Documentation Generic Clearance Customer Service Satisfa

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION COLLECTIONS

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Loan Choice in the FFEL Program Survey

[ X] SURVEY [ ] FOCUS GROUP [ ] SOFTWARE USABILITY TESTING

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

BACKGROUND – Under provisions of the Higher Education Act and the implementing regulations, a borrower of a FFEL loan must be allowed to choose his or her lender. Schools may not refuse to certify a loan for a student based upon choice of lender (or guaranty agency) and the student must be informed that he or she has a choice of lender, even if the school presents the student with a list of “preferred lenders”.

1. Intended Purpose – to determine if students who received student loans in the FFEL Program were limited in their choice of FFEL lender and if they were informed that they could choose their lender.

2. Need for the Collection – to enable ED to determine if corrective or compliance action is warranted to a school whose students indicate that they were not given a choice of FFEL lender.

3. Planned use of the Data – a simple analysis if the results of the study will be use to determine if any follow-up with the school is necessary.

4. Date(s) and Location(s) – the survey instrument will be sent to the randomly selected students, in stages, during the last couple of weeks of February to early March 2008.

5. Collection Procedures – An email will be sent to the selected student respondents at the email address listed on their application for student aid. Attached to the email will be an electronic survey that they will complete and electronically return.

6. Number of focus groups, Surveys, Usability Testing Sessions – None, since this is a simple four question electronic instrument.

7. Description of Respondents/Participants – The respondents who will be sent the survey will be randomly selected from a listing of students who received FFEL student loans for the 2007-08 school year at one of a set of previously identified postsecondary institutions. Those institutions are ones where data show that more than 80% of their student loans were from one lender.

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

None

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
Recipients of 2007-08 student loans at selected institutions Institutions.	10,000	2 minutes	333 hours
Totals	10,000	2 minutes	333 hours

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Hourly Rate	Response Time	Total
Recipients of 2007-08 FFEL student loans at selected institutions Institutions.	10,000	N/A	N/A	N/A
Totals	10,000	N/A	N/A	N/A

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

Recipients will be selected randomly from those students who received a FFEL loan for attendance during the 2007-08 school year at the selected institution.

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON:

Jeff Baker

TELEPHONE NUMBER: (202) 377-4009

MAILING LOCATION:

ED DEPARTMENT, OFFICE, DIVISION, BRANCH:

Federal Student Aid

Policy Liaison and Implementation

TEXT FOR EMAIL TO BORROWERS:

Dear Student:

Our records show that you received a student loan for the 2007-2008 academic year under the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program. As part of our evaluation of the FFEL Program, we need your assistance by asking you to respond to a few questions related to your choice of FFEL bank or other lender.

Click on the link below to access the brief, five questions, survey. Please respond as soon as you can but no later than March 15, 2008.

Your responses to this survey will have no impact on your FFEL Program loan or on your eligibility for future federal student aid. If you have any concerns regarding the legitimacy of this request you can link to www.ifap.ed.gov/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, where you will see a letter from the U.S. Department of Education announcing this survey effort or you can call the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800-4FEDAID (1-800-433-3243).

We thank you very much for your assistance in this important activity.

Sincerely,

U.S. Department of Education

Federal Student Aid

TEXT FOR SURVEY

Thank you for agreeing to participate in this brief survey to help us determine whether you were provided with a choice of lender for your FFEL student loan. Your responses to this survey will have no impact on your FFEL Program loan or on your eligibility for future federal student aid.

1. Did you receive a FFEL Stafford Loan for all or part of the 2007-2008 school year?

___Yes ___No If NO, skip Questions 2 through 4 and go to Question 5.

2. Was the 2007-2008 Stafford Loan the first FFEL loan you have received for attendance at any school? ___Yes ___No If NO, skip Questions 3 and 4 and go to Question 5.

3. Did your school let you know that you had a choice of FFEL lenders?

___Yes ___ No

4. Did your school prevent you from using the lender you wanted to use?

___Yes ___ No If YES, please provide detail below in Question 5.

5. You may provide additional information or comments about your choice of FFEL lender in the box below.

Thank you for your participation in this important project.

U.S. Department of Education

Federal Student Aid

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