Proposed Collection: Comment Request

CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

Proposed Collection: Comment Request

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Corporation for National and Community Service

(hereinafter ``Corporation''), as part of its continuing effort to

reduce paperwork and respondent burden, conducts a preclearance

consultation program to provide the general public and Federal agencies

with an opportunity to comment on proposed and/or continuing

collections of information in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction

Act of 1995 (PRA95) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)). This program helps to

ensure that requested data can be provided in the desired format,

reporting burden (time and financial resources) is minimized,

collection instruments are clearly understood, and the impact of

collection requirement on respondents can be properly assessed.

Currently, the Corporation is soliciting comments concerning two

proposed forms:

(1) A revision of its Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request

form (OMB #3045-0030), and

(2) A new form, entitled ``Interest Accrual Form''.

Copies of the forms can be obtained by contacting the office listed

below in the address section of this notice.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted to the office listed in the

ADDRESSES section on or before May 27, 1998.

The Corporation is particularly interested in comments which:

Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is

necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the

Corporation, including whether the information will have practical

utility;

Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the

burden of the proposed collection of information, including the

validity of the methodology and assumptions used;

Enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the

information to be collected; and

Minimize the burden of the collection of information on

those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate

automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection

techniques or other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting

electronic submissions of responses.

ADDRESSES: Send comments to Levon Buller, National Service Trust,

Corporation for National and Community Service, Mail Stop 7200, 1201

New York Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20525.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Levon Buller, (202) 606-5000, ext.

383.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

After completing a period of national service in an AmeriCorps

project, an AmeriCorps member receives an ``education award'' that can

be used to make a payment towards a student loan or pay for post-

secondary educational expenses. This award is an amount of money set

aside in the member's ``account'' in the National Service Trust Fund.

Members have seven years in which to draw against any unused balance.

By law, during the period of time the AmeriCorps members are

participating in national service, they are eligible for a postponement

(a forbearance) on the repayment of any qualified student loan they

have. The purpose of this is to temporarily suspend their obligation to

make loan payments while they are earning a minimal living allowance in

their national service position. Interest continues to accrue during

this period, but payments are not required.

Also, the Corporation's enabling legislation requires that it pay,

on behalf of AmeriCorps members, all or a portion of the interest that

accrues during their service period, if their loans were in forbearance

during their service and if they successfully complete their terms of

service. For an AmeriCorps member who serves in a full-time term (which

includes serving a minimum of 1700 hours) for a year or less, the

Corporation will pay all of the interest that accrued. For a person who

serves in anything less than a full-time term, the percentage of

accrued interest the Corporation pays is determined by a formula

included in the Trust's regulations. The legislative intent for paying

the interest is to keep the AmeriCorps members' qualified student loan

debts from increasing during their service period.

II. Current Action

Two forms with two separate sets of circumstances are being

addressed by this Federal Register notice. Each form will be

individually discussed below.

A. Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request--renewal (OMB #3045-

0030) (Proposed new title: Forbearance Request for National Service)

Currently, AmeriCorps members use an OMB-approved form entitled

``Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request'' to obtain certification

that they are in an approved national service position. The form also

serves as the borrower's official request to the loan companies for

forbearance. Since forbearance can be granted by the loan holder and

not the Corporation, the form requests of the loan holder that a

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forbearance be approved for the national service. The Corporation's

role is to verify that the borrower is an AmeriCorps member and is

eligible for this mandatory forbearance on qualified student loans. An

AmeriCorps member completes one part of the form and sends it to the

office of the National Service Trust. The Trust provides written

verification that the borrower is in an approved national service

position, then forwards the form to the loan holder at the address

provided by the AmeriCorps member. The loan holder will act upon the

request.

This form has been adopted by many of the larger loan holders

(e.g., Sallie Mae) and is given to their borrowers with the loan

holders' own logos at the top of the form. Indeed, the form was

originally developed with the assistance of Sallie Mae and

representatives of several student loan associations. Having a separate

form for forbearance based on AmeriCorps service clearly distinguishes

it from forbearance requests based on one of the other conditions for

which a borrower may be eligible (e.g., military service, employment in

certain low income areas, student status).

Several other loan holders have chosen to modify their own existing

forbearance request forms by including an additional option--

``AmeriCorps service'' or ``national service'' --to the choices already

available. The Corporation verifies national service participation

using all types of forms presented to it, on a loan holder's unique

form as well as the OMB approved form.

The form needs some minor revisions. First, we propose changing the

name of the form to better reflect its actual purpose--it is a form

used by a borrower to request forbearance on a qualified student loan

based on involvement in national service. Experience has shown that the

form could use a more useful set of instructions for explaining the

process for requesting forbearance and for completing the form.

The Corporation seeks to continue using this particular form,

albeit in a revised version. This is a voluntary form. It is one way to

provide verification to a loan holder that one of its borrowers is

eligible for the mandatory forbearance, at the same time allowing the

borrower to request the forbearance from the loan company. The

Corporation will continue its policy of verifying AmeriCorps

participation on any form the loan holder wishes to use. The current

form (Federal Education Loan Forbearance Request) is due to expire

September 30, 1998.

Type of Review: Renewal.

Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.

Title: (Proposed new title) Forbearance Request for National

Service.

OMB Number: None.

Agency Number: None.

Affected Public: AmeriCorps participants and the holders of their

qualified student loans.

Total Respondents: 6,000 annually.

Frequency: Average of once per year per loan.

Average Time Per Response: One minute for the AmeriCorps member to

complete the form.

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 100 hours.

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.

Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

B. Interest Accrual--new form.

The Corporation pays all or a portion of the interest that accrues

during a period of national service for those who successfully complete

their service and have had their loans in forbearance during the

service. Currently, AmeriCorps members ask their loan holders to report

to the Corporation the amount of interest that accrued on their

qualified student loans while they were in their national service

position. When the Corporation receives this information, it is

reviewed for accuracy and is either paid or returned to the loan holder

for additional information.

This information comes to the Corporation is many formats, with

varying degrees of clarity and accuracy. Frequently, an amount of

interest is reported without any accompanying dates--there is no

indication of the period of time upon which the calculation was based.

The Corporation can only pay the interest that accrued while the

borrower was in the AmeriCorps program and the amount of interest the

loan holder reports includes interest that began accruing well before

or well after the national service period. Many times the Corporation

receives from a loan holder a printout of the member's account, from

which it is difficult or impossible to deduce the amount of interest

that accrued during the service period. Sometimes the information from

the loan holder reports interest that has accrued, but it is for a

period of time that is different from the service period.

This proposed form is intended to obtain clear and accurate

information from loan holders in order to expedite the interest

payments for AmeriCorps members. Members will complete the top section

and indicate their dates of service. Then, they will mail the form to

their loan holders where they will indicate the total amount of

interest that accrued between those dates (or indicate a daily accrual

amount), fill in the address where the payment should be sent, and

return the form to the National Service Trust for payment.

Type of Review: New.

Agency: Corporation for National and Community Service.

Title: Interest Accrual.

OMB Number: None.

Agency Number: None.

Affected Public: AmeriCorps members and the holders of their

qualified student loans.

Total Respondents: 6,000 annually.

Frequency: Average of once per year per loan.

Average Time Per Response: 2\1/2\ minutes, total (one minute for

the AmeriCorps member to complete the form and one and a half minutes

for the loan holder).

Estimated Total Burden Hours: 250 hours.

Total Burden Cost (capital/startup): None.

Total Burden Cost (operating/maintenance): None.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized

and/or included in the request for Office of Management and Budget

approval of the information collection request; they will also become a

matter of public record.

Dated: March 30, 1998.

Thomas L. Bryant,

Associate General Counsel.

[FR Doc. 98-8607 Filed 4-1-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6050-28-P