This collection
is approved with the following terms of clearance: Upon
re-evaluation of the Department's current methodology in assessing
burden imposed by the public, the Department acknowledges that the
burden estimate as submitted to OMB for the FAFSA application did
not include the time required to complete some ancillary processes
required in order to accurately complete the application. As
required under 5 CFR 1320, agencies are to include in their burden
estimates, an estimate for the total annual reporting and
recordkeeping burden that will result from the collection of
information. As a result, the Department of Education has adjusted
its estimate of the burden by including the time devoted to
activities such as preparation, submission, and record-keeping. It
is important to note that the higher burden estimate does not
reflect an actual increase in burden, but rather a more accurate
estimate of the burden associated with the FAFSA application
process. It is also important to recognize the Department's
tremendous efforts in burden reduction through the use of web
enhancements such as skip logic and pre-population of IRS data.
These are efforts are reflected in the significant program change
reduction due to agency discretion. Given the plans submitted by
the Department to better assess burden in its 2010-2011 FAFSA
submission to OMB, FSA must further re-evaluate their burden
estimates before seeking OMB approval for the 2011-2012 FAFSA
application. In order to do so, FSA will do the following: Using
the 2010-2011 FOTW application, they will monitor application
completion time. The completion timer will start at the
Introduction page (after successful login) through submission of
the application. The time will not include timeouts by applicant
and will be rolled back to last completed action. (FSA)will receive
a weekly report of completion average by applicant type (dependent
and independent students) and type of FAFSA completed (FOTW, FAFSA
EZ and pre-filled FOTW). In addition to analysis of the
2010-2011, FSA will use existing approved customer satisfaction
survey questions and consider adding additional questions
pertaining to preparation time (gathering documents, reading
instructions, etc) FSA will also evaluate whether or not to
conduct additional studies (usability testing and customer
satisfaction) to accurately assess estimates of burden. Options
include but not limited to: o Review of comparative analyses of the
methodologies used by other federal agencies that are similar in
complexity and uses. o Student/applicant focus groups o Financial
aid administrator focus groups o Usability studies
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
12/31/2010
36 Months From Approved
12/31/2011
21,696,675
0
17,123,392
26,781,074
0
8,341,867
0
0
0
The Free Application for Federal
Student Aid (FAFSA) collects the data necessary to determine a
students eligibility for participation in the following federal
student assistance programs identified in the Higher Education Act
(HEA): the Federal Pell Grant Program; the Campus-Based Programs;
the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program; the Federal Family
Education Loan Program; the Academic Competitiveness Grant; the
National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART)
Grant, and the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher
Education (TEACH) Grant.
There are both adjustments and
program changes to this year's FAFSA as explained briefly here:
There are two Adjustments to the 2010-2011 FAFSA that total
22,560,709 burden hours. The first adjustment is for a revised
burden estimate to fully reflect the time required to perform all
processes associated with FAFSA completion, including Preparation,
Completion, Submission and Recordkeeping. This adjustment totals an
estimated burden increase of 20,332,779. The second adjustment
reflects the increased volume projections of 15.5% for a total of
21,696,675 applicants during the 2010-2011 cycle, resulting in an
estimated burden adjustment increase of 2,227,930. There is also a
very significant Program Change Burden Decrease of 4,121,500 hours.
This decrease results from FSA simplification efforts to streamline
the application, thereby reducing electronic format completion
times. For example, starting in July 2010, FAFSA applicants can
access and download IRS data to significantly reduce preparation
time by pre-populating up to 18 financial data elements.
$54,007,277
No
No
Uncollected
Uncollected
No
Uncollected
Shamarli Kollock
2023773483
No
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.
Pre-filled FAFSA Electronic
FAFSA 2010-2011 burden totals.xls
Att_2010-11 Data Elements Justification.doc
Att_Draft 2010-11 FOTW Worksheet.pdf
Pre-filled FAFSA Electronic