Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Federal Student Loan Program Deferment Request Forms

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) of 1995, the Department is proposing a revision of a currently approved information collection request (ICR).

DATES:

Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before August 30, 2024.

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-2024-SCC-0085. 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 ICDocketMgr@ed.gov. 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 6W203, Washington, DC 20202-8240.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

For specific questions related to collection activities, please contact 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: Federal Student Loan Program Deferment Request Forms.

OMB Control Number: 1845-0011.

Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved ICR.

Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 704,903.

Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 112,819.

Abstract: These forms serve as the means by which borrowers in the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan), Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) and the Federal Perkins Loan (Perkins Loan) Programs may request deferment of repayment on their loans if they meet certain statutory and regulatory criteria. The U.S. Department of Education and other loan holders uses the information collected on these forms to determine whether a borrower meets the eligibility requirements for the specific deferment type being submitted. For greater simplicity and to make it easier to maintain consistency among the various forbearance forms, the Department is consolidating all the current forbearance forms into a single collection under OMB No. 1845-0011. This collection is merging the six currently approved deferment forms in 1845-0011 with the military deferment form currently approved under 1845-0080 and the cancer treatment deferment form currently approved under 1845-0154.

The Department is requesting a revision of the currently approved deferment forms. The proposed changes include the following:

Streamlining the forms by eliminating duplicative and obsolete information; reordering items to present information in a more logical order that is consistent between forms; using “plain language” to present information more clearly and consistently; revising language as necessary to reflect regulatory changes made by the Final Rule published on November 1, 2022 (87 FR 65904) that that eliminated the capitalization of unpaid interest following periods of forbearance effective July 1, 2023.