[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 20, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12847-12849]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-03331]


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

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission to OMB for 
Review and Approval; Public Comment Request; Health Professions Student 
Loan Program, Loans for Disadvantaged Students Program, Primary Care 
Loan Program, and Nursing Student Loan Program Administrative 
Requirements, OMB No. 0915-0047--Revision

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department 
of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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

SUMMARY: In compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA 
submitted an Information Collection Request (ICR) to the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval. Comments submitted 
during the first public review of this ICR will be provided to OMB. OMB 
will accept further comments from the public during the review and 
approval period. OMB may act on HRSA's ICR only after the 30-day 
comment period for this notice has closed.

DATES: Comments on this ICR should be received no later than March 21, 
2024.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under Review--Open for 
Public Comments'' or by using the search function.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To request a copy of the clearance 
requests submitted to OMB for review, email Joella Roland, the HRSA 
Information Collection Clearance Officer, at [email protected] or call 
(301) 443-3983.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 
    Information Collection Request Title: Health Professions Student 
Loan (HPSL) Program, Loans for Disadvantaged Students (LDS) Program, 
Primary Care Loan (PCL) Program, and Nursing Student Loan (NSL) Program 
Administrative Requirements, OMB No. 0915-0047--Revision.
    Abstract: This clearance request is for approval of the HPSL 
Program, LDS Program, PCL Program, and NSL Program Administrative 
Requirements.
    The HPSL Program, authorized by Public Health Service (PHS) Act 
sections 721-722 and 725-735, is a grant program where recipients 
provide long-term, low-interest loans to students attending schools of 
medicine, osteopathic medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, 
optometry, podiatric medicine, and pharmacy. The LDS Program, 
authorized by PHS Act sections 721-722 and 724-735, is a grant program 
where recipients provide long-term, low interest loans to certain 
students attending schools of allopathic medicine, osteopathic 
medicine, podiatric medicine, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, and 
veterinary medicine. The PCL Program, authorized by PHS Act sections 
721-723 and 725-735, is a grant program where recipients provide long-
term, low interest loans to students attending schools of allopathic 
medicine and osteopathic medicine to practice primary health care. The 
NSL Program, authorized by PHS Act sections 835-842, is a grant program 
where recipients provide long-term, low-interest loans to students who 
attend eligible schools of nursing in programs leading to a diploma 
degree, an associate degree, a baccalaureate degree, or a graduate 
degree in nursing. These programs have a number of recordkeeping and 
reporting requirements for academic institutions and loan applicants. 
The applicable program regulations are found in 42 CFR 57.201-218 and 
57.301-318. HRSA proposes revisions to the Annual Operating Report 
(AOR)-HRSA Form 501 completed by institutions participating in the 
HPSL, LDS, PCL, and NSL Programs to obtain additional information about 
those institutions and their student borrowers.
    A 60-day notice was published in the Federal Register on September 
7, 2023, vol. 88, No. 172; pp. 61602-04. There were no public comments.
    There was a miscalculation of the total burden hours as previously 
reported in the 60-day FRN, which is updated below to properly account 
for the 25,080 HPSL/LDS/PCL and NSL Recordkeeping Requirement total 
hours that were shown but not added in the overall total. The total 
burden hours are now 353,059, which represents a 7.6 percent increase 
when compared to the total burden reported in the last ICR.
    Need and Proposed Use of the Information: Participating HPSL, LDS, 
PCL, and NSL schools are responsible for determining the eligibility of 
applicants, making loans, and collecting monies owed by borrowers on 
their outstanding loans. Participating schools include schools that are 
no longer disbursing loans but are required to report and maintain 
program records, student records, and repayment records until all 
student loans are repaid in full, and all monies due to the federal 
government are returned. The Deferment Form, HRSA Form 519, provides 
the schools with documentation of a borrower's deferment status, as 
detailed for the HPSL Program under 42 CFR 57.210 and NSL under 42 CFR 
57.310, and is included with minor revisions. The proposed revisions to 
the AOR are to modify the options selected for gender identification 
consistent with Executive Order 14075 and best practices in data 
collection recommended by the Office of Management and Budget. 
Additionally, the Deferment Form is being updated to provide specific 
directions for the submission requirements to notify students that the 
deferment request must be submitted to the institution 30 days prior to 
the payment due date. The institution must respond to the student 30 
days after receipt of the student request.

[[Page 12848]]

    Likely Respondents: Institutions who have received HPSL, LDS, PCL, 
and/or NSL Program awards.
    Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by 
persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the 
information requested. This includes the time needed to review 
instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and 
systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying 
information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and 
providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to 
a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and 
review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise 
disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for 
this ICR are summarized in Table 1 below.

                                Table 1--Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                         Total
 Instrument (HPSL, LDS, PCL, & NSL)      Number of     Responses per       Total         Hours per      burden
                                        respondents     respondent       responses       response        hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deferment--HRSA Form 519............           2,060               1           2,060           0.500       1,030
AOR-HRSA--Form 501..................             726               1             726          12.000       8,712
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total...........................           2,786  ..............           2,786  ..............       9,742
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Table 2 shows the estimated burden for schools to maintain required 
records on the history and status for each loan account, which is 
necessary to complete the forms listed in Table 1 above.

                 Table 2--Total Estimated Annualized Burden Hours for Recordkeeping Requirements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                     Number of                     Total burden
                  Data required to be submitted                   record keepers  Hours per year       hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HPSL, LDS, and PCL Program:
    Documentation of Cost of Attendance.........................             432           1.050             454
    Promissory Note.............................................             432           1.250             540
    Documentation of Entrance Interview.........................             432           1.250             540
    Documentation of Exit Interview.............................           * 475           0.370             176
    Program Records.............................................           * 475          10.000           4,750
    Student Records.............................................           * 475          10.000           4,750
    Repayment Records...........................................           * 475          19.550           9,286
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        HPSL/LDS/PCL Subtotal...................................             475  ..............          20,496
NSL Program:
    Documentation of Cost of Attendance.........................             304           0.250              76
    Promissory Note.............................................             304           0.500             152
    Documentation of Entrance Interview.........................             304           0.500             152
    Documentation of Exit Interview.............................           * 486           0.140              68
    Program Records.............................................           * 486           5.000           2,430
    Student Records.............................................           * 486           1.000             486
    Repayment Records...........................................           * 486           2.510           1,220
                                                                 -----------------------------------------------
        NSL Subtotal............................................             486  ..............           4,584
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Includes active and closing schools.

    Table 3 shows the estimated burden for schools to complete 
reporting requirements for loan records, which is necessary to complete 
the forms listed in Table 1 above.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                         Total
                                         Number of     Responses per   Total annual      Hours per      burden
                                        respondents     respondent       responses       response        hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HPSL, LDS, and PCL:
    Student Financial Aid Transcript           4,600             1.0           4,600           0.250       1,150
    Loan Information Disclosure.....             325           299.5          97,338           0.630      61,323
    Entrance Interview..............             325           139.5          45,338           0.500      22,669
    Exit Interview..................           * 334           113.5          37,909           1.000      37,909
    Notification of Repayment.......           * 334           862.5         288,075           0.380     109,469
    Notification During Deferment...           * 333            17.0           5,661           0.630       3,566
    Notification of Delinquent                   334           172.5          57,615           1.250      72,019
     Accounts.......................
    Credit Bureau Notification......             334             6.0           2,004           0.500       1,002
    Write-off of Uncollectable Loans             520             1.0             520           3.000        1560
    Disability Cancellation.........               3             1.0               3           1.000           3
    Administrative Hearings record                 0             0.0               0           0.000           0
     retention......................

[[Page 12849]]

 
    Administrative Hearings                        0             0.0               0           0.000           0
     reporting requirements.........
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        HPSL Subtotal...............  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............     310,670
NSL:
    Student Financial Aid Transcript           4,100             1.0           4,100           0.250       1,025
    Entrance Interview..............             282            17.5           4,935           0.420       2,073
    Exit Interview..................             348             9.0           3,132           0.420       1,315
    Notification of Repayment.......             348             9.0           3,132           0.270         846
    Notification During Deferment...             348             1.5             522           0.290         151
    Notification of Delinquent                   348            42.5          14,790           0.040         592
     Accounts.......................
    Credit Bureau Notification......             348           709.0         246,732           0.006       1,480
    Write-off of Uncollectable Loans              23             1.0              23           3.000          69
    Disability Cancellation.........              16             1.0              16           1.000          16
    Administrative Hearings.........               0             0.0               0           0.000           0
                                     ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
        NSL Subtotal................  ..............  ..............  ..............  ..............       7,567
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Maria G. Button,
Director, Executive Secretariat.
[FR Doc. 2024-03331 Filed 2-16-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P