Office of Postsecondary Education - U.S. Department of Education

66940 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 209 / Friday, October 29, 2010 / Rules and RegulationsWReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with RULES2minutes), thus further reducing burdenon the individual applicant.For example, when we consider theestimated 5.1 million 2008–2009applicants selected for verification at anaverage of .20 hours (12 minutes) tocollect and submit information,including supporting documentation forthe five required data elements (whichis the estimated amount of time that isassociated with the requirements incurrent § 668.56(a)), the requirements inthat section yields a total burden of1,020,000 hours added to OMB ControlNumber 1845–0041. However, under§ 668.56(b), where the number ofverification data elements will bereduced to an average of three, theestimated 5.1 million individualsselected for verification multiplied bythe reduced average of .12 minutes(7 minutes) yields an increase of612,000 hours in burden. Therefore, wewill expect the burden to be 408,000hours less than under the currentregulations.As a result, for OMB reportingpurposes, we estimate that theindividuals, as a group, will have anincrease in burden by 612,000 hours inOMB Control Number 1845–0041(rather than 1,020,000 hours).Section 668.57—AcceptableDocumentationWe have made a number of technicaland conforming changes throughout§ 668.57. We also have made thefollowing substantive changes describedin this section.Section 668.57(a)(2) will allow aninstitution to accept, in lieu of anincome tax return or an IRS form thatlists tax account information, theelectronic importation of data obtainedfrom the IRS into an applicant’s onlineFAFSA.We also have amended§ 668.57(a)(4)(ii)(A) to accurately reflectthat, upon application, the IRS grants asix-month extension beyond the April15 deadline rather than the four-monthextension currently stated in theregulations.Under § 668.57(a)(5), an institutionmay require an applicant who has beengranted an extension to file his or herincome tax return to provide a copy ofthat tax return once it has been filed. Ifthe institution requires the applicant tosubmit the tax return, it will need to reverifythe AGI and taxes paid of theapplicant and his or her spouse orparents when the institution receivesthe return.Section 668.57(a)(7) clarifies that anapplicant’s income tax return that issigned by the preparer or stamped withthe preparer’s name and address mustalso include the preparer’s SocialSecurity number, EmployerIdentification Number or the PreparerTax Identification Number.Section 668.57(b) and (c) remainsubstantively unchanged.We have deleted current § 668.57(d)regarding acceptable documentation foruntaxed income and benefits andreplaced it with a new § 668.57(d). Thisnew section provides that, if anapplicant is selected to verify otherinformation specified in an annualFederal Register notice, the applicantmust provide the documentationspecified for that information in theFederal Register notice.Currently under OMB ControlNumber 1845–0041, there are 1,022,384hours of burden associated with theverification regulations, of which 12,312hours are attributable to institutions ofhigher education to establish theirverification policies and procedures.Under § 668.57, we estimate that, onaverage, institutions will take .12 hours(7 minutes) per applicant selected forverification to review and takeappropriate action based upon theinformation provided by the applicant,which in some cases may meancorrecting applicant data or having theapplicant correct his or her data. Undercurrent § 668.57, when we consider thesignificant increase to 17.4 millionapplicants in the 2008–2009 award year,of which 5.1 million will be selected forverification at an average of .20 hours(12 minutes) per verification responsereceived from applicants by theinstitutions for review, the total increasein burden will be 1,020,000 additionalhours. However, under § 668.57, boththe average number of items to beverified will be reduced from five itemsto three items, as well as the averageamount of time to review will decreasefrom .20 hours (12 minutes) to .12 hours(7 minutes). Therefore, the burden toinstitutions will be 612,000 burdenhours (that is, 5.1 million multiplied by.12 hours (7 minutes))—rather than1,020,000 burden hours (i.e., 5.1 millionapplicants multiplied by .20 hours (12minutes)). Thus, as compared to theburden under the current regulations,using the number of applicants from2008–2009—17.4 million—there will be408,000 fewer burden hours forinstitutions.We estimate 226,440 hours ofincreased burden for proprietaryinstitutions (2,086 proprietaryinstitutions of the total 5,709 affectedinstitutions or 37 percent multiplied by5,100,000 applicants equals 1,887,000applicants multiplied by .12 hours (7minutes)).VerDate Mar2010 14:10 Oct 28, 2010 Jkt 223001 PO 00000 Frm 00110 Fmt 4701 Sfmt 4700 E:\FR\FM\29OCR2.SGM 29OCR2We estimate 183,600 hours ofincreased burden for private non-profitinstitutions (1,731 private non-profitinstitutions of the total 5,709 affectedinstitutions or 30 percent multiplied by5,100,000 applicants equals 1,530,000applicants multiplied by .12 hours (7minutes)).We estimate 201,960 hours ofincreased burden for public institutions(1,892 public institutions of the total5,709 affected institution or 33 percentmultiplied by 5,100,000 applicantsmultiplied by .12 hours (7 minutes)).As a result, for OMB reportingpurposes, collectively there will be aprojected increase of 612,000 hours ofburden for institutions in OMB ControlNumber 1845–0041.Section 668.59—Consequences of aChange in FAFSA InformationWe have amended § 668.59 byremoving all allowable tolerances andrequiring instead that an institutionsubmit to the Department all applicablechanges to an applicant’s FAFSAinformation resulting from verificationfor those applicants receiving assistanceunder any of the subsidized studentfinancial assistance programs (see§ 668.59(a)).Under § 668.59(b), for the Federal PellGrant program, once the applicantprovides the institution with thecorrected SAR or ISIR, the institutionwill be required to recalculate theapplicant’s Federal Pell Grant anddisburse any additional funds, ifadditional funds are payable. If theapplicant’s Federal Pell Grant will bereduced as a result of verification, theinstitution will be required to eliminateany overpayment by adjustingsubsequent disbursements orreimbursing the program account byrequiring the applicant to return theoverpayment or making restitution fromits own funds (see § 668.59(b)(2)(ii)).Section 668.59(c) provides that, forthe subsidized student financialassistance programs, excluding theFederal Pell Grant Program, if anapplicant’s FAFSA information changesas a result of verification, the institutionmust recalculate the applicant’s EFCand adjust the applicant’s financial aidpackage on the basis of the EFC on thecorrected SAR or ISIR.With the exception of minor technicaledits, § 668.59(d), which describes theconsequences of a change in anapplicant’s FAFSA information, remainssubstantively the same as current§ 668.59(d).Finally, we have removed current§ 668.59(e), the provision that requiresan institution to refer to the Departmentunresolved disputes over the accuracy