ED-2024-SCC-0089-0002_SupportingStatementA

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

FOR PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) I, II and III

Information Collection Form

1. Explain the circumstances that make the collection of information necessary. What is the purpose for this information collection? Identify any legal or administrative requirements that necessitate the collection. Include a citation that authorizes the collection of information. Specify the review type of the collection (new, revision, extension, reinstatement with change, reinstatement without change). If revised, briefly specify the changes. If a rulemaking is involved, list the sections with a brief description of the information collection requirement, and/or changes to sections, if applicable.

Under the COVID-19 national health emergency, the legislative and executive branches of government came together to offer relief to those individuals and industries affected by the COVID-19 virus under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (CRRSAA), and the American Rescue Plan (ARP). In each of these statutes, targeted relief to institutions of higher education (IHEs) was made available under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). HEERF, originally established by Section 18004(a) of the CARES Act, Pub.L. 116-136 (March 27, 2020) and expanded through CRRSAA and ARP, authorizes the Secretary of Education to allocate formula grant funds to participating IHEs to address impacts of the COVID-19 virus.

This information collection requests approval for a revision to a previously approved collection (OMB 1840-0850) that includes annual reporting requirements to comply with the requirements of the HEERF program and obtain information on how the funds were used. In accordance with the Recipient’s Funding Certification and Agreements executed by HEERF grantees, the Secretary may specify additional forms of reporting.

Annual performance reports have already been submitted by HEERF grantees for grant implementation activities in calendar years 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. The revision provides annual reporting on grant implementation activities on or after January 1, 2024. The revision simplifies the collection by substantially reducing the number of items because grant implementation activities have become more limited and obligated funds expended in and after 2024 represent a small portion of HEERF funds. The table below summarizes the changes:

Changes from prior version1	Rationale
Removed questions about Student Aid (Emergency Financial Aid Grants) including questions 5, 6, 7, and 8 on the prior form.	Question is no longer relevant given Student Aid Portion program grant funds under ALN 84.425E expired prior to 2024.
Removed questions about institutional attitudes about health emergency related impacts (question 4), questions about retaining staff (question 11) and students (question 10) during the health emergency, and a question about accrediting distance education during the emergency (question 12).	Questions are no longer relevant given the small amount of HEERF funds remaining at the beginning of 2024 (less than 5 percent of obligations).

This referenced information collection form applies to the following HEERF categories authorized under the CARES Act, CRRSAA, and ARP:

• Student Aid (ALN 84.425E)

• Institutional Portion (ALN 84.425F)

• Historically Black Colleges and Universities (ALN 84.425J)

• American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (ALN 84.425K)

• Minority Serving Institutions (ALN 84.425L)

• Strengthening Institutions Program (ALN 84.425M)

• Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (ALN 84.425N)

• Proprietary Institutions Grant Funds for Students (ALN 84.425Q)

• Supplemental Assistance to Institutions of Higher Education (ALN 84.425S)

• Supplemental Support under American Rescue Plan (SSARP) (ALN 84.425T)

2. Indicate how, by whom, and for what purpose the information is to be used. Except for a new collection, indicate the actual use the agency has made of the information received from the current collection.

The information will be reviewed by U.S. Department of Education (Department) employees to ensure that HEERF funds are used in accordance with applicable requirements under the CARES Act, CRRSAA, and ARP and will be shared with the public to promote transparency regarding the allocation and uses of funds. Furthermore, the information collected will be analyzed to provide aggregate statistics on IHE use of ESF funds to address the impacts of the COVID-19 virus on students and institutions. The collection was used for a similar purpose in the prior years of its administration.

3. Describe whether, and to what extent, the collection of information involves the use of automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or forms of information technology, e.g. permitting electronic submission of responses, and the basis for the decision of adopting this means of collection. Please identify systems or websites used to electronically collect this information. Also describe any consideration given to using technology to reduce burden. If there is an increase or decrease in burden related to using technology (e.g. using an electronic form, system or website from paper), please explain in number 12.

Information collection will be conducted through a custom web portal provided by the Department. Electronic information collection through a web portal was chosen because of its efficiency, cost, and ability to pre-populate certain fields and conduct verification checks on others in an automated manner. The information collection web portal will leverage the existing structure and will create efficiencies because the proposed revision includes only a subset of items that were already in the prior version of form. Moreover, most grantees already have accounts set up on the system and are familiar with it. The web portal was developed to align with objective 4.4 of the Department’s data strategy.² In particular, the web portal conforms to the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-usable) principle because it both collects and publishes data in a format consistent with these guidelines.

4. Describe efforts to identify duplication. Show specifically why any similar information already available cannot be used or modified for use for the purposes described in Item 2 above.

This is a unique collection that responds to reporting requirements in HEERF as authorized under the CARES Act, CRRSAA and ARP. There are no other data collections that seek this information except for one question that is similar to HEERF quarterly reporting³ which requires grantees to publish (on their own websites) institutional HEERF expenditures by category. The proposed information collection differs from the quarterly requirements because this information collection will represent the aggregated institutional HEERF expenditures by category for the entire year (instead of just one quarter). In addition, grantees submit data to the Department in this information collection (instead of grantees publishing on their own websites) and the submitted data is subject to quality checks and reviews for completeness and accuracy.

5. If the collection of information impacts small businesses or other small entities, describe any methods used to minimize burden. A small entity may be (1) a small business which is deemed to be one that is independently owned and operated and that is not dominant in its field of operation; (2) a small organization that is any not-for-profit enterprise that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field; or (3) a small government jurisdiction, which is a government of a city, county, town, township, school district, or special district with a population of less than 50,000.

The Department does not believe the requirements will adversely impact any institution that may meet the small entity designation.

6. Describe the consequences to Federal program or policy activities if the collection is not conducted or is conducted less frequently, as well as any technical or legal obstacles to reducing burden.

If this collection is not allowed to proceed, the Department will not be able to fulfill the HEERF program and legislative reporting requirements, will not be able to effectively monitor the use of funded activities, and the information will not be available for public reporting.

7. Explain any special circumstances that would cause an information collection to be conducted in a manner:

• requiring respondents to report information to the agency more often than quarterly;

• requiring respondents to prepare a written response to a collection of information in fewer than 30 days after receipt of it;

• requiring respondents to submit more than an original and two copies of any document;

• requiring respondents to retain records, other than health, medical, government contract, grant-in-aid, or tax records for more than three years;

• in connection with a statistical survey, that is not designed to produce valid and reliable results than can be generalized to the universe of study;

• requiring the use of a statistical data classification that has not been reviewed and approved by OMB;

• that includes a pledge of confidentiality that is not supported by authority established in statute or regulation, that is not supported by disclosure and data security policies that are consistent with the pledge, or that unnecessarily impedes sharing of data with other agencies for compatible confidential use; or

• requiring respondents to submit proprietary trade secrets, or other confidential information unless the agency can demonstrate that it has instituted procedures to protect the information’s confidentiality to the extent permitted by law.

This information collection does not require any special circumstances.

8. As applicable, state that the Department has published the 60 and 30 Federal Register notices as required by 5 CFR 1320.8(d), soliciting comments on the information collection prior to submission to OMB.

Include a citation for the 60 day comment period (e.g. Vol. 84 FR ##### and the date of publication). Summarize public comments received in response to the 60 day notice and describe actions taken by the agency in response to these comments. Specifically address comments received on cost and hour burden. If only non-substantive comments are provided, please provide a statement to that effect and that it did not relate or warrant any changes to this information collection request. In your comments, please also indicate the number of public comments received.

For the 30 day notice, indicate that a notice will be published. Describe efforts to consult with persons outside the agency to obtain their views on the availability of data, frequency of collection, the clarity of instruction and record keeping, disclosure, or reporting format (if any), and on the data elements to be recorded, disclosed, or reported.

Consultation with representatives of those from whom information is to be obtained or those who must compile records should occur at least once every 3 years – even if the collection of information activity is the same as in prior periods. There may be circumstances that may preclude consultation in a specific situation. These circumstances should be explained.

The Department considers comments from the public when developing the currently approved forms. The Department has already published a 60-day public comment notice in the Federal Register. This is the 30-day public comment request.

The 60-day public comment notice (FR Doc. 2024–15394) was published in the Federal Register on July 15, 2024. Four comments were submitted during the 60-day period, three of which were substantive. The attached comment response document notes whether and how the submitted comments were incorporated. In addition, the burden estimates were slightly adjusted to account for rounding errors.

8. Explain any decision to provide any payment or gift to respondents, other than remuneration of contractors or grantees with meaningful justification.

No payments or gifts will be provided to respondents.

8. Describe any assurance of confidentiality provided to respondents and the basis for the assurance in statute, regulation, or agency policy. If personally identifiable information (PII) is being collected, a Privacy Act statement should be included on the instrument. Please provide a citation for the Systems of Record Notice and the date a Privacy Impact Assessment was completed as indicated on the IC Data Form. A confidentiality statement with a legal citation that authorizes the pledge of confidentiality should be provided.⁴ If the collection is subject to the Privacy Act, the Privacy Act statement is deemed sufficient with respect to confidentiality. If there is no expectation of confidentiality, simply state that the Department makes no pledge about the confidentiality of the data. If no PII will be collected, state that no assurance of confidentiality is provided to respondents. If the Paperwork Burden Statement is not included physically on a form, you may include it here. Please ensure that your response per respondent matches the estimate provided in number 12.

There are no assurances of confidentiality provided to IHEs regarding this information.

8. Provide additional justification for any questions of a sensitive nature, such as sexual behavior and attitudes, religious beliefs, and other matters that are commonly considered private. The justification should include the reasons why the agency considers the questions necessary, the specific uses to be made of the information, the explanation to be given to persons from whom the information is requested, and any steps to be taken to obtain their consent.

The request for information does not include any questions of a sensitive nature.

8. Provide estimates of the hour burden for this current information collection request. The statement should:

• Provide an explanation of how the burden was estimated, including identification of burden type: recordkeeping, reporting or third-party disclosure. Address changes in burden due to the use of technology (if applicable). Generally, estimates should not include burden hours for customary and usual business practices.

• Please do not include increases in burden and respondents numerically in this table. Explain these changes in number 15.

• Indicate the number of respondents by affected public type (federal government, individuals or households, private sector – businesses or other for-profit, private sector – not-for-profit institutions, farms, state, local or tribal governments), frequency of response, annual hour burden. Unless directed to do so, agencies should not conduct special surveys to obtain information on which to base hour burden estimates. Consultation with a sample (fewer than 10) of potential respondents is desirable.

• If this request for approval covers more than one form, provide separate hour burden estimates for each form and aggregate the hour burden in the table below.

• Provide estimates of annualized cost to respondents of the hour burdens for collections of information, identifying and using appropriate wage rate categories. Use this site to research the appropriate wage rate. The cost of contracting out or paying outside parties for information collection activities should not be included here. Instead, this cost should be included in Item 14. If there is no cost to respondents, indicate by entering 0 in the chart below and/or provide a statement.

Provide a descriptive narrative here in addition to completing the table below with burden hour estimates.

The HEERF instrument is targeted to a total of 442 institutions for information collection in 2025 and 98 institutions in 2026 for an annualized count of 270 over two years. This total is based on an estimate of grantees who will choose to make prior year corrections on data collected in 2024 plus the number of grantees awarded HEERF grant extensions and will have grant implementation activities to report in the 2025 and 2026 data collections. The response burden by type of institution is shown in Table 1. The burden estimates reflect a 32 hour (per response) decrease from the prior HEERF data collection. The decreased burden estimates accounts for the evolving information collection needs for HEERF implementation. For example, several items in the current collection will have become moot by the 2025 information collection year. In particular, since the grant performance period for the HEERF (a)(1) Student Aid (CFDA 84.425E) grants expired in 2023, any questions related to implementation of these funds will no longer be applicable in the 2025 information collection year.

Please ensure the annual total burden, respondents and response match those entered in IC Data Parts 1 and 2, and the response per respondent matches the Paperwork Burden Statement that must be included on all forms.

Table 1: Estimated Annual Burden and Respondent Costs Table

Information Activity or IC (with type of respondent)	Sample Size (if applicable)	Respondent Response Rate (if applicable)	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses	Average Burden Hours per Response	Total Annual Burden Hours	Estimated Respondent Average Hourly Wage	Total Annual Costs (hourly wage x total burden hours)
Public Institutions	N/A	N/A	224	224	8	1,792	$45.74	$81,966
Private Institutions	N/A	N/A	41	41	8	328	$45.74	$15,003
For Profit Institutions	N/A	N/A	5	5	8	40	$45.74	$1,830
Annualized Totals	N/A	N/A	270	270	8	2,160	$45.74	$98,798

8. Provide an estimate of the total annual cost burden to respondents or record keepers resulting from the collection of information. (Do not include the cost of any hour burden shown in Items 12 and 14.)

• The cost estimate should be split into two components: (a) a total capital and start-up cost component (annualized over its expected useful life); and (b) a total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component. The estimates should take into account costs associated with generating, maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information. Include descriptions of methods used to estimate major cost factors including system and technology acquisition, expected useful life of capital equipment, the discount rate(s), and the time period over which costs will be incurred. Capital and start-up costs include, among other items, preparations for collecting information such as purchasing computers and software; monitoring, sampling, drilling and testing equipment; and acquiring and maintaining record storage facilities.

• If cost estimates are expected to vary widely, agencies should present ranges of cost burdens and explain the reasons for the variance. The cost of contracting out information collection services should be a part of this cost burden estimate. In developing cost burden estimates, agencies may consult with a sample of respondents (fewer than 10), utilize the 60-day pre-OMB submission public comment process and use existing economic or regulatory impact analysis associated with the rulemaking containing the information collection, as appropriate.

• Generally, estimates should not include purchases of equipment or services, or portions thereof, made: (1) prior to October 1, 1995, (2) to achieve regulatory compliance with requirements not associated with the information collection, (3) for reasons other than to provide information or keep records for the government or (4) as part of customary and usual business or private practices. Also, these estimates should not include the hourly costs (i.e., the monetization of the hours) captured above in Item 12.

Total Annualized Capital/Startup Cost :

Total Annual Costs (O&M) :____________________

Total Annualized Costs Requested :

There are no capital startup costs. The information collection will not create costs associated with generating, maintaining, and disclosing or providing the information that are not already identified in question 12 of this supporting statement.

8. Provide estimates of annualized cost to the Federal government. Also, provide a description of the method used to estimate cost, which should include quantification of hours, operational expenses (such as equipment, overhead, printing, and support staff), and any other expense that would not have been incurred without this collection of information. Agencies also may aggregate cost estimates from Items 12, 13, and 14 in a single table.

The costs to the Federal government, beyond the efforts normally associated with Department staff conducting monitoring, would be to review the data that each institution submits.

The Department estimates the following annual cost: GS-13, .25 hours, 270 institutions = 67.5 hours X $56.31 per hour = $3,801. In addition, contractor costs for data collection, including helpdesk services and maintenance of an electronic form, is $60,000.

8. Explain the reasons for any program changes or adjustments. Generally, adjustments in burden result from re-estimating burden and/or from economic phenomenon outside of an agency’s control (e.g., correcting a burden estimate or an organic increase in the size of the reporting universe). Program changes result from a deliberate action that materially changes a collection of information and generally are result of new statute or an agency action (e.g., changing a form, revising regulations, redefining the respondent universe, etc.). Burden changes should be disaggregated by type of change (i.e., adjustment, program change due to new statute, and/or program change due to agency discretion), type of collection (new, revision, extension, reinstatement with change, reinstatement without change) and include totals for changes in burden hours, responses and costs (if applicable).

Provide a descriptive narrative for the reasons of any change in addition to completing the table with the burden hour change(s) here.

	Program Change Due to New Statute	Program Change Due to Agency Discretion	Change Due to Adjustment in Agency Estimate
Total Burden		-10,800	-182,200
Total Responses			-4,609
Total Costs (if applicable)

This is a revision to the current collection package for the HEERF Information collection Form. There is a decrease in the numbers of responses and burden hours due to:

• Fewer respondents. Only HEERF grantees who received no cost extensions for grant implementation will respond in the data collection. Grantees that received extensions represent a minority of institutions that received HEERF.

• Fewer required items. Since grant implementation activities have become more limited after the start of 2024, many items in the information collection have become moot.

8. For collections of information whose results will be published, outline plans for tabulation and publication. Address any complex analytical techniques that will be used. Provide the time schedule for the entire project, including beginning and ending dates of the collection of information, completion of report, publication dates, and other actions.

HEERF grantees will be respond to the information collection in the spring/summer of calendar years 2025 and 2026. Collected information will be presented in a manner similar to current data visualization as it appears on the Education Stabilization Fund Public Transparency Portal (see https://covid-relief-data.ed.gov/). The schedule is summarized in the table below:

Grant Implementation Period	Information Collection	Data release
Calendar Year 2024	Spring/Summer 2025	Early 2026
Calendar Year 2025	Spring/Summer 2026	Early 2027

8. If seeking approval to not display the expiration date for OMB approval of the information collection, explain the reasons that display would be inappropriate.

The Department is not seeking this approval.

1 See prior version of reporting form here: https://api.covid-relief-data.ed.gov/collection/api/v1/public/docs/HEERF_APR_YR3_122222.pdf

2 See https://www.ed.gov/sites/default/files/cdo/ed-data-strategy.pdf

3 See https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/heerfreporting.html

4 Requests for this information are in accordance with the following ED and OMB policies: Privacy Act of 1974, OMB Circular A-108 – Privacy Act Implementation – Guidelines and Responsibilities, OMB Circular A-130 Appendix I – Federal Agency Responsibilities for Maintaining Records About Individuals, OMB M-03-22 – OMB Guidance for Implementing the Privacy Provisions of the E-Government Act of 2002, OMB M-06-15 – Safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information, OM:6-104 – Privacy Act of 1974 (Collection, Use and Protection of Personally Identifiable Information)

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