[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 56 (Thursday, March 23, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17560-17562]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-06169]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2023-SCC-0053]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 2024-
2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA[supreg])

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 
May 23, 2023.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use https://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2023-SCC-0053. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://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 Beth Grebeldinger at (202) 377-
4018 or the FAFSA Product 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

[[Page 17561]]

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: 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal 
Student Aid.
    OMB Control Number: 1845-0001.
    Type of Review: A revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 34,328,439.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 22,417,460.
    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) and Federal Work-
Study (FWS)),; the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) 
Program; the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher 
Education (TEACH) Grant; the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship; 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 form, an applicant receives a FAFSA Submission Report, which is a 
summary of the processed data they submitted on the FAFSA form. The 
applicant reviews the FAFSA Submission Summary, and, if necessary, will 
make corrections or updates to their submitted FAFSA data. Institutions 
of higher education listed by the applicant on the FAFSA form also 
receive a summary of processed data submitted on the FAFSA form 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.

           Table 1--Federal Student Aid Application Components
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                                                           Submission
           Component                  Description            method
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Initial Submission of FAFSA
 form:
    fafsa.gov.................  Any applicant with a    Submitted by the
                                 Federal Student Aid     applicant.
                                 ID (FSA ID) can
                                 complete the
                                 electronic version of
                                 the FAFSA form.
    Printed FAFSA form........  The printed version of  Mailed by the
                                 the FAFSA PDF for       applicant.
                                 applicants who are
                                 unable to access the
                                 internet or complete
                                 the form using
                                 fafsa.gov.
Correcting and Reviewing
 Submitted FAFSA information
    fafsa.gov--Corrections....  Any applicant with an   Submitted by the
                                 FSA ID--regardless of   applicant.
                                 how they originally
                                 applied--may make
                                 corrections to their
                                 own data. Note that
                                 no user will be able
                                 to make corrections
                                 to any federal tax
                                 information (FTI)
                                 that was obtained
                                 from the IRS.
    Electronic Other--          With the applicant's    The FAA may be
     Corrections.                permission,             using their
                                 corrections can be      mainframe
                                 made by an FAA using    computer or
                                 the Electronic Data     software to
                                 Exchange (EDE).         facilitate the
                                                         EDE process.
    Paper FAFSA Submission      The paper summary is    Mailed by the
     Summary.                    mailed to paper         applicant.
                                 applicants who did
                                 not provide an email
                                 address. Applicants
                                 can write corrections
                                 directly on the paper
                                 FAFSA Submission
                                 Summary and mail for
                                 processing. Note that
                                 users for whom
                                 federal tax
                                 information (FTI) was
                                 obtained from the IRS
                                 will not be able to
                                 make corrections to
                                 that data.
    FAFSA Partner Portal        An institution can use  Submitted by an
     (FPP)--Corrections.         FPP to correct the      FAA on behalf
                                 FAFSA form.             of an
                                                         applicant.
    Internal Department         The Department will     These
     Corrections.                submit an applicant's   corrections are
                                 record for system-      system-
                                 generated corrections   generated.
                                 to the FAFSA
                                 Processing System.
                                 There is no burden to
                                 the applicants under
                                 this correction type
                                 as these are system-
                                 based corrections.
    Federal Student Aid         Any applicant, with     These changes
     Information Center          their Data Release      are made
     (FSAIC) Corrections.        Number (DRN), can       directly in the
                                 change the              FPS by an FSAIC
                                 postsecondary           representative.
                                 institutions listed
                                 on their FAFSA form
                                 or change their
                                 address by calling
                                 FSAIC.
    FAFSA Submission Summary--  The electronic FAFSA    Cannot be
     electronic.                 Submission Summary is   submitted for
                                 an online version of    processing.
                                 the FAFSA Submission
                                 Summary that is
                                 available on
                                 fafsa.gov to all
                                 applicants.
                                 Notification for the
                                 FAFSA Submission
                                 Summary is sent to
                                 students who applied
                                 electronically or by
                                 paper and provided a
                                 valid email address.
                                 These notifications
                                 are sent by email and
                                 include a secure
                                 hyperlink that takes
                                 the user to the
                                 fafsa.gov site.
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[[Page 17562]]

    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 
form (e.g., by paper or electronically);
     How the applicant chooses to submit any corrections and/or 
updates (e.g., the paper FAFSA Submission Summary or electronically);
     The type of FAFSA Submission Summary document the 
applicant receives (paper or electronic);
     The formula applied to determine the applicant's student 
aid index (SAI); and
     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 2024-2025 
is based on the projected total enrollment into post-secondary 
education for Fall 2024. The ABM is also based on the application 
options available to students and parents. ED accounts for each 
application component based on analytical tools, survey information and 
other ED data sources.
    For 2024-2025, ED is reporting a net burden decrease of 427,252 
hours.

    Dated: March 21, 2023.
Kun Mullan,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, 
Evaluation and Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 2023-06169 Filed 3-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P