Memo to OMB regarding the 2008-2009 FAFSA Visual images

PRA Paperwork Clearance Packet for the

2008-2009 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Federal Student Aid, U.S. Department of Education

Visual images of the FAFSA can be viewed at www.fafsa.ed.gov. This web site serves as a platform for the entire FAFSA suite of products, including:

• FAFSA on the Web (English and Spanish)

• FAFSA4Caster

• FAFSAEZ

• FAFSA Paper (the traditional paper application, available in PDF)

• FAFSA Electronic (the only FAFSA component created specifically for schools) https://fafsa.ed.gov/FOTWWebApp/FaaAccessServlet)

The 2008-2009 FAFSA suite of products is currently under development. As in year’s past, we are providing visual images of the current FAFSA products for illustrative purposes. Since this is a year of minimal change for the FAFSA (see below) the products listed above will be virtually identical to their 2008-2009 counterparts. We anticipate receiving the beta-version(s) of the 2008-2009 FAFSA products during the first quarter of FY2008. They will be furnished to OMB as soon as they are available.

Background: The 2007-2008 FAFSA received OMB clearance on September 9, 2006. Soon after its clearance, the bi-partisan Commission on the Future of Higher Education issued a report challenging Federal Student Aid (FSA) to notify students of their student financial assistance eligibility prior to their senior year in high school. Because FSA had traditionally required students to wait until they were seniors in high school [or beyond] to apply for student financial assistance this meant that the Department needed to develop a new tool to provide earlier notification of potential financial aid eligibility. The tool FSA developed, FAFSA4caster, is a part of FAFSA on the Web (www.fafsa.ed.gov) and assists younger students and their families by instantly calculating an estimated family contribution; informing the student of potential future Federal Pell Grant eligibility; and reducing the time needed to complete the FAFSA when the student later formally applies as a high school senior. Because the original 2007-2008 FAFSA burden hour estimate did not include the burden associated with FAFSA4caster, FSA amended the 2007-2008 FAFSA clearance packet by submitting a Change Worksheet to OMB. OMB approved this request on March 30, 2007.

Current Activity: FSA provided a Change Worksheet, in lieu of a full clearance packet, because there will be no change to the design, content or distribution of the 2008-2009 FAFSA. Because FSA increased both the burden hour estimate and the total annual responses estimate on the Change Worksheet (approved March 30, 2007) and because the past burden and response estimates have been higher than the actual rates, the Department is confident that any increase in the market adoption rate has been accommodated by the above estimates.