[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 186 (Tuesday, September 27, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58492-58493]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-20839]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2022-SCC-0119]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 2023-
24 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:24) Field Test--
Student Data Collection and Student Records

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences (IES), Department of Education 
(ED).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
proposing a revision of a currently approved information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
November 28, 2022.

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-2022-SCC-0119. 
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. If the regulations.gov 
site is not available to the public for any reason, ED will temporarily 
accept comments at [email protected]. Please include the docket ID 
number and the title of the information collection request when 
requesting documents or submitting comments. 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 Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy 
Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 
6W203, Washington, DC 20202-8240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection

[[Page 58493]]

activities, please contact Carrie Clarady, (202) 245-6347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department, 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 the Department assess the impact of its 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand the Department'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. The 
Department is especially interested in public comment addressing the 
following issues: (1) is this collection necessary to the proper 
functions of the Department; (2) will this information be processed and 
used in a timely manner; (3) is the estimate of burden accurate; (4) 
how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 
the information to be collected; and (5) how might the Department 
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: 2023-24 National Postsecondary Student Aid 
Study (NPSAS:24) Field Test--Student Data Collection and Student 
Records.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0666.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 6,240.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 8,550.
    Abstract: This request is to conduct the 2023-24 National 
Postsecondary Student Aid Study Field Test (NPSAS:24 FT) student data 
collection, consisting of a student record data abstraction and a 
student survey, carrying over the approved NPSAS:24 FT Institution 
Collection (OMB #1859-0666 v. 33). This study is being conducted by the 
National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the Institute 
of Education Sciences (IES), part of the U.S. Department of Education.
    This submission covers materials and procedures related to the 
NPSAS:24 student data collection, which includes abstraction of student 
data from institutions and a student survey, administered primarily as 
a web survey, and carries over respondent burden, procedures, and 
materials related to the NPSAS:24 FT institution sampling, enrollment 
list collection, and matching to administrative data files as approved 
by OMB in September 2022 (OMB #1859-0666 v. 33). The materials and 
procedures are based on those developed for previous institution-based 
data collections, including the 2019-20 National Postsecondary Student 
Aid Study (NPSAS:20) [OMB #1850-0666 v. 25].
    The first NPSAS was implemented by NCES during the 1986-87 academic 
year to meet the need for national data about significant financial aid 
issues. Since 1987, NPSAS has been fielded every 2 to 4 years, most 
recently during the 2019-20 academic year (NPSAS:20). NPSAS:24 will be 
nationally- representative. The NPSAS:24 field test sample size will be 
6,000 students, and the full-scale sample will include 137,000 
nationally representative undergraduate and 25,000 nationally 
representative graduate students who will be asked to complete a survey 
and for whom we will collect student records and administrative data. 
If the full-scale budget allows, we will include state-representative 
sampling for the full-scale collection and provide the budget for a 
state-representative sampling plan in the 30-day full-scale package, 
planned for 2023. Also, if exercised, NPSAS:24 will serve as the base 
year for the 2024 cohort of the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) 
Longitudinal Study and will include a nationally representative sample 
of students who will complete requirements for the bachelor's degree 
during the NPSAS year (i.e., completed at some point between July 1, 
2022, and June 30, 2023 for the field test and July 1, 2023 to June 30, 
2024 for the full-scale). Subsets of questions in the student survey 
will focus on describing aspects of the experience of students in their 
last year of postsecondary education, including student debt and 
education experiences. This submission is designed to adequately 
justify the need for and overall practical utility of the full study, 
presenting the overarching plan for all phases of the student data 
collection and providing as much detail about the measures to be used 
as is available at the time of this submission.
    As part of this submission, NCES is publishing a notice in the 
Federal Register allowing first a 60- and then a 30-day public comment 
period. Field test materials, procedures, and results will inform the 
full-scale study. After completion of this field test, NCES will 
publish a notice in the Federal Register allowing additional 30-day 
public comment period on the final details of the NPSAS:24 full-scale 
student records and student survey data collections.

    Dated: September 21, 2022.
Stephanie Valentine,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance, Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, 
Evaluation and Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 2022-20839 Filed 9-26-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P