The Secretary of Education requests comments on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that the Secretary proposed to use for the 2001-2002 year. The FAFSA is completed by students and their families and the information submitted on the for

[Federal Register: November 2, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 211)]

[Notices]               

[Page 59171-59172]

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

[DOCID:fr02no99-48]                         


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION



Notice of Proposed Information Collection Requests


AGENCY: Department of Education.


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 proposed 

to use for the 2001-2002 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 financial 

aid under 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 3, 2000.


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, SW, Room 

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

    In addition, interested persons can access this document on the 

Internet:

    (1) Go to IFAP at http://ifap.ed.gov.

    (2) Click on the ``Bookshelf'' or on ``Current SFA Publications''.

    (3) Scroll down and click on ``FAFSAs and Renewal FAFSAs''.

    (4) Click on ``By 2001-2002 Award Year''.

    (5) Click on ``FAFSA Form/Instructions''.

    Please note that the free Adobe Acrobat Reader software, version 

3.0 or greater, is necessary to view this file. This software can be 

downloaded for free from Adobe's website: http://www.adobe.com.


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 non-financial data items that assist States in awarding State 

student financial assistance.

    The Secretary requests comments on the draft 2001-2002 FAFSA that 

has been posted to the IFAP website (see above). In particular, the 

Secretary seeks comments on the following changes under consideration 

to the 2001-2002 FAFSA. References to the current FAFSA are to the 

2000-2001 FAFSA.
 Revision of ``dependents other than a spouse'' question. 

Applicants who have dependents other than a spouse are considered 

``independent,'' and are therefore not required to report parental 

information on the FAFSA. ``Dependents other than a spouse'' includes, 

(1) children supported by the applicant, and (2) non-children 

dependents who live with and are supported by the applicant. The 

current FAFSA asks for both of these categories of dependents in a 

single question. In order to make the application easier to understand, 

the Secretary is considering splitting this into two separate 

questions.
 Business and investment farm net worth. As part of the 

continuing effort to simplify the FAFSA, the Secretary proposes to ask 

for business net worth and investment farm net worth in a single 

question.
 Two untaxed income worksheets. The current FAFSA collects 

untaxed income information through Worksheet A (and a separate earned 

income credit (EIC) question on the form itself). Some states and 

schools have indicated that the current Worksheet A is not useful for 

identifying particularly needy students. Some untaxed income is an 

indicator of need (e.g., welfare benefits, social security benefits) 

and some untaxed income is not (e.g., payments to tax-deferred pension 

and savings plans, tax exempt interest income). For 2001-2002, the 

Secretary proposes to split the current Worksheet A into a ``non-

needy'' untaxed income worksheet


[[Page 59172]]


(Worksheet A) and a ``needy'' untaxed income worksheet (Worksheet B). 

The EIC question on the current form would be incorporated into the new 

Worksheet B. The current Worksheet B, which collects income exclusions, 

would become Worksheet C.


    Note: A school suggested grouping untaxed income items by 

whether or not they had a tax form reference. The Secretary solicits 

comments on this suggestion in light of the proposed change to the 

current Worksheet A, above.

 Grade level. A school suggested that we add an additional 

code to the grade level question to differentiate first-year graduate/

professional students from continuing graduate/professional students. 

The Secretary seeks comments on this proposed change.

    In addition to comments on the draft 2001-2002 FAFSA, the Secretary 

requests comments on the following issues related to the FAFSA:
 Special circumstances. We received a suggestion to add a 

``check-off block'' to the FAFSA to indicate special circumstances 

(e.g., reduced income or dependency issues). The Secretary solicits 

comments on this suggestion.
 Net worth of assets. In the redesign of the 1999-2000 

FAFSA, separate value and debt questions about assets were combined 

into single net worth questions. The Secretary invites comment on any 

effect that this change has made on the delivery of student financial 

aid.
 Single identifier. The Secretary is considering switching 

from the current, six-digit ``Federal School Code'' to a single, eight-

digit identifier in the ``school codes'' section of the FAFSA (Step 

Six).

    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 of the proposed 

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

Federal Register.

    In addition to comments requested above, 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: October 28, 1999.

William E. Burrow,

Leader, Information Management Group, 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.

    Reporting and Recordkeeping Burden:


      Responses: 11,134,376

      Burden Hours: 7,073,050


    Abstract: The FAFSA collects identifying and financial information 

about a student applying for Title IV, Higher Education Act (HEA) 

Program funds. This information is used to determine the 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 for State and 

institutional financial aid programs.


[FR Doc. 99-28640 Filed 11-1-99; 8:45 am]

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