OMB files this
comment in accordance with 5 CFR 1320.11( c ). This OMB action is
not an approval to conduct or sponsor an information collection
under the Paperwork Reduction Act of1995. This action has no effect
on any current approvals. If OMB has assigned this ICR a new OMB
Control Number, the OMB Control Number will not appear in the
active inventory. For future submissions of this information
collection, reference the OMB Control Number provided. Pursuant to
5 CFR 1320.11(c), OMB files this comment on this information
collection request (ICR). In accordance with 5 CFR 1320, OMB is
withholding approval at this time. The agency shall examine public
comment in response to the NPRM and will describe in the preamble
of the final rule how the agency has maximized the practical
utility of the collection and minimized the burden. The next
submission to OMB must include the draft final rule.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
01/31/2011
36 Months From Approved
01/31/2011
3,036,371
0
3,036,371
1,022,384
0
1,022,384
0
0
0
The proposed regulations will revise
the verification process. Updating information will be expanded to
include the updating of a student's marital status during the award
year, which under the current regulations is prohibited. The
proposed regulations would decrease the number of items to be
verified, from the current five required to an average of three
data elements as selected on an individual basis. We propose to
accept information that has been retrieved directly from the IRS
and unchanged by the applicant. The proposed regulations eliminate
the verification tolerances and require that all data changes be
transmitted to the Department to insure that our systems contain
correct data.
The increase of 612,000 burden
hours is due to a statutory change in the Higher Education
Opportunity Act (HEOA) (Pub. L. 110-315) made to the Higher
Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) that authorizes the
Secretary to work in cooperation with the Internal Revenue Service
(IRS) in order for an individual to retrieve his or her financial
information from the IRS consistent with the regulations at 34 CFR
668.57(a)(3). This information retrieval directly from the IRS, if
unchanged by the applicant, will be accepted as verified
information. The remaining increase of 3,117,805 burden hours is a
result of programmatic changes to prevent and combat fraud, waste
and abuse, and align the regulations with enhancements made to the
Federal Student Aid application processing system. The changes will
revise the verification process to include collecting updated
information about dependency status such as a students marital
status during the award year. The regulation change will also
decrease the number of items to be verified from the current five
required data elements to an average of three data elements as
selected on an individual basis. These regulation changes also
eliminate the verification tolerances and require all data changes
to be transmitted to the Department to ensure that applicant data
in our system is correct.
$0
No
No
No
Uncollected
No
Uncollected
Dan Klock 202 377-4026
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.