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Supporting Statement for 

U.S. Department of Education

Grant Performance Report Form (ED 524B)

OMB Control Number 1894-0003

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information 

necessary. Include identification of any legal or administrative requirement 

that necessitates the collection.

The ED 524B form and instructions are used by many ED discretionary grant 

programs to enable grantees to meet ED deadline dates for submission of 

performance reports to the Department. This form streamlines reporting 

requirements and makes them uniform for grantees that receive grants in 

multiple programs that use the form. It eliminates the necessity of many 

programs’ having to submit to OMB separate clearance requests for programspecific reporting forms.

Recipients of multi-year discretionary grants in these programs must submit 

interim performance reports, usually annually, for each year funding has been 

approved in order to receive a continuation award. The interim performance 

report should demonstrate whether substantial progress has been made toward 

meeting the approved goals and objectives of the project. ED program offices 

may also require recipients of “forward funded” grants that are awarded funds for 

their entire multi-year project up-front in a single grant award to submit the ED 

524B on an interim basis, usually annually. In addition, ED program offices that 

use the ED 524B require grantees to submit the form as a final performance 

reports to demonstrate project success, impact and outcomes. 

In both the interim and final performance reports, grantees are required to 

provide data on established performance measures for the grant program (e.g., 

Government Performance and Results Act measures) and/or on project 

performance measures that were included in the grantee’s approved grant 

application. The ED 524B also contains some questions related to project 

financial data, such as Federal and non-Federal expenditures and indirect cost 

information. 

Performance reporting requirements are found in 34 CFR 74.51, 75.118, 75.253, 

75.590 and 80.40 of the Education Department General Administrative 

Regulations (EDGAR). 

ED is requesting a three-year renewal of the ED 524B. Before the current version 

of the form was approved, the Department conducted an extensive nationwide 

survey on the form’s ease of use among grantees who had filed it with ED as 

both an interim and final report. In general, regarding the clarity and ease of 

understanding of the then-new questions and instructions on the ED 524B, the 
Supporting Statement for U.S. Department of Education 

Grant Performance Report, ED FORM 524B

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majority of the grantees responded with a positive response of “yes” at 

significantly high percentages. 

ED facilitates alignment between ED performance reporting requirements in the 

ED 524B and the information included in the grantee’s original application by

continuing to require that program offices include program performance 

measures in both the application package and the application notice (published 

in the Federal Register) for the program, as a way of informing potential grantees 

about what data they are expected to collect and report on in regard to their 

projects. Program offices are also required to include a link in the application 

package to the electronic version of the performance reporting form (e.g., ED 

524B) that potential grantees will be required to use, so that applicants have a 

good idea of the types of data collection around which they should be designing

their projects. ED continues to undertake additional outreach efforts to 

applicants/grantees (e.g., pre-application workshops, manuals, training sessions) 

to help them understand the data requirements of the ED 524B.

2. Indicate how, by whom, how frequently and for what purpose the 

information is to be used.

As an interim (usually annual) performance report, ED uses the information 

submitted by grantees in the ED 524B to evaluate grantee performance and 

progress and to determine whether non-competing continuation funds should be 

awarded in multi-year grants. Only grantees that can demonstrate that they are 

making substantial progress (or, if not, have submitted an acceptable plan for 

meeting their objectives in subsequent budget periods) are eligible for 

continuation funding.

ED uses the information submitted on the ED 524B as a final performance report 

to determine whether grantees whose projects have ended have achieved 

project objectives and met or exceeded the Government Performance and 

Results Act and/or other program performance measures and grant 

requirements. This determination enables ED to assure that grants can be closed 

out in compliance. 

3. Describe any consideration of information technology use to reduce 

burden, as well as any technical or legal obstacles for reducing burden.

Currently grantees may submit the ED 524B (both annual and final performance 

reports) electronically through the Department’s G5 grant system. There are a 

number of pre-populated fields and drop-down menus on the electronic ED 524B 

that eliminates data entry. Further, expandable fields give grantees flexibility to 

provide the amount and level of detail needed to describe their progress on their 

program and project performance measures. 
Supporting Statement for U.S. Department of Education 

Grant Performance Report, ED FORM 524B

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4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar 

information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the 

purposes described in 2 above.

Consistent with EDGAR requirements found in 34 CFR 74.51, 75.118, 75.590, 

75.720, and 80.40, the grantee is required to submit interim (usually annual)

grant performance reports and a final performance report (ED 524B) that 

describes project performance, substantial progress, and outcomes. Information 

about project activities and performance is unique to each funded project and 

thus is not available anywhere else. 

5. If the collection of information has a significant impact on a substantial 

number of small businesses or other small entities, describe the methods 

used to minimize burden.

Under EDGAR regulations, all requirements for small entities are minimized.

6. Describe the consequence to Federal program or policy activities if the 

collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently.

EDGAR, 34 CFR Part 75.253, requires that substantial progress toward meeting 

the objectives in the approved application is a requirement for a grantee’s

receiving continuation funds. The ED 524B is used on an interim (usually 

annual) basis as one of the primary monitoring tools for determining whether 

grantees have made substantial progress.

7. Explain any special circumstances that require the collection to be 

conducted in a manner inconsistent with the general information collection 

guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

The information will not be collected in a manner inconsistent with the general 

information collection guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.5.

8. Describe any effort to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain 

their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of 

instructions and recordkeeping, disclosure, or reporting format, and on the 

data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

Both a 60 and 30-day Federal Register notice was published, with no public 

comment. 
Supporting Statement for U.S. Department of Education 

Grant Performance Report, ED FORM 524B

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9. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other 

than remuneration of contractors or grantees.

There are no payments or gifts to respondents other than the allocation of federal 

funds that result from the information collection.

10. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the 

basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy.

ED is not requesting any confidential information in this collection; therefore no 

assurances of confidentiality are required.

11. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, 

such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters 

that are commonly considered private.

This information collection does not include information of a sensitive nature.

12. Provide estimates of hour burden of the collection of information and 

analyzed costs to the respondents.

Total Annual Burden Hour Calculation for the Grant Performance Report, ED 

524B: total annual burden hours 

ED estimates that over the next three years, approximately 5300 respondents 

each year will be required to use the ED 524B, as either an interim (usually 

annual) or final performance report (estimate based on actual usage in FY 2013 

and planned usage in the next two years by additional ED discretionary grant 

programs). Approximately 3500 noncompeting continuation grantees will use 

this form as an interim (usually annual) performance report and approximately 

1800 grantees whose project periods have ended will use this form as a final 

performance report. The annual burden hours per response is estimated to 

average 22 hours for interim performance reports and reflects the estimated 

time grantees spend reporting on project progress and performance and 

addressing administrative requirements. 

The annual burden hours per response is estimated to average 23 hours for final

performance reports and reflects the estimated time grantees spend reporting on 

project progress and performance and addressing administrative requirements. It 

is estimated that it takes respondents slightly longer to complete the final 

performance report than the interim report because the ED 524B requires final 

performance report respondents to provide additional summary information for 

the entire project period relating to project impact and success. The burden hour 
Supporting Statement for U.S. Department of Education 

Grant Performance Report, ED FORM 524B

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averages for annual and final performance report respondents listed above are 

based on a range of 19 to 25 hours to complete the ED 524B. 

Annual Burden Hour Calculations for the ED 524B: 

Burden Hours for ED 524B when Used as an Annual Performance Report: 22 

hours/response X 3500 responses/year = 77,000 total annual burden hours.

Burden Hours for ED 524B when Used as a Final Performance Report: 23 

hours/response X 1800 responses/year = 41,400 total annual burden hours 

Total Annual Burden Hours for ED 524B: 77,000 burden hours (annual 

performance report) + 41,400 burden hours (final performance report) = 118,400

total annual burden hours.

Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents for the Grant Performance Report, ED 

524B

118,400 total burden hours x $25/hour = $2,960,000

13. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or 

record keepers resulting from the collection of information.

No start-up costs.

14. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal Government.

Total Annual Cost to the Federal Government for Grant Performance 

Report, ED 524B: $693,168

The total annual cost is based on the following: 

ED 524B as Annual Performance Report: 3 hours per response x 3500

responses x $41.26/ hour (GS-12 hourly rate) = $433,230

ED 524B as Final Performance Report: 3.5 hours per response X 1800

responses X $41.26/hour (GS-12 hourly rate) = $259,938

15. Explain reasons for change in burden, including the need for any increase.

The information collection is not a new collection. There are no start-up costs. 
Supporting Statement for U.S. Department of Education 

Grant Performance Report, ED FORM 524B

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The total burden hours for the 1894-0003 collection are being reduced from 

132,300 to 118,400 hours. This change is caused by changes in budget and 

grant priorities. Some programs have decided to use different reporting forms 

including most programs in IES. Based on projected program usage of the ED 

524B for FY 2015 and the following two fiscal years, we are requesting 118,400

total annual burden hours for the ED 524B. This is an adjustment of burden 

hours.

16. For collections of information whose results are planned to be published, 

outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex 

analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the 

entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of 

information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

No plans exist to publish the results of this information collection.

17. Seeking approval not to display the expiration date for OMB approval of 

this information collection.

We are not seeking approval to not display the expiration date for this information 

collection.

18. Explain each exception to the certification statement identified in Item 19.

There are no exceptions to the certification statement.

B. Collections of Information Employing Statistical Methods.

The results of this information collection will not be published for statistical 

purposes.