FSA has renewed its Generic Clearance for Customer Satisfaction Surveys and Focus Groups Master Plan, a behind-the-scenes tool that helps ensure students, parents, schools, and lenders receive the best possible service.
What Is a “Generic Clearance”?
Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, federal agencies need approval before collecting information from the public. A generic clearance allows FSA to conduct many similar surveys and focus groups under one approval, saving time and cutting red tape. Instead of going through lengthy reviews for each survey, FSA can quickly launch initiatives to capture feedback when it matters most.
Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before October 27, 2025.
“The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 established Federal Student Aid (FSA) as the first Performance-Based Organization (PBO). One purpose of the PBO is to improve service to students and other participants in the student financial assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, including making those programs more understandable to students and their parents. To do that, FSA has committed to ensuring that all people receive service that matches or exceeds the best service available in the private sector. Requirements of the legislation establish an on-going need for FSA to be engaged in an interactive process of collecting information and using it to improve program services and processes. The use of customer surveys and focus groups allows FSA to gather that information from the affected parties in a timely manner to improve communications with our product users.”
To view this Federal Register publication, click here.