SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR APPLICATION FOR EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANCE TO SUPPLEMENT TUITION ASSISTANCE; 38 CFR 21.1030(c), 21.7140(c)(5)
A. Justification.
1. Statute (38 U.S.C. 5101(a)) requires that an individual who desires a benefit that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) administers must apply to VA for that benefit. The collection of information is necessary to apply 38 U.S.C. 501 (a), 3014(b), 3034(a), 3313(e) and 5101(a) to claims for educational assistance under the Montgomery GI Bill—Active Duty (MGIB) and the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) to supplement tuition assistance provided under a program administered by the Secretary of a military department.
2. VA will use the information to decide whether the claimant should be paid educational assistance to supplement the tuition assistance he or she has received, and if he or she should be paid, the amount to be paid to the claimant.
3. If this application is the individual’s first application for educational assistance, it can be filed electronically using VA’s online application (VONAPP). Subsequent applications, however, must still be filed on paper.
4. VA is not aware of any duplication of this information collection.
5. The collection of information will not have a significant impact on a substantial number of small entities. Only individuals are required to supply this information.
6. If VA does not collect this information, it would be impossible to know who is eligible for educational assistance to supplement tuition assistance, and the amount that should be paid to those who are eligible.
7. The collection of this information does not require any special circumstances.
8. The Department notice for public comments was published in the Federal Register on August 2, 2010, page 45205. There were no comments received in response to this notice.
9. VA does not provide any gifts to respondents.
10. After processing, VA will retain any written documents in an education folder. Education folders are destroyed periodically. If the education folder is destroyed, the documents on which the information is collected will be destroyed also. Our assurance of confidentiality is covered by our System of Records, Compensation, Pension, Education and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Records - VA(58VA21/22/28) which is contained in the Privacy Act Issuances, 2007 Compilation.
11. None of the information collected is of a sensitive nature.
12. The estimated annual burden is 2,400 hours. This estimate is determined as follows:
The number of claims for tuition assistance has been decreasing each month. Based on the most recent fiscal year, VA estimates it will receive 12,000 claims for this benefit annually. 12,000 x 12 minutes / 60 = 2,400 hours.
The annual cost to the public is $36,000. ($15.00 x 2,400 hours)
13. This information collection does not involve any reporting or recordkeeping costs above those identified in item 12.
14. VA estimates that the total annualized cost to the government to collect the information required by §§ 21.1030(c) and 21.7140(c)(5) is $103,080 based on 12,000 responses annually. This cost is computed as follows.
The processing cost of $103,080 is based on an estimate that a GS 9/5 employee will have to review each application. The salary for such an employee is $25.77 per hour. We estimate it will take 20 minutes to review each claim. (12,000 x $25.77 x 20 min /60 = $103,080)
There are no administrative costs associated with this information collection.
15. We estimated there to be a decrease in the applications for educational assistance to supplement tuition assistance since the need for this benefit has decreased.
16. VA does not publish this information or make it available for publication.
17. If the information collection in § 21.1030(c) and 21.7140(c)(5) is approved, VA will not show the expiration date of approval in the Code of Federal Regulations. Generally, OMB approvals are for three years or less. If VA displayed the expiration date, we would be revising regulations for dates routinely. The OMB control number will be displayed in the regulation.
18. This information collection complies with the requirements of 5 CFR 1320.8(b)(3).
B. Collection of Information Employing Statistical Methods
This collection of information by the Veterans Benefits Administration does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/msword |
| File Title | SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR § 21 |
| Author | Veterans Benefits Administrat |
| File Modified | 2010-10-15 |
| File Created | 2010-07-07 |