[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 246 (Tuesday, December 26, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 88894-88895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-28427]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2023-SCC-0216]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 
Process for FSA ID Account Creation for Individuals Without a Social 
Security Number in Connection With Person Authentication Service (PAS)

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 
requested the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to conduct an 
emergency review of a new information collection.

DATES: The Department requested emergency processing from OMB for this 
information collection request on December 20, 2023. As a result, the 
Department is providing the public with the opportunity to comment 
under the full comment period. Interested persons

[[Page 88895]]

are invited to submit comments on or before February 26, 2024.

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-2023-SCC-0216. 
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, the Department 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 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 Manager of the 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 activities, please contact Beth Grebeldinger, 202-377-4018.

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. The Department 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: Process for FSA ID Account Creation for 
Individuals without a Social Security Number in Connection with Person 
Authentication Service (PAS).
    OMB Control Number: 1845-0179.
    Type of Review: A new information collection request.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 3,500.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 1,155.
    Abstract: The Department of Education (Department) requested 
emergency processing for this information collection, 1845-0179, 
Process for FSA ID Account Creation for Individuals without a Social 
Security Number in Connection with Person Authentication Service (PAS); 
and therefore, is requesting the 60-day public comment period for the 
full ICR. Applicants, parents, and borrowers establish an FSA ID, which 
includes a username and password. The FSA ID is used for the purposes 
of verifying the identity of the user; allowing users to establish an 
account with FSA; safeguarding their personally identifiable and 
financial information; signing applications and loan related documents; 
providing users access to their information and applications; allowing 
users to customize or update their accounts with FSA; renewing or 
revoking a user's account with FSA; and supporting the Federal Student 
Aid Information Center (FSAIC) help desk functions.
    The specific questions that applicants are asked to answer in the 
FSA ID creation process are described separately in the Creating FSA-ID 
document, which explains the use of the questions in the application. 
As part of the standard process, users' information is matched with 
information from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to confirm 
their SSA status.
    In the event of individuals who do not have a SSN to match, they 
are instructed to the contact the Department and provide one of the 
following documents (U.S. State/Territory Driver's License; U.S. State 
or City Identification Card; Foreign Passport; Municipal identification 
card; Community ID; or a Consular identification card) and a signed 
attestation of their identity under the penalty of perjury, as 
instructed by the Privacy Act.
    This collection provides the process and application that 
individuals without an SSN may use to acquire an FSA ID to access the 
statutory and regulatory benefits of the Title IV, HEA student 
financial assistance programs. The Department received emergency 
clearance on December 20, 2023, since normal clearance processing would 
not enable to implement this critical change by the launch of the 2024-
25 FAFSA form, which would result in no access to the FAFSA application 
for individuals who need to get an FSA ID without a Social Security 
Number. Any delay in getting access to the FAFSA form would increase 
the potential for public harm through delayed access to student 
financial aid and the possibility of decreasing the likelihood of 
postsecondary enrollment. As a result, in order to meet the late-
December 2023 form launch, the Department requested that OMB approve 
the collection associated with non-Social Security Number FSA ID 
account creation process using the emergency clearance procedures.

    Dated: December 20, 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. 2023-28427 Filed 12-22-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P