[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 234 (Wednesday, December 7, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75044-75045]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26562]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; 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), National Center for 
Education Statistics (NCES), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, 
the Department is proposing a revision of a currently approved 
information collection request (ICR).

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
January 6, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for proposed 
information collection requests should be submitted within 30 days of 
publication of this notice. Click on this link www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain to access the site. Find this information collection request 
(ICR) by selecting ``Department of Education'' under ``Currently Under 
Review,'' then check the ``Only Show ICR for Public Comment'' checkbox. 
Reginfo.gov provides two links to view documents related to this 
information collection request. Information collection forms and 
instructions may be found by clicking on the ``View Information 
Collection (IC) List'' link. Supporting statements and other supporting 
documentation may be found by clicking on the ``View Supporting 
Statement and Other Documents'' link.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Carrie Clarady, (202) 245-6347.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 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 ICR.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 7,237.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 8,663.
    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

[[Page 75045]]

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: December 2, 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. 2022-26562 Filed 12-6-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P