Free Application for Federal Student Aid and Student Aid Report

Forms and Documents

Document Name	Status
Federal Student Aid Application Form and Instruction	Modified
12-13 FOTW Wksht Draft 2011-10-27.pdf Supplementary Document	2011-10-31
1845-0001 FAFSA 2012-13 Supporting Statement.docx Supporting Statement A	2011-12-21

IC Document Collections

IC ID	Document Title	Status
195111	Federal Student Aid Application Form and Instruction	Modified

ICR Details

OMB Control No: 1845-0001	ICR Reference No: 201110-1845-001
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201011-1845-004
Agency/Subagency: ED/FSA	Agency Tracking No: 04703
Title: Free Application for Federal Student Aid and Student Aid Report
Type of Information Collection: Revision of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR:  No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 12/22/2011
	Date Received in OIRA: 11/07/2011
Terms of Clearance: This collection is approved with the following terms of clearance: Since OMB believes that the IRS data retrieval tool does have the potential to reduce burden on applicants and schools by making the FAFSA easier to complete and any verification process easier for applicants and schools, ED will schedule a briefing in March 2012 to discuss how next year’s submission can include a calculation of how automatic data retrieval will lessen the burden on applicants and schools.

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	12/31/2013	12/31/2013	12/31/2011
Responses	46,447,024	0	35,818,915
Time Burden (Hours)	29,357,853	0	32,239,328
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

---

Abstract: Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA), mandates that the Secretary of Education "…shall produce, distribute, and process free of charge common financial reporting forms as described in this subsection to be used for application and reapplication to determine the need and eligibility of a student for financial assistance." Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education developed an application process to collect and process the data necessary to determine a student's eligibility to receive Title IV, HEA program assistance. The application process involves an applicant's submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). After submission of the FAFSA, an applicant receives a Student Aid Report (SAR) which is a summary of the data they submitted on the FAFSA. The applicant reviews the SAR, and, if necessary, will make corrections or updates to their submitted FAFSA.

---

Authorizing Statute(s): PL: Pub.L. 89 - 329 401-495 Name of Law: Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended
  

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

---

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

---

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	76 FR 51354	08/18/2011
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	76 FR 67156	10/31/2011
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? Yes

---

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 1

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
Federal Student Aid Application	NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA, NA	FAFSA Paper ,   FAA Access EZ ,   FOTW Corrections ,   Paper SAR ,   FAA Access Corrections ,   SAR Sample Acknowledgement ,   FOTP FAFSA on the Phone ,   FOTW FAFSA on the Phone EZ ,   Financial Aid Administrator (FAA) Access ,   FAA Access Renewal ,   FAA Access EZ Renewal ,   FAFSA Electronic Other ,   FAFSA on the Web (FOTW) ,   FOTW Web Renewal ,   FOTW EZ ,   FOTW EZ Renewal ,   Electronic Other Corrections ,   Internal Department Corrections ,   FSAIC Corrections ,   Electronic SAR

---

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to New Statute	Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate	Change Due to Potential Violation of the PRA
Annual Number of Responses	46,447,024	35,818,915	0	0	10,628,109	0
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	29,357,853	32,239,328	0	-4,181,899	1,300,424	0
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: Yes

Burden Reduction Due to: Changing Forms

Short Statement: For 2012-2013, the Department is reporting a net burden reduction of 2,881,475 hours. The program change reduction is a reflection of the effects of simplifying FAFSA on the Web, which is utilized by the majority of applicants who apply for aid. For example, data reported in the 2011-2012 burden estimates reflected that an applicant that completed FOTW and had the ability to use a renewal version of the application would take approximately 1.20 hours (72 minutes). The most recent statistics reflect that on average that renewal applicant would actually spend about 1.08 hours (64.8 minutes). Updated completion times were calculated for each component and have been used to estimate the burden, excluding the change in the applicant volume. The results demonstrate that the burden for all applicants would have decreased by almost 13 percent or 4,181,899 hours, if the application volume had remained constant. If the Department had not simplified the application process, thus reducing the time required to complete the FAFSA, the new burden estimates would only need to account for the change in applicants. The 4.63% increase is an adjustment and reflects how the change in applicants would result in an increase in burden of 1,300,424 hours. Accounting for both the increase in total applicants and the decrease in individual applicant burden, the net change is an overall decrease of almost 9 percent or 2,881,475 hours.

---

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $56,136,409

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Is the Supporting Statement intended to be a Privacy Impact Assessment required by the E-Government Act of 2002? No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? Uncollected

---

Common Form ICR:  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:

(a) It is necessary for the proper performance of agency functions;

(b) It avoids unnecessary duplication;

(c) It reduces burden on small entities;

(d) It uses plain, coherent, and unambiguous language that is understandable to respondents;

(e) Its implementation will be consistent and compatible with current reporting and recordkeeping practices;

(f) It indicates the retention periods for recordkeeping requirements;

(g) It informs respondents of the information called for under 5 CFR 1320.8 (b)(3) about:

(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;

(h) It was developed by an office that has planned and allocated resources for the efficient and effective management and use of the information to be collected.

(i) It uses effective and efficient statistical survey methodology (if applicable); and

(j) It makes appropriate use of information technology.

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.

Certification Date: 11/07/2011

---