Approval is requested for the application and monitoring forms for the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program (NELRP). Under the NELRP, registered nurses are offered the opportunity to enter into a contractual agreement to receive loan repayment for some of their qualifying education loan balances. This repayment is in exchange for agreeing to servie full-time as a registered nurse for 2-3 years at a health care facilitiy with a critical shortage of nurses.
Currently, there are 29,800 burden hours in the OMB Inventory. The new request is for 48,925 hours, an increase of 19,125 hours. There is a substantial increase in burden resulting from a program change that increased the budget and a subsequent increase in interest and application to the program. The budget increase is expected to result in a significant increase in the number of applicants to program, from an estimated 5,000 respondents up to 8,000 respondents, an increase of 3,000 respondents.
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.