Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget for Review and Approval; 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 October 23, 2024.

ADDRESSES:

Written comments and recommendations for proposed information collection requests should be submitted within 30 days of publication of this notice. Click on this link www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain to access the site. Find this information collection request (ICR) by selecting “Department of Education” under “Currently Under Review,” then check the “Only Show ICR for Public Comment” checkbox. Reginfo.gov provides two links to view documents related to this information collection request. Information collection forms and instructions may be found by clicking on the “View Information Collection (IC) List” link. Supporting statements and other supporting documentation may be found by clicking on the “View Supporting Statement and Other Documents” link.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

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: A revision of a currently approved ICR.

Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals and 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.

[FR Doc. 2024-21687 Filed 9-20-24; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4000-01-P