# **Supporting Statement for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions**

**U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education**

Forms for use with Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education
(FIPSE) programs: U.S. -- Brazil Program, North American Program, and EU
-- U.S. Program

A. Justification

1.  Consistent with the provisions of P.L. 105-244 (Title VII, Part B,
    Section 741 of the Higher Education Act, as amended), the Fund for
    the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) works to improve
    postsecondary education through grants to postsecondary educational
    institutions and agencies. Such grants are awarded on the basis of
    competitively reviewed applications submitted to FIPSE under its
    Comprehensive and Special Focus Competition Program grant
    competitions. Continued funding for each grant is based on
    availability of funds and substantial progress in achieving project
    objectives. The U.S. Department of Education (Department) is
    requesting approval of a new submission containing forms from three
    currently approved collections. These forms were approved on a
    six-month emergency basis to accommodate the transition by the
    Department to Grants.gov.

> This request is made to obtain a regular three-year expiration date
> from the time of approval for these three forms. The request is made
> for three forms used to apply for new grants under the Special Focus
> Programs: The U.S. -- Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program
> (1840-0761), The Program for North American Mobility in Higher
> Education (1840-0702, and the European Community - United States of
> America Cooperation Program in Higher Education and Vocational
> Education and Training (1840-0636). Regulations governing these
> programs are contained in 34 CFR Part 75 (Education Department General
> Administrative Regulations).
>
> The Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) has transitioned to the
> Grants.gov system for grant applications. This transition has required
> that forms from the above mentioned grant programs be consolidated.
> OPE created three new forms, containing the necessary information from
> those forms that were consolidated. An emergency clearance was given
> to those forms to accommodate the FY 2006 competition of FIPSE's three
> international programs. The FY 2006 competitions have been announced.
> However, the emergency clearance was only given for six months in
> accordance with OMB policy. In order to run these competitions
> successfully, these new forms require a regular OMB clearance. Three
> years from the time of approval is being requested.

2.  The enclosed forms are being used in the applications for FIPSE's
    U.S. -- Brazil Program, North American Program, and EU -- U.S.
    Program. Creation of these forms was necessary to standardize these
    three applications for the transition to Grants.gov. These forms are
    necessary to ensure the information required to process and review
    the applications for these three programs are effectively obtained.
    Without the information contained in this package, FIPSE staff will
    not have the information needed to make these grant-funding
    decisions.

3.  The Department has transitioned to the use of Grants.gov. This is a
    fully automated electronic system, used throughout the federal
    government to find and apply for grants. The purpose of this
    transition and the forms consolidation that led to the creation of
    these forms was to reduce the burden on applicant for FIPSE's U.S.
    -- Brazil Program, North American Program, and the EU -- U.S.
    Program.

4.  Department staff has made every effort to insure that there is no
    duplication of data acquisition.

5.  The collection of information does not impact small businesses or
    other small entities.

6.  The forms used for the application processes for FIPSE's U.S. --
    Brazil Program, North American Program, and the EU -- U.S. Program
    will be used on an occasional basis (less than once each year) to
    enable applicants to compete for federal funds that are appropriated
    by Congress. This application is the lowest frequency possible to
    award these appropriations.

7.  No special circumstances apply.

8.  This package has been available for public comment. This is the
    second Federal Register Notice. This package was created for use in
    Grants.gov. Discussions and input from OPE, OMB, and the Grants.gov
    contracting staff (Northrop Grumman) resulted in the design of this
    package. Additionally, extensive input has been obtained from our
    partner nations through their official representatives for the three
    unique international programs for which this package applies. The
    forms have been rolled over from collections previously approved by
    OMB for FIPSE's U.S. -- Brazil Program, North American Program, and
    the EU -- U.S. Program that are approved under three separate OMB
    numbers.

9.  The Department does not provide any payment or gift to respondents.

10. No assurance of confidentiality is provided to respondents except as
    provided by the Privacy Act and the Department of Education's
    policies governing the review of discretionary grant applications.

11. There are no questions of a sensitive nature.

12. Estimates of Respondent Hour Burden: Using the currently approved
    packages from which these forms are being rolled, we have estimated
    that these forms will utilize 20 percent of the burden hours from
    the approved packages.

> U.S. -- Brazil Program (1840-0761): 180
>
> North American Program (1840-0702): 120
>
> EU -- U.S. Program (1840-0636): 480
>
> Total: 780

13. There are no startup costs for this collection.

14. Estimated Annualized Cost to Federal government: Using the currently
    approved packages from which these forms are being rolled, we have
    estimated that these forms will utilize 20 percent of the federal
    cost from the approved packages.

> U.S. -- Brazil Program (1840-0761): \$ 9157.50
>
> North American Program (1840-0702): \$ 9336.50
>
> EU -- U.S. Program (1840-0636): \$ 5785.40
>
> Total: \$24,279.40

15. This is an extension of an approved package.

16. No data or results of this information collection are published.

17. The expiration date for OMB approval of the collection will be
    displayed on each of the forms. A three-year expiration date from
    the time of approval is being requested

18. No exception is requested.

B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods

These forms do not employ statistical methods in this collection of
information.