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 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), and Federal Work-Study (FWS)); the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program; the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant; the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship and the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant. Federal Student Aid, 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 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 data. Institutions of higher education listed by the applicant on the FAFSA also receive a summary of the processed data submitted on the FAFSA which is called the Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR). The Department seeks OMB approval of all application components as a single "collection of information". The aggregate burden will be accounted for under OMB Control Number 1845-0001. This is a request for a revision of the current information. This is a request for revisions to the current information collection. There are changes to the FAFSA form as described in the Summary of Enhancements to the 2020-21 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, one for general FAFSA form changes and one for web and mobile application changes.
US Code:
20 USC 1090
Name of Law: Higher Education Act of 1965,
The Department made adjustments to the data set used to calculate the burden projections. For 2020-21 estimates, we utilized the 2017-18 application cycle results, which offered a complete data set, to forecast individual burden. The Department believes this more accurately reflects and depicts our respondent universe. The Department is projecting a burden increase of 2,358,697 hours with an increase of 9,855,260 responses compared to 2019-20. The estimated time to complete the application remains 1.5 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.
2019-2020 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
1845-0001 2020-21 60-Day Comment Period Summary rev.docx
2019-2020 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)