The Secretary of Education requests comments on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that the Secretary proposes to use for the 1999-2000 award year. The FAFSA is completed by students and their families and the information submitted on t

[Federal Register: November 24, 1997 (Volume 62, Number 226)]

[Notices]               

[Page 62568-62570]

From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

[DOCID:fr24no97-36]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION



Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests


AGENCY: Department of Education.



[[Page 62569]]



ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.


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SUMMARY: The Secretary of Education requests comments on the Free 

Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that the Secretary proposes 

to use for the 1999-2000 award year. The FAFSA is completed by students 

and their families and the information submitted on the form is used to 

determine the students' eligibility and financial need for the student 

financial assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher 

Education Act of 1965, as amended, (Title IV, HEA Programs).


DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 

January 23, 1998.


ADDRESSES: Written comments and requests for copies of the proposed 

information collection requests should be addressed to Patrick J. 

Sherrill, Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., Room 

5624, Regional Office Building 3, Washington, DC 20202-4651. In 

addition, interested persons can access this document at the following 

website:

http://www.ed.gov/offices/OPE/Professionals. Once at this website, the 

reader should go to the ``What's New'' area to locate the 1999-2000 

FAFSA.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patrick J. Sherrill (202) 708-8196. 

Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may 

call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-877-8339 

between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 483 of the Higher Education Act of 

1965, as amended (HEA), requires the Secretary, ``in cooperation with 

agencies and organizations involved in providing student financial 

assistance,'' to ``produce, distribute and process free of charge a 

common financial reporting form to be used to determine the need and 

eligibility of a student under'' the Title IV, HEA Programs. This form 

is the FAFSA. In addition, section 483 authorizes the Secretary to 

include on the FAFSA up to eight non-financial data items that would 

assist States in awarding State student financial assistance.

    Over the past several years, the Secretary, in cooperation with the 

above described agencies and organizations, has added questions to the 

form. Those questions were added to accommodate the needs of States 

that administer State student aid programs, and of institutions of 

higher education that administer the Title IV, HEA Programs. They were 

also added to facilitate eliminating or reducing the number of State 

and institutional forms that a student and his or her family must 

complete in order to receive student financial assistance.

    In a notice published in the Federal Register of March 18, 1997, 

the Secretary noted that the Department of Education was reengineering 

the FAFSA and looking anew at all the questions on the form. The 

Secretary asked for comment on questions that applicants were not 

required to answer in order to have their eligibility and need for 

Title IV, HEA Programs determined. The Secretary also requested comment 

with regard to which of the questions were integral to State student 

aid programs. The Secretary wishes to emphasize that he was not 

considering eliminating a question merely because he listed that 

question for comment.

    In addition to requesting comments in that notice regarding the 

1999-2000 FAFSA, in May and June of this year, the Secretary convened 

public meetings in New York, St. Louis, San Diego, and Washington, 

D.C., for the purpose of receiving comments on early drafts of the 

reengineered FAFSA. Further, at the invitation of the National 

Association of Student Financial Aid Officers (NASFAA), in July the 

Department conducted a forum on a later draft of the reengineered FAFSA 

at NASFAA's annual convention in Philadelphia.

    The FAFSA on which comments are requested reflects the many worthy 

and helpful comments the Department received during the Spring and 

Summer of this year. The adoption of many of these comments has made 

the FAFSA easier for applicants to understand and complete.

    With regard to the data elements to be included in the FAFSA, it 

was necessary to balance often competing considerations. Those 

considerations included whether requested data was necessary for 

Federal purposes, whether data produced accurate and verifiable 

information, whether data was needed by a State as part of its State 

student aid program, and whether the elimination of data on the FAFSA 

would lead to the reintroduction of State forms. As a result of 

evaluating those considerations, only five date elements were 

eliminated.

    The reengineered FAFSA differs from the current FAFSA as described 

below. References to the current FAFSA are to the 1997-98 FAFSA.

    <bullet> Five data elements were eliminated that provided 

information that was of marginal value or could be easily obtained by 

another means. Those data elements are (1) applicant's permanent 

telephone number (question 10); (2) applicant's course of study 

(question 29); (3) date applicant expects to graduate (question 31); 

(4) whether applicant will attend the same college (question 36), and 

(5) applicant's release of information to state agencies (question 

104).

    <bullet> To make finding the actual application easier and to 

increase the probability that users will actually read instructions 

necessary to answer a particular question, the overall length of the 

document was reduced from 16 pages to eight pages. Instructions and 

background information were reduced from 12 pages to four pages, with 

one of these pages consisting of worksheets. To minimize the impact on 

processing, the application form itself remained four pages.

    <bullet> To orient users, the first page prominently describes what 

kinds of aid an applicant may receive using the application and the 

telephone numbers that users may call for help.

    <bullet> To serve as a navigational aid, answer fields are 

highlighted, one color for students and another color for parents. 

During usability testing, users were especially appreciative of this 

feature.

    <bullet> To reduce confusion, the use of shortcut devices was 

eliminated. For example, users are not asked to navigate coordinates 

(columns and rows).

    <bullet> With regard to the ``simplified needs test,'' it was 

discovered through iterative design and usability testing that it was 

simpler and less burdensome to have applicants answer questions 

regarding their assets than it was for them to figure out whether they 

needed to answer those questions. Also, applicants who did not have to 

answer asset questions for Federal purposes may have to answer those 

questions for State purposes. As a result, all applicants will be 

required to answer asset questions. For the same reasons, the form 

could not be successfully designed to facilitate the ``zero EFC'' 

provisions.

    <bullet> Worksheets were not given a name. Early usability testing 

showed that users frequently saw the name of a worksheet, assumed it 

did not apply to them, and ignored it. In later testing, all users 

looked at the worksheets. This later success was attributed to the fact 

that the worksheets are not named, the document is now much shorter, 

and the worksheets are easier to find.

    <bullet> Users are now advised to complete their tax forms before 

filling out the FAFSA. Questions relating to filing estimated tax forms 

were eliminated (questions 56 C and D and 65 C and D).


[[Page 62570]]


As a result, more accurate income information should be reported.

    <bullet> The wording of several questions was simplified and 

clarified. Instead of asking users for their ``title'', the form 

explains that males must be registered with the Selective Service and 

then asks if the users are male and want to be registered.

    <bullet> The FAFSA no longer asks students whether they plan to 

attend various semesters on a \time basis. The term ``attending'' 

was substituted for ``enrolled'' because students had a tendency to 

fill in only the Fall term, which is the term in which they generally 

would enroll.

    <bullet> The FAFSA now asks for the name and address of the 

institution before it asks for the Title IV code. The FAFSA also tells 

the applicant where to find the Title IV code.

    The Secretary is publishing this request for comment under the 

provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 

seq. Under that Act, ED must obtain the review and approval of the 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before it may use a form to 

collect information. However, under the procedure for obtaining 

approval from OMB, ED must first obtain public comment on the proposed 

form, and to obtain that comment, ED must publish this notice in the 

Federal Register.

    To accommodate the requirements of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the 

Secretary is interested in receiving comments with regard to the 

following matters: (1) Is this collection necessary to the proper 

functions of the Department, (2) will this information be processed and 

used in a timely manner, (3) is the estimate of burden accurate, (4) 

how might the Department enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of 

the information to be collected, and (5) how might the Department 

minimize the burden of this collection on the respondents, including 

through the use of information technology.


    Dated: November 19, 1997.

Gloria Parker,

Deputy Chief Information Officer, Office of the Chief Information 

Officer.


Office of Postsecondary Education


    Type of Review: Revision.

    Title: Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

    Frequency: Annually.

    Affected Public: Individuals and families.

    Annual Reporting and Recordkeeping Hour Burden:


    Responses: 9,568,017

    Burden Hours: 6,274,770


    Abstract: The FAFSA collects identifying and financial information 

about a student and his or her family if the student applies for Title 

IV, Higher Education Act (HEA) Program funds. This information is used 

to calculate the student's expected family contribution, which is used 

to determine a student's financial need. The information is also used 

to determine the student's eligibility for grants and loans under the 

Title IV, HEA Programs. It is further used for determining a student's 

eligibility and need for State and institutional financial aid 

programs.

[FR Doc. 97-30810 Filed 11-21-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-U