Applicants, parents, and borrowers establish an FSA ID, which includes a username and password. The FSA ID is used for the purposes of verifying the identity of the user; allowing users to establish an account with FSA; safeguarding their personally identifiable and financial information; signing applications and loan related documents; providing users access to their information and applications; allowing users to customize or update their accounts with FSA; renewing or revoking a users account with FSA; and supporting the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) help desk functions.
The specific questions that applicants are asked to answer in the FSA ID creation process are described separately in the Creating FSA-ID document, which explains the use of the questions in the application. As part of the standard process, users information is matched with information from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to confirm their SSA status.
In the event of individuals who do not have a SSN to match, they are instructed to the contact the Department and provide one of the following documents (U.S. State/Territory Drivers License; U.S. State or City Identification Card; Foreign Passport; Municipal identification card; Community ID; or a Consular identification card) and a signed attestation of their identity under the penalty of perjury, as instructed by the Privacy Act.
This collection provides the process and application that individuals without a SSN may use to acquire an FSA ID to access the statutory and regulatory benefits of the Title IV, HEA student financial assistance programs.
If the Department were required to put the collection through the normal clearance process, we would be unable to implement this critical change by the launch of the 2024-25 FAFSA form, which would result in no access to the FAFSA application for individuals who need to get an FSA ID without a Social Security Number. Any delay in getting access to the FAFSA form would increase the potential for public harm through delayed access to student financial aid and the possibility of decreasing the likelihood of postsecondary enrollment. As a result, in order to meet the late-December, 2023 form launch, the Department is requesting that OMB approve the collection associated with non-Social Security Number FSA ID account creation process using the emergency clearance procedures.
This new request for approval of this collection is due to legislative changes under the FAFSA Simplification Act of 2020. New legislative language require the development of a process to allow individuals with no SSN to contribute to applications for student financial assistance programs. This process supplements the currently approved FSA ID account creation process which is a result of the Departments action to improve user access and security of systems that include personal and financial information used to determine federal student aid eligibility. We anticipate a single response from 3,500 respondents at 20 minutes a response for a total burden of 1,155 hours annually.
$500,000
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
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.