Ed will provide
a briefing to OMB before the next renewal of this collection on 1)
the IRS data retrieval tool to discuss how future submissions can
include a calculation of automatic data retrieval and lessen the
burden on applicants and schools; and 2) discussion of comments
received and suggestions on how to improve the FAFSA process.
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
12/31/2014
12/31/2014
12/31/2013
46,099,008
0
46,447,024
25,959,853
0
29,357,853
0
0
0
Public Law 89-329, Sections 401-495,
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...'. The determination of need and
eligibility are for the following Title IV, HEA, federal student
financial assistance programs: the Federal Pell Grant Program; the
Campus-Based programs (Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity
Grant (FSEOG), Federal Work-Study (FWS), and the Federal Perkins
Loan Program); the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program; the
Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education
(TEACH) Grant; and the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant. Federal
Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education
(hereafter 'the Department'), subsequently 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
and processing of the FAFSA, an applicant receives a Student Aid
Report (SAR), which is a summary of the processed data they
submitted on the FAFSA. The applicant reviews the SAR, and, if
necessary, will make corrections or updates to their submitted
FAFSA data.
The Department is reporting a
net burden reduction of 3,398,000 hours, attributed to both a
program change and an adjustment. The program change portion of the
reduction in burden is estimated at -3,758,702 burden hours while
the adjustment portion is estimated at 360,702 burden hours. The
program change is due to the Department's continued effort to
simplify FAFSA on the Web, which is utilized by the majority of
applicants who apply for aid. Updated completion times were
calculated for each component and have been used to estimate the
burden. If completion times were calculated using the same
application volume used previously (therefore no increase in
application volume), the changes in completion time as a result of
simplifying FAFSA on the Web, are estimated to result in a total
reduction in burden of almost 13%. However, an increase in the
number of applicants is expected for the 2013-2014 FAFSA. This
increase in applicants accounts for the increase in burden (the
adjustment). Accounting for both the increase in total applicants
and the decrease in individual applicant burden, the net change is
an overall decrease of 3,398,000 hours.
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.
Federal Student Aid Application
1845-0001 2013-2014 FSA Andrea Morgan Comment and responses 30 Day Period.docx
Federal Student Aid Application