 Free Application for Federal 
Student Aid.
    OMB Control Number: 1845-0001.
    Type of Review: A revision of an existing information collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 39,226,771.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 25,826,753.
    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 (FSA), an office of the U.S. Department of 
Education, 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 and processing of the 
FAFSA, an applicant receives a Student Aid Report (SAR), which is a 
summary of the processed 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 also receive a summary of 
processed data submitted on the FAFSA which is called the Institutional 
Student Information Record (ISIR).
    ED and FSA seek 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 1.

[[Page 18122]]



           Table 1--Federal Student Aid Application Components
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           Component                  Description      Submission method
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                       Initial Submission of FAFSA
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FAFSA on the Web (FOTW)........  Online FAFSA that     Submitted by the
                                  offers applicants a   applicant via
                                  customized            fafsa.gov.
                                  experience.
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
                                  SNT or Auto Zero
                                  needs analysis
                                  formulas.
FAA Access.....................  Online tool that a    Submitted through
                                  financial aid         faaaccess.ed.gov
                                  administrator (FAA)   by an FAA on
                                  utilizes to submit    behalf of an
                                  a FAFSA.              applicant.
FAA Access--Renewal............  Online tool that an
                                  FAA can utilize to
                                  submit a Renewal
                                  FAFSA.
FAA Access--EZ.................  Online tool that an
                                  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 an
                                  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  The FAA may be
                                  done by an FAA, on    using their
                                  behalf of the         mainframe
                                  applicant, using      computer or
                                  the Electronic Data   software to
                                  Exchange (EDE).       facilitate the
                                                        EDE process.
Printed FAFSA..................  The printed version   Mailed by the
                                  of the PDF FAFSA      applicant.
                                  for applicants who
                                  are unable to
                                  access the Internet
                                  or complete the
                                  form using FOTW.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Correcting Submitted FAFSA Information and Reviewing FAFSA Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------
FOTW--Corrections..............  Any applicant who     Submitted by the
                                  has a Federal         applicant via
                                  Student Aid ID (FSA   fafsa.gov.
                                  ID)--regardless of
                                  how they originally
                                  applied--may make
                                  corrections using
                                  FOTW Corrections.
Electronic Other--Corrections..  With the applicant's  The FAA may be
                                  permission,           using their
                                  corrections can be    mainframe
                                  made by an FAA        computer or
                                  using the EDE.        software to
                                                        facilitate the
                                                        EDE process.
Paper SAR--This is a SAR and an  The full paper        Mailed by the
 option for corrections.          summary that is       applicant.
                                  mailed to paper
                                  applicants who did
                                  not provide an e-
                                  mail 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    Submitted through
                                  use FAA Access to     faaaccess.ed.gov
                                  correct the FAFSA.    by an FAA on
                                                        behalf of an
                                                        applicant.
Internal Department Corrections  The Department will   There is no
                                  submit an             burden to the
                                  applicant's record    applicants under
                                  for system-           this correction
                                  generated             type as these
                                  corrections.          are system-based
                                                        corrections.
FSAIC Corrections..............  Any applicant, with   These changes are
                                  their Data Release    made directly in
                                  Number (DRN), can     the CPS system
                                  change the            by an FSAIC
                                  postsecondary         representative.
                                  institutions listed
                                  on their FAFSA or
                                  change their
                                  address by calling
                                  FSAIC.
SAR Electronic (eSAR)..........  The eSAR is an        Cannot be
                                  online version of     submitted for
                                  the SAR that is       processing.
                                  available on FOTW
                                  to all applicants
                                  with an FSA ID.
                                  Notification 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.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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:
     The total number of applicants that will potentially apply 
for federal student aid;
     How the applicant chooses to complete and submit the FAFSA 
(e.g., by paper or electronically via FOTW[supreg]);
     How the applicant chooses to submit any corrections and/or 
updates (e.g., the paper SAR or electronically via FOTW Corrections);
     The type of SAR document the applicant receives (eSAR, SAR 
acknowledgment, or paper SAR);
     The formula applied to determine the applicant's expected 
family contribution (EFC) (full need analysis formula, Simplified Needs 
Test or Automatic Zero); and

[[Page 18123]]

     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 2018-2019 
is based upon two factors--estimating the growth rate of the total 
enrollment into post-secondary education and applying the growth rate 
to the FAFSA submissions. The ABM is also based on the application 
options available to students and parents. ED accounts for each 
application component based on Web trending tools, survey information 
and other ED data sources.
    For 2018-2019, ED is reporting a net burden increase of 5,790,741 
hours.

    Dated: April 11, 2017.
Kate Mullan,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2017-07620 Filed 4-14-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P