[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 178 (Friday, September 15, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63558-63559]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-20000]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

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


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the 
Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; 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 (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 
October 16, 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 FAFSA Product Team, 
[email protected] Beth Grebeldinger at 202-570-8414.

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: 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student 
Aid.
    OMB Control Number: 1845-0001.
    Type of Review: A revision of a currently approved ICR.
    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

[[Page 63559]]

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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              Component                                   Description                       Submission method
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                                        Initial Submission of FAFSA form
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fafsa.gov............................  Any applicant with a Federal Student Aid ID (FSA  Submitted by the
                                        ID) can complete the electronic version of the    applicant.
                                        FAFSA form.
Printed FAFSA form...................  The printed version of the FAFSA PDF for          Mailed by the
                                        applicants who are unable to access the           applicant.
                                        internet or complete the form using fafsa.gov.
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                              Correcting and Reviewing Submitted FAFSA information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
fafsa.gov--Corrections...............  Any applicant with an FSA ID--regardless of how   Submitted by the
                                        they originally applied--may make corrections     applicant.
                                        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--Corrections........  With the applicant's permission, corrections can  The FAA may be using
                                        be made by an FAA using the Electronic Data       their mainframe
                                        Exchange (EDE).                                   computer or software
                                                                                          to facilitate the EDE
                                                                                          process.
Paper FAFSA Submission Summary.......  The paper summary is mailed to paper applicants   Mailed by the
                                        who did not provide an email address.             applicant.
                                        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 (FPP)--           An institution can use FPP to correct the FAFSA   Submitted by an FAA on
 Corrections.                           form.                                             behalf of an
                                                                                          applicant.
Internal Department Corrections......  The Department will submit an applicant's record  These corrections are
                                        for system-generated corrections to the FAFSA     system-generated.
                                        Processing System. There is no burden to the
                                        applicants under this correction type as these
                                        are system-based corrections.
Federal Student Aid Information        Any applicant, with their Data Release Number     These changes are made
 Center (FSAIC) Corrections.            (DRN), can change the postsecondary               directly in the FPS by
                                        institutions listed on their FAFSA form or        an FSAIC
                                        change their address by calling FSAIC.            representative.
FAFSA Submission Summary--electronic.  The electronic FAFSA Submission Summary is an     Cannot be submitted for
                                        online version of the FAFSA Submission Summary    processing.
                                        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.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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: September 12, 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. 2023-20000 Filed 9-14-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P