Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection: Public Comment Request Information Collection Request Title: Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program OMB No. 0915-0149-Revision

AGENCY:

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

In compliance with the requirement for opportunity for public comment on proposed data collection projects of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, HRSA announces plans to submit an Information Collection Request (ICR), described below, to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to submitting the ICR to OMB, HRSA seeks comments from the public regarding the burden estimate, below, or any other aspect of the ICR.

DATES:

Comments on this ICR should be received no later than October 7, 2019.

ADDRESSES:

Submit your comments to paperwork@hrsa.gov or mail the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer, Room 14N136B, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

To request more information on the proposed project or to obtain a copy of the data collection plans and draft instruments, email paperwork@hrsa.gov or call Lisa Wright-Solomon, the HRSA Information Collection Clearance Officer at (301) 443-1984.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

When submitting comments or requesting information, please include the ICR title for reference.

Information Collection Request Title: Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program

OMB No. 0915-0149—Revision

Abstract: HRSA seeks to update the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students (SDS) program-specific form to collect 3 years of student data instead of 1 year of student data from SDS program applicants. This will assist the agency in making funding decisions for SDS program awards. The form will reflect programmatic changes to the SDS program, made after consideration of the comments received in response to the request for public comment, published at 84 FR 23571, which will be finalized in the forthcoming SDS Policy Change Federal Register Notice.

Need and Proposed Use of the Information: The purpose of the SDS Program is to make grant awards to eligible schools to provide scholarships to full-time, financially needy students from disadvantaged backgrounds enrolled in health professions programs. To qualify for participation in the SDS program, a school must be carrying out a program for recruiting and retaining students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including students who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups (section 737(d)(1)(B) of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act). To meet this requirement, a school must show that at least 20 percent of the school's full-time enrolled students and graduates are from a disadvantaged background. HRSA previously required schools to demonstrate this percentage by submitting 1 year of data; a school must now provide this data for the most recent 3-year period. The proposed revisions to the SDS program-specific form will require applicants to provide the percentage of full-time enrolled students and graduates from a disadvantaged background over a 3-year period, consistent with this policy change.

An additional change to the SDS program is that a 3-year average, instead of a 1-year average, will be used to calculate priority points, which are provided to eligible schools based on the proportion of graduating students going into primary care, the proportion of underrepresented minority students, and the proportion of graduates working in medically underserved communities (section 737(c) of the PHS Act). The proposed revisions to the SDS program-specific form will require applicants to provide a 3-year average for these percentages, consistent with this policy change, as opposed to the 1 year of data previously required.

Likely Respondents: The respondents are institutions that apply for SDS program awards.

Burden Statement: Burden in this context means the time expended by persons to generate, maintain, retain, disclose, or provide the information requested. This includes the time needed to review instructions; to develop, acquire, install, and utilize technology and systems for the purpose of collecting, validating, and verifying information, processing and maintaining information, and disclosing and providing information; to train personnel and to be able to respond to a collection of information; to search data sources; to complete and review the collection of information; and to transmit or otherwise disclose the information. The total annual burden hours estimated for this ICR are summarized in the table below.

From the last submission, the number of respondents has been updated with more recent application figures. There were 400 applications received for the 2012 application cycle and 323 applications from the 2016 cycle.

HRSA specifically requests comments on (1) the necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency's functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.