The public comment process is an important step in the Department of Education’s (ED) creation of new regulations, policies, forms, documents, and data collections. Public comments help ED better understand the impact on all relevant stakeholders of new initiatives and changes to existing ones. NASFAA submits comments whenever the topic is relevant to financial aid administrators, and encourages its members to submit their own comments so ED receives the full breadth of stakeholder feedback.

Identifying and Viewing Opportunities for Public Comment in the Federal Register

Federal agencies like the Department of Education (ED) are required to solicit and respond to public feedback before taking certain actions. These include new or amended regulations, requests for information, and information collections. 

When public feedback is being solicited, federal agencies publish a notice in the Federal Register (FR), which is published daily. The Current Issue includes the day’s official notices, while the Public Inspection is a preview of the next day’s filings. Each lists actions in alphabetical order by agency. There is an opportunity to subscribe to the Current Issue and Public Inspection issue to receive a daily email listing all agency actions that will appear in the day’s Federal Register. You can do so by clicking the Subscribe button on the right side of each page. NASFAA also highlights ED new requests for public comments in Today’s News.

Another way to find actions open for public comment (or past comment periods that have closed) is to use the Advanced Document Search option under the Search tab at the top of the FR site. 

Once you have located the notice you wish to comment on, click the link to view the entire package on which the agency seeks comment. Included are the comment close date (the date comments are due), information about the agency action for which they are seeking comment, Docket Number, and supporting documents (such as explanations of why the action is necessary and any relevant forms or documents). Supporting documents for information collections are not provided on the FR site; see instructions below for viewing supporting documents on regulations.gov.

The Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) generally requires agencies to provide for a 60-day comment period and a subsequent 30-day comment period¹. The second, 30-day comment period incorporates feedback gleaned from the 60-day comment period. Individuals and organizations can comment during both comment periods.

Viewing supporting documents for FR Notices on regulations.gov

FR notices do not contain all of the relevant supporting documents related to the public comment request. To access those documents, go to regulations.gov and enter the Docket ID (from the Federal Register) in the Search field. Supporting documents generally become available at regulations.gov about a day after the FR notice is published. The Documents tab displays the FR notice text, supporting statements, and forms and instruments. 

The Comments tab displays all comments submitted to date.

Viewing Information Collections on reginfo.gov

Information collections include reporting requirements like federal work-study (FWS) annual reporting and forms like the FAFSA. 

Supporting documents for information collections (ICs) are listed at reginfo.gov. They generally become available about a day after the FR notice is published. 

Select the Information Collection Review > ICR Dashboard from the toolbar at the top of the page Currently Under Review section, select Department of Education, then click Submit. On the next page that appears, check the Only Show ICR for Public Comment checkbox. Search the list for the relevant information collections and click on the ICR Reference Number link to view all relevant documents. 

From the ICR Dashboard, select Department of Education from the Select Agency pulldown menu. The full list of ED Information Collections will appear at the bottom of the page. To filter the list, click the relevant section of the pie chart under the Select Agency pulldown menu.

Click the title of the Information Collection you wish to view.

In the box at the top of the page outlined in blue, choose the All option to view all documents relevant to the IC.

This will display a list of supporting statements, forms, instruments relevant to the information collection, burden estimates, and other information. Click the link(s) under the IC Title heading.

From here, you can download all documents under the Information Collection Instruments heading. 

Drafting Comments

Suggestions for reviewing proposed regulations

• Review the proposed regulations, including the preamble, where ED explains in plain language what it attempts to address in the regulations. 
• Pay attention to burden and cost estimates for accuracy. 
• If reviewing proposed regulations during the 30-day comment window, review ED’s responses to comments from the 60-day comment window to better understand ED’s intent. 
• Once you have determined the topics/issue(s) you want to comment on, draft your comments. 
  • Include the Docket ID in your comments
  • Be sure to include suggestions for improving areas where you disagree with ED’s approach
• Solicit feedback from colleagues. 
• Look to organizations that may have an interest in the topics you wish to comment on and find their comments or other publications addressing the topic. 
  • NASFAA generally publishes a draft of its comments in Today’s News one week prior to submission for members to inform their own comments.
• Pay attention to instructions (for instance, ED often prefers comments to be drafted in the order the proposed rules are presented and prefers comments to be submitted in Word format). 
• ED does not review exact duplicates of comments so, while you should reiterate points made by others, be sure not to copy them verbatim. 

Suggestions for reviewing Information Collections

• Review the notice and supporting documents. 
• Pay attention to burden and cost estimates for accuracy. 
• Once you have determined the topics/issue(s) you want to comment on, draft your comments. 
  • Include the Docket ID in your comments
  • Be sure to include suggestions for improving areas where you disagree with ED’s approach
• Solicit feedback from colleagues. 
• Look to organizations that may have an interest in the topics you wish to comment on and find their comments or other publications addressing the topic. 
  • NASFAA generally publishes a draft of its comments in Today’s News one week prior to submission for members to borrow from for their comments.
• Pay attention to instructions (for instance, ED often prefers comments to be submitted in Word format.) 
• ED does not review exact duplicates of comments so, while you should reiterate points made by others, be sure not to copy them verbatim. 

Submitting Comments

Proposed regulations

Comments on proposed regulations are submitted on regulations.gov. To submit comments, go to regulations.gov and enter the Docket ID in the Search field. The Documents tab will include the FR notice and a Comment button.

Click the Comment button and enter relevant information. You can type comments directly here or attach a file with your comments. Click the Submit Comment button. You can choose to receive a confirmation email that your comment was received.

Information Collections

Comments on information collections are submitted on reginfo.gov. Go to the Currently Under Review section, select Department of Education from the pulldown menu, and click Submit. On the next page that appears, check the Only Show ICR for Public Comment checkbox. Search the list for the relevant information collection, click the Comment button to the right, and enter relevant information. You can type comments directly here or attach a file that includes your comments. Click the Next button. Check the box at the bottom of the page acknowledging you are filing a comment, and click the Submit Comment button. 

¹https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11837