Under existing
regulatory and administrative requirements, data regarding new and
outstanding guaranteed student loans is collected through a
labyrinth of intermediaries and processes. As a result, loan
information is often incomplete and reporting is significantly
delayed. Rather than lender payments on loan- level data, the
Department makes fee payments based on summary data from 4000
lenders and 36 guaranty agencies while waiting for transaction
level information to follow months later. This creates myriad
problems: errors in determining contingent liability for financial
statements, post-payment reconciliation problems between summary
reports and loan data, constant changes in "actual" loan
information, and ED's inability to verify loan data. Therefore, in
order to maximize the practical utility of this data collection, ED
shall submit to OMB, no later than 12/31/02, a detailed business
case for making the necessary adjustments to the FFEL data system
(including NSLDS) so that lender payments are based on loan-level
data provided directly by the lenders on a quarterly or monthly
basis, rather than on summary reports processed by other
intermediaries.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
10/31/2003
10/31/2003
07/31/2002
17,200
0
17,200
41,925
0
41,925
0
0
0
The Lender's Interest and Special
Allowance Request (Form 799) is used by approximately 4,300 lenders
participating in the Title IV, Part B loan programs. The ED Form
799 is used to pay interest and special allowance to holders of the
Part B loans; and to capture quarterly data from lender's loan
portfolio for financial and budgetary projections.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.