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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 22 (Tuesday, February 4, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8929-8930]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-02191]

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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No.: ED-2025-SCC-0011]

Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; 2026-
2027 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA[supreg])

AGENCY: Federal Student Aid (FSA), Department of Education (ED).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is 
proposing a revision of the existing information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
April 7, 2025.

ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the 
information collection listed in this notice, please use http://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED-2025-SCC-0011. 
Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted 
electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at http://www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal 
mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. If the regulations.gov 
site is not available to the public for any reason, the Department will 
temporarily accept comments at [email protected]. Please include the 
docket ID number and the title of the information collection request 
when requesting documents or submitting comments. Please note that 
comments submitted after the comment period will not be accepted. 
Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail 
or delivery should be addressed to the Manager of the Strategic 
Collections and Clearance Governance and Strategy Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave. SW, LBJ, Room 4C210, 
Washington, DC 20202-1200.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact the FAFSA Product Team at 
[email protected] or Beth Grebeldinger, (202) 570-8414.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department, in accordance with the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), 
provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to 
comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of 
information. This helps the Department assess the impact of its 
information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting 
burden. It also helps the public understand the Department's 
information collection requirements and provide the requested data in 
the desired format. The Department is soliciting comments on the 
proposed information collection request (ICR) that is described below. 
The Department is especially interested in public comment addressing 
the following issues: (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. Please note that written 
comments received in response to this notice will be considered public 
records.
    Title of Collection: 2026-2027 Free Application for Federal Student 
Aid.
    OMB Control Number: 1845-0001.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved ICR.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 31,791,647.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 20,412,753.
    Abstract: Section 483, of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as 
amended (HEA), mandates that the Secretary of Education ``. . . shall 
produce, distribute, and process free of charge common financial 
reporting forms as described in this subsection to be used for 
application and reapplication to determine the need and eligibility of 
a student for financial assistance. . .''.
    The determination of need and eligibility are for the following 
Title IV, HEA, federal student financial assistance programs: the 
Federal Pell Grant Program; the Campus-Based programs (Federal 
Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG) and Federal Work-
Study (FWS)); the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) 
Program; the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher 
Education (TEACH) Grant; the Children of Fallen Heroes Scholarship; and 
the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant.
    Federal Student Aid (FSA), an office of the U.S. Department of 
Education, subsequently developed an application process to collect and 
process the data necessary to determine a student's eligibility to 
receive Title IV, HEA program assistance. The application process 
involves an applicant's submission of the Free Application for Federal 
Student Aid (FAFSA[supreg]). After submission and processing of the 
FAFSA form, an applicant receives a FAFSA Submission Summary, which is 
a summary of the processed data they submitted on the FAFSA form. The 
applicant reviews the FAFSA Submission Summary, and, if necessary, will 
make corrections or updates to their submitted FAFSA data. Institutions 
of higher education listed by the applicant on the FAFSA form also 
receive a summary of processed data submitted on the FAFSA form which 
is called the

[[Page 8930]]

Institutional Student Information Record (ISIR).
    ED and FSA seek OMB approval of all application components as a 
single ``collection of information.'' The aggregate burden will be 
accounted for under OMB Control Number 1845-0001. The specific 
application components, descriptions, and submission methods for each 
are listed in Table 1.

                               Table 1--Federal Student Aid Application Components
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                Component                                 Description                      Submission method
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                                        Initial Submission of FAFSA form
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fafsa.gov...............................  Any applicant with a Federal Student Aid    Submitted by the
                                           ID (FSA ID) can complete the electronic     applicant.
                                           version of the FAFSA form.
Printed FAFSA form......................  The printed version of the FAFSA PDF for    Mailed by the applicant.
                                           applicants who are unable to access the
                                           internet or complete the form using
                                           fafsa.gov.
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                              Correcting and Reviewing Submitted FAFSA information
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fafsa.gov--Corrections..................  Any applicant with an FSA ID--regardless    Submitted by the
                                           of how they originally applied--may make    applicant.
                                           corrections to their own data. Note that
                                           no user will be able to make corrections
                                           to any federal tax information (FTI) that
                                           was obtained from the IRS.
Electronic Other--Corrections...........  With the applicant's permission,            The FAA may be using their
                                           corrections can be made by an FAA           mainframe computer or
                                           (Financial Aid Administrator) using the     software to facilitate
                                           Electronic Data Exchange (EDE).             the EDE process.
Paper FAFSA Submission Summary..........  The paper summary is mailed to paper        Mailed by the applicant.
                                           applicants who did not provide an email
                                           address. Applicants can write corrections
                                           directly on the paper FAFSA Submission
                                           Summary and mail for processing. Note
                                           that users for whom federal tax
                                           information (FTI) was obtained from the
                                           IRS will not be able to make corrections
                                           to that data.
FAFSA Partner Portal (FPP)--Corrections.  An institution can use FPP to correct the   Submitted by an FAA on
                                           FAFSA form.                                 behalf of an applicant.
Internal Department Corrections.........  The Department will submit an applicant's   These corrections are
                                           record for system-generated corrections     system-generated.
                                           to the FAFSA Processing System. There is
                                           no burden to the applicants under this
                                           correction type as these are system-based
                                           corrections.
FAFSA Submission Summary--electronic....  The electronic FAFSA Submission Summary is  Cannot be submitted for
                                           an online version of the FAFSA Submission   processing.
                                           Summary that is available on fafsa.gov to
                                           all applicants. Notification for the
                                           FAFSA Submission Summary is sent to
                                           students who applied electronically or by
                                           paper and provided a valid email address.
                                           These notifications are sent by email and
                                           include a secure hyperlink that takes the
                                           user to the fafsa.gov site.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This information collection also documents an estimate of the 
annual public burden as it relates to the application process for 
federal student aid. The Applicant Burden Model (ABM) measures 
applicant burden through an assessment of the activities each applicant 
conducts in conjunction with other applicant characteristics and, in 
terms of burden, the average applicant's experience. Key determinants 
of the ABM include:
     The total number of applicants that will potentially apply 
for federal student aid;
     How the applicant chooses to complete and submit the FAFSA 
form (e.g., by paper or electronically);
     How the applicant chooses to submit any corrections and/or 
updates (e.g., the paper FAFSA Submission Summary or electronically);
     The type of FAFSA Submission Summary document the 
applicant receives (paper or electronic);
     The formula applied to determine the applicant's student 
aid index (SAI); and
     The average amount of time involved in preparing to 
complete the application.
    The ABM is largely driven by the number of potential applicants for 
the application cycle. The total application projection for 2026-2027 
is based on the projected total enrollment into post-secondary 
education for Fall 2026. The ABM is also based on the application 
options available to students and parents. ED accounts for each 
application component based on analytical tools, survey information and 
other ED data sources.
    For 2026-2027, ED is reporting a net burden decrease of 2,004,707 
hours.

    Dated: January 30, 2025.
Kun Mullan,
PRA Coordinator, Strategic Collections and Clearance, Governance and 
Strategy Division, Office of Chief Data Officer, Office of Planning, 
Evaluation and Policy Development.
[FR Doc. 2025-02191 Filed 2-3-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P
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