The Department of Education (the
Department) amends the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct
Loan) Program regulations issued under the Higher Education Act of
1965, as amended (HEA), to implement changes made to the
regulations in §685.304 - Counseling borrowers. These final
regulations are a result of negotiated rulemaking and will add a
new requirement to the current regulations. These final regulations
amend §685.304 to require institutions that use pre-dispute
arbitration agreements or class action waivers to disclose
descriptions of those agreements using written, plain language to
borrowers. In addition, the written information on how to use the
institution’s internal dispute resolution process must include the
name and contact information for the individual or office that a
borrower may contact relating to the dispute process. The
institutions must make this information available to the student
borrower prior to the first disbursement.
This request is for a revision
of the currently approved information collection. These changes are
due to the final regulations offered through program change. The
increase in burden to this information collection is 30,225 hours
based on additional estimated 3 hours for 944 institutional
responses and an additional estimated 5 minutes for 324,407
individual responses. The institutions will need to update the
entrance counseling materials for borrowers explaining any
pre-dispute arbitration agreements or class action waivers the
institution requires of enrolling students. The individuals will be
given additional time to review the newly required information
before accepting the first disbursement of a Direct Loan.
$0
No
No
No
No
No
No
Uncollected
Beth Grebeldinger 202
708-8242
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.