Generic Template

DOCUMENTATION FOR THE GENERIC CLEARANCE

OF CUSTOMER SERVICE SATISFACTION COLLECTIONS

A-11 request

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: FAFSA survey questionnaire

[X] SURVEY [ ] FOCUS GROUP [ ] SOFTWARE USABILITY TESTING

DESCRIPTION OF THIS SPECIFIC COLLECTION

Specify all relevant information, including

1. intended purpose,

• The purpose of the survey is to measure satisfaction levels, obtain feedback, and identify opportunities for improvement/assistance with FAFSA applicants who file their FAFSA via the website FAFSA.gov.

2. need for the collection,

• To assess customer satisfaction who file a FAFSA via FAFSA.gov, to identify trends, to assess the product and processes, and provide clarifying information to the Fiscal Year Federal Student Aid Annual Reports.

3. planned use of the data,

• Specific feedback and satisfaction levels will help inform decision-making so that we can improve customer satisfaction, service, and information. The survey results will help us assess if the product or the FAFSA application processes needs improvement and identify if there are major customer pain points. Some of this data can also be provided to the public via Federal Student Aid’s (FSA) end of the federal fiscal year report to Congress and annually reported to https://www.theacsi.org/. Some of this survey data will also be provided to the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on a quarterly basis, as FSA is designated as a high impact service provider under Section 280 of OMB Circular A-11 (2018), and is required to report customer satisfaction scores as part of a federal government-wide customer satisfaction initiative.

4. date(s) and location(s),

• Fielding will be continuous. This is a voluntary web-based survey.

5. collection procedures,

• Potential respondents are customers that have just submitted their FAFSA and will be presented a link to complete the survey on our survey contractor’s website.

6. number of focus groups, surveys, usability testing sessions

• The current version of this study involves one (1) survey.

7. description of respondents/participants,

• The respondents/participants are FAFSA applicants or their representatives who file a FAFSA application for Federal Student Aid on FAFSA.gov. The respondents can be FAFSA applicants (including prospective students, students, their parents, and/or representative).

AMOUNT OF ANY PROPOSED STIPEND OR INCENTIVE

Not applicable

BURDEN HOUR COMPUTATION (Number of responses (X) estimated response or participation time in minutes (/60) = annual burden hours):

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
FAFSA applicants via FAFSA.gov	*1	10 minutes	*1 hour
Totals	*1	10 minutes	*1 hour

* The 1 hour and 1 respondent was added to the submission as the hours and respondent numbers so as not to duplicate of the hours previously approved under 1845-0045.

BURDEN COST COMPUTATION (Not applicable)

STATISTICAL INFORMATION

If statistical methods are to be used, fully describe the methodology, sample selection, expected response rates, and any other concepts needed to provide a full understanding of those methods.

After submitting a FAFSA on the website FAFSA.gov, a certain number of FAFSA applicants are provided a link and an opportunity to complete the FAFSA.gov customer satisfaction survey. Since there is seasonality in the data, for the first federal fiscal year quarter, 1 in 35 FAFSA applicants are chosen while in the second and third quarter, it is 1 in 20, and in the last federal fiscal year quarter, 1 in 10. The contractor shall complete all surveys consistent with the objectives and constraints outlined in the contract, including the requirement to resolve any readiness and/or data problems, including non-response, as appropriate.

The contractor employs a proprietary American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) econometric model. The ACSI is a cross-industry, cross-agency methodology for obtaining comparable measures of customer satisfaction. Along with other economic objectives, the quality of output (goods and services) is a part of measuring living standards. The ACSI’s ultimate purpose is to help improve the quality of goods and services available to the American people.

The contractor will perform data processing and preparation of an ACSI model for this study, using the proprietary ACSI econometric model. Output of the model will be a set of indices, including indices for drivers of satisfaction, the satisfaction index, and the indices for outcomes of satisfaction. Additionally, the model produces impact scores that show the strength of the effect of each index on subsequent ones.

REQUESTED APPROVAL DATE: August 1, 2020

NAME OF CONTACT PERSON: John McDade

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 202-379-6075

MAILING LOCATION: Office of Federal Student Aid; The Wanamaker Building; Suite 511; 100 Penn Square East; Philadelphia, PA 19107-3326

ED DEPARTMENT, OFFICE, DIVISION, BRANCH: Federal Student Aid, Office of Student Experience and Aid Delivery, Vendor Oversight and Program Accountability Directorate, Customer Analytics Group

3