82 FR 22652 - Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; NCER-NPSAS Grant Study-Connecting Students with Financial Aid (CSFA) 2017: Testing the Effectiveness of FAFSA Interventions on College Outcomes

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 94 (May 17, 2017)

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, ED is proposing a revision to a currently approved information collection.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 94 (Wednesday, May 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22652-22653]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-09964]


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

[Docket No. ED-2017-ICCD-0065]


Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; NCER-
NPSAS Grant Study--Connecting Students with Financial Aid (CSFA) 2017: 
Testing the Effectiveness of FAFSA Interventions on College Outcomes

AGENCY: Institute of Education Sciences (IES), 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 to a currently approved information collection.

DATES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before 
July 17, 2017.

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-2017-ICCD-
0065. 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. Please note that comments 
submitted by fax or email and those 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 
Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. 
Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Room 224-82, 
Washington, DC 20202-4537.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to 
collection activities, please contact Kashka Kubzdela, 202-245-7377.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), 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. ED is soliciting comments on the proposed 
information collection request (ICR) that is described below. The 
Department of Education 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: NCER-NPSAS Grant Study--Connecting Students 
with Financial Aid (CSFA) 2017: Testing the Effectiveness of FAFSA 
Interventions on College Outcomes.
    OMB Control Number: 1850-0931.
    Type of Review: Revision of a currently approved information 
collection.
    Respondents/Affected Public: Individuals or Households.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 52,300.
    Total Estimated Number of Annual Burden Hours: 5,534.
    Abstract: In 2010, the National Center for Education Research 
(NCER) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), both 
within the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education 
Sciences (IES), began collaborating on an education grant opportunity 
related to the cross-sectional National Postsecondary Student Aid Study 
(NPSAS). NPSAS is a large, nationally-representative sample

[[Page 22653]]

of postsecondary institutions and students that contains student-level 
records on student demographics and family background, work experience, 
expectations, receipt of financial aid, and postsecondary enrollment 
(see http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/npsas/about.asp; (OMB #1850-0666)). 
Since 1987, NPSAS has been fielded every 3 to 4 years, most recently 
during the 2015-16 academic year. The goal of the NCER-NPSAS grant 
opportunity collaboration is to provide researchers with the 
possibility of developing unique research projects pertaining to 
college persistence and completion that utilize a subset of the NPSAS 
sample that is not already set aside for one of the NPSAS-based 
longitudinal studies (BPS or B&B). Under the NCER-NPSAS grant 
opportunity, researchers can submit applications to the Postsecondary 
and Adult Education topic within the Education Research Grants program 
(CFDA 84.305A), under either the Exploration or Efficacy and 
Replication research goal. Consistent with these two goals, NCER 
supports research projects using NPSAS to: (1) Explore relationships 
between malleable factors (e.g., information on benefits of financial 
aid and FAFSA renewal) and postsecondary persistence and completion, as 
well as the mediators and moderators of those relationships; and (2) 
evaluate the efficacy of interventions aimed at improving persistence 
and completion of postsecondary education (e.g., financial aid and 
FAFSA renewal advice delivered via text messaging). Researchers 
approved for funding through this program can obtain indirect access to 
a subsample of the national NPSAS sample (after the study's student 
interviews are completed) in order to conduct unique research projects 
that adhere to the guidelines set forth in the Request for Applications 
(RFA) for the Education Research Grants Program, as well as guidelines 
set forth by NCES and the NPSAS program. This request is to conduct, in 
2017, the ``Connecting Students with Financial Aid (CSFA) 2017: Testing 
the Effectiveness of FAFSA Interventions on College Outcomes'' study, 
funded by the NCER-NPSAS grant and designed to measure the 
effectiveness of an intervention that will provide financial aid 
information and reminders to college students who were initially 
interviewed as part of NPSAS:16 was approved in January 2017 (OMB# 
1850-0931 v.1). Cognitive interviews on the survey items were conducted 
in March 2017 to examine whether college students correctly understand 
the question wording and whether their answers get adequately captured 
in multiple-choice questions of the survey instrument to be 
administered after the end of the intervention. The results of 
cognitive testing were used to revise the CSFA survey. This request is 
for approval of these revisions for the survey that will begin in 
September 2017.

    Dated: May 12, 2017.
Stephanie Valentine,
Acting Director, Information Collection Clearance Division, Office of 
the Chief Privacy Officer, Office of Management.
[FR Doc. 2017-09964 Filed 5-16-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4000-01-P