# **Comments Received During 60-Day Public Comment Period**

# **On the Draft for the Student Aid Report (SAR) and SAR Acknowledgement.**

# 

# **Comment \# 1:**

**From: Greenthaner, Jasmil \[mailto:Jasmil.Greenthaner@ctcd.edu\]\
Sent: Thursday, October 09, 2008 11:42 AM\
To: SAR Comments\
Subject: on combat pay**

On the 08/09 FAFSA it has for question 38-39 \"How much you earn from
working (wages, salaries, tips, combat pay, etc.) in 2007?\" Now for the
09/10 FAFSA it has \"How much did you earn from working in 2008? (Wages,
salaries, tips, etc.)\" Is the combat pay going to still be includes as
income from work or not. At least with the 08/09 FAFSA students can see
that it does get included as income from work but now 09/10 students
will be fighting it because it doesn\'t state it.

Jasmil Greenthaner

Office Specialist II

254-526-1178 or 1800-792-3348 ext.1178

CTC Financial Aid

P.O.Box 1800

Killeen, TX 76540

FAX: 254-526-1480

# **Comment \# 2:**

# 

**From:** **Leta Mae Jones \[mailto:LJones@francistuttle.com\]\
Sent:** **Monday, October 06, 2008 10:38 AM\
To:** **SAR Comments\
Subject:** **2008-09 Student Aid Report**

I tried going to the link but did not understand how to send a comment. 
Maybe I have misunderstood and this is not what you are looking for.  I
am sending a standard email.  If this is not the correct email for my
suggestion, please let me know the email address of where to send. 
Thank you.

 

Question 27 in 2008-09

Suggestion revision for 2009-10 

 

Applicants tend to put \"Other\" when they have higher than a high
school education.

In our tracking on Colleague, \"Other\" will generate a letter to the
student to provide a high school diploma, GED, or Compass Scores to meet
the Ability to Benefit.  If \"Other\" could be expanded in the
instructions to \"Other.  Do not include higher than secondary
education,\" it will be most helpful.  (Or some other verbage that
better defines that we are not looking for post secondary education on
this question.)

  

Leta Mae Jones

Financial Aid Office

Francis Tuttle

12777 N Rockwell

Oklahoma City OK 73142-2789

405-717-4330 405-717-4392

# 

# **Comment \# 3:**

# 

**From: Melody Lawrence \[mailto:mlawrence@southwesterncc.edu\]\
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 2:57 PM\
To: SAR Comments\
Subject: comment code text on ISIRS**

This is to request that the department remove the generic text that says
the comment has been deleted by the department for certain comment
codes, and put the previous language back that actually explains the
code. Some of us still look at paper ISIRS and I am fearful that we will
miss something this way. Please consider strongly giving us back more
meaningful and useful ISIRS. Thanks.

Also, is there not a way to associate one text item with a comment code
if the SAR is going to a student, and another text item if the ISIR is
going to a school? That would allow the comments to be tailored to the
two different audiences.

Melody Lawrence

Financial Aid Director

Southwestern Community College

447 College Dr.

Sylva, NC 28779

\(828\) 586-4091, ext. 224

\(800\) 447-4091, ext. 224

# **Comment \# 4:**

# 

**From:** **Roy, Martha \[mailto:Martha-Roy@Redwoods.edu\]\
Sent:** **Monday, October 13, 2008 6:04 PM\
To:** **SAR Comments\
Subject:** **2009-2010**

Hi, Are we changing the Verification requirements so they do not ask
about TANF or Social Security?  

Martha Roy

Student Services Specialist/Financial Aid

College of the Redwoods

883 W. Washington Blvd.

Crescent City, CA 95531

phone (707) 465-2326

FAX    (707) 464-6867

# **Comment \# 5:**

**From:** **Robbins, Tyler \[mailto:trobbins@elcamino.edu\]\
Sent:** **Monday, November 17, 2008 6:13 PM\
To:** **SAR Comments\
Subject:** **2009-2010 FAFSA Application**

I recommend the following edits to the 2009-2010 Student Aid Report
(SAR): Q14: Remove the instruction \"Remember to completely fill in the
oval\" and replace with \"Eligible noncitizens must write in their alien
(A) registration number.\"

# **Comment \# 6:**

**From:** **Matt Reed \[mailto:MReed@ticas.org\]\
Sent:** **Wednesday, November 26, 2008 7:06 PM\
To:** **SAR Comments\
Cc:** **Arrington, Angela\
Subject:** **Comments on Draft 2009-2010 SAR**

Dear Ms. Arrington,

Please find attached our comments on the draft 2009-2010 Student Aid
Report (SAR).

Please let me know if you have any difficulty accessing the attached
file.

Dear Ms. Arrington,

I am writing to comment on the draft 2009-2010 Student Aid Report (SAR),
in response to the

*Federal Register* notice published on September 29, 2008. An
independent, nonprofit organization, the Institute for College Access &
Success works to make higher education more available and affordable for
people of all backgrounds. By conducting and supporting nonpartisan
research, analysis, and advocacy, the Institute aims to improve the
processes and public policies that can pave the way to successful
educational outcomes for students and for society. We appreciate the
Department of Education's efforts to make the SAR more user-friendly,
but believe that more changes are needed. The current SAR fulfills the
basic requirements of reporting a student aid applicant's Expected
Family Contribution (EFC) and allowing the applicant to review and
correct the information they provided on the Free Application for
Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). However, it does not answer the most basic
questions that students and families have at this stage of the financial
aid process. The current form contains unnecessary jargon, confusing
instructions, and vague references that do not convey where the student
stands with regard to receiving financial aid. Students and families are
not getting a clear message about their federal aid eligibility or the
steps they must take to receive awards. Students who make the effort to
submit a FAFSA deserve a consumer-focused SAR that prioritizes the most
useful information and presents it as clearly and intuitively as
possible. Students and families want to know if their FAFSA has been
received, if they have to do anything else to complete the aid
application process, and whether they are eligible for federal aid. The
layout of the SAR should reflect these priorities, with the first few
pages devoted to addressing applicants' core concerns. We have developed
and attached examples of a more user-friendly approach to both the
content and the format for the first section of the SAR. It would be
followed by the section for verifying the information submitted on the
FAFSA, then all remaining elements of the SAR, including the summary of
information from the National Student Loan Database System (NSLDS),
information for Financial Aid Administrators, and the Office of
Management and Budget's (OMB) legal information. Rather than starting
the form with a confusing array of code numbers, only the OMB Form
Number and a "Student Aid

Confirmation Number"(replacing the Data Release Number") should be
listed at the top. Then

Institute for College Access & Success, 2009-2010 SAR Comments 2 the
different sections of the SAR should be outlined so the applicant knows
what information the document contains.

The first message students and families should receive is the status of
their application and whether or not they need to provide missing or
corrected information. Families should be able to immediately discern
what is necessary to complete their application and the steps they must
take to submit corrections. For applicants who must take certain steps
before processing of their FAFSA can continue, a special section should
highlight the actions needed to resolve any issues that could prevent or
delay processing. It is also essential that the first page tells
applicants about their federal student aid eligibility and provides
exact figures for grant programs, ranges of loan programs, and an
indication that the aid is available at any participating eligible
school. The family's Expected Family Contribution (EFC) can then be
listed along with a brief explanation of its purpose as a tool to
calculate eligibility for different types of aid. The list of colleges
the applicant designated to receive their FAFSA results should also
include contact information for each school's financial aid offices and
a notice that students should expect an award letter from each school
that accepts them into a program of study. Details about the federal
grant and loan programs the student is eligible for should be provided.
As each program name is mentioned in the text, there should be a
hyperlink to the relevant web page with more details about that program.
For the paper form, web addresses should be provided as short, intuitive
URL's that redirect to the appropriate page. For students whose aid
applications cannot be processed until they make corrections, the
instructions for how to make these corrections should clearly state the
problem and what the student needs to do to correct it. The comment
codes should also be provided to facilitate communication with college
financial aid offices and the Office of Federal Student Aid when
students and their families seek help with the FAFSA process. As
currently written, the section of the SAR containing the student's
responses from the FAFSA and the space to make corrections is also
confusing. There is no title for this section and the instructions
throughout make it appear that all applicants must complete the form and
send it back, even if they are not making any changes. It should be
titled "Verify the data you provided on the FAFSA." The instructions at
the beginning and end of this section should clearly state that the
applicant should verify the information listed and that the applicant
only needs to take any action if there are errors. At this point, the
instructions should also specify that there are two ways to make
corrections: by using the form provided and mailing it to a particular
address, or going to the FAFSA website (www.fafsa.ed.gov) and using
their PIN to enter changes online. Throughout this section, instructions
should be phrased so that students know that they only need to make
corrections if they find a mistake, or if the earlier part of the SAR
indicated that they need to make a correction. For example, the current
instruction, "You must read and sign this Certification" should continue
"if you are making changes or corrections to the information on this
form."

The third paragraph on the "Summary of Federal Student Loans" page with
information from

NSLDS about the applicant's loans is confusing and should be deleted.
Instead, information on the current interest rates for outstanding loans
should be provided from NSLDS along with links to web-based calculators
for estimating payments. The SAR represents a unique opportunity to
communicate affordability, access, and opportunity. That is why, in
addition to improving the SAR itself, we recommend that the Department
develop an accompanying guide to understanding financial aid award
letters and Institute for College Access & Success, 2009-2010 SAR
Comments 3 provide it as a brochure insert and/or a link to the relevant
page on the Department's website. The goal of this guide is to help
students and families read the award letters and determine what it would
really cost them to attend each school offering an aid package. We
recently examined several hundred financial aid award letters from
colleges around the country, and our analysis confirms that award
letters are frequently confusing and hard to compare. Many of these
letters use obscure language and acronyms, provide few details about the
terms of aid awards, do not clearly distinguish between grants and loans
or among different types of loans, and do not provide sufficient
information for students to calculate their true cost of attendance. The
federal government should make every effort to ensure that students and
families receive clear information about their federal aid eligibility,
both in the SAR and in financial aid award letters. Section 484 of the
Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 (PL 110-315) directs the
Secretary of Education to develop model financial aid offer formats for
colleges. By including the views and experiences of college access
practitioners, the process of developing and disseminating these model
formats can inform the SAR revision process and the creation of a
consumer guide to award letters.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft 2009-2010 SAR.