OMB Control Number: 0915-0301
Supporting Statement A
Nurse Corps Scholarship Program
OMB Control No. 0915-0301-Revision
Terms of Clearance: None
A. Justification
Circumstances Making the Collection of Information Necessary
This is a request for revision of the Nurse Corps Scholarship Program (Nurse Corps SP) application and participant monitoring forms. The Nurse Corps SP is authorized by 42 USC 297n(d) (section 846(d) of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by Public Law 101-205. The application and forms are approved under OMB No. 0915-0301, which expires 5/31/2026.
Nurse Corps SP provides scholarships to eligible nursing students in exchange for a minimum 2-year full-time or part-time equivalent service commitment at an eligible healthcare facility with a critical shortage of nurses. To be eligible, an applicant must be enrolled or accepted for enrollment at an accredited school of nursing in a graduate, baccalaureate, associate degree or diploma program. A student must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or lawful permanent resident free of any federal judgment liens, free from existing service commitments, and not in default of any federal debt. Eligible applicants are awarded scholarships based on funding preferences. Funding preference is given to applicants with the greatest financial need. An applicant's financial need is determined based on the applicant’s Student Aid Index, provided on the official Free Application for Federal Student Aid Submission Summary (FAFSA).
Under the Nurse Corps SP, students seeking to become registered nurses are offered the opportunity to enter into a contractual agreement under which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agrees to pay their school tuition, required fees, other reasonable costs, and a monthly stipend for living expenses. In exchange, the scholarship recipient agrees to provide full-time, or part-time if approved by the Secretary, clinical services at a health facility designated by the Nurse Corps SP as having a critical nursing shortage. The minimum service commitment is 2 years, and the maximum is 4 years, depending on the number of years of scholarship support awarded.
Applicants must submit the requested information to ensure they are eligible to receive a Nurse Corps scholarship.
Purpose and Use of Information Collection
The Nurse Corps SP collects data to determine an applicant’s eligibility for the program, monitor a participant’s continued enrollment in a school of nursing, monitor the participant’s compliance with the Nurse Corps SP service obligation, and prepare annual reports to Congress. Generally, the following information will be collected (1) from the applicants to determine their eligibility—an application form consisting of personal (such as proof of citizenship, references, and personal essay), financial (such as the Student Aid Index), and educational information (including verification of acceptance and good standing, tuition costs, and transcripts); (2) from the schools of nursing, on a quarterly basis—general applicant and nursing school data such as full name, location, tuition/fees, and enrollment status; (3) from the schools of nursing, on an annual basis—data concerning tuition/ fees and overall student enrollment status; and (4) from the participants and their employing Critical Shortage Facility, on a biannual basis—data concerning the participant’s employment status, work schedule and leave usage.
This notice includes the following updates:
The word "gender" was replaced with the word "sex" in the application to comply with the EO 14168.
Discontinued the collection of resumes as an application supporting document to determine eligibility for an award.
Use of Improved Information Technology and Burden Reduction
The Nurse Corps SP utilizes the BHW Management Information System Solution (BMISS), an IT system used to collect, process and monitor information regarding participants’ application to and compliance with the program. The link to the online Nurse Corps SP application is available here: My BHW. Applicants are able to log-in to BMISS to fill out the necessary information online.
Efforts to Identify Duplication and Use of Similar Information
The information collected is specific to the applicant and unique to this program. No other source of this information is known to exist for completion of the application and monitoring forms.
Impact on Small Businesses or Other Small Entities
No small businesses will be involved in this data collection.
Consequences of Collecting the Information Less Frequently
This program has an annual application cycle, thereby making it necessary to collect information from each year’s cohort of applicants. If not selected, an applicant may reapply in the next annual cycle. In addition, the monitoring process for compliance with contractual requirements necessitates semi-annual employment verification. The consequence of less frequent monitoring is reduced oversight and compliance with the service requirements and a resultant reduction in nurses providing care in facilities with critical shortage of nurses.
Special Circumstances Relating to the Guidelines of 5 CFR 1320.5
This information collection fully complies with the regulation.
Comments in Response to the Federal Register Notice/Outside Consultation
Section 8A:
A 60-day Federal Register notice published in the Federal Register on June 11, 2025, Vol. 90, No. 111, p. 24635-36. The comment period closed on August 11, 2025, and no comments were received. A 30-day Federal Register notice was published in the Federal Register on August 28, 2025, Vol. 90, No. 165, p. 42019-20.
Section 8B:
HRSA contacted eight internal BHW program staff during July 2025 regarding the format, content of data to be collected, and time to complete the application. HRSA requested constructive feedback to improve the application, improve efficiency, and minimize the collection burden. The comments on clarity of the application and forms were positive. BHW program staff found the application instructions and materials to be clear and straight forward. There were no suggestions for improvement.
Explanation of any Payment/Gift to Respondents
Respondents will not receive any payments or gifts.
Assurance of Confidentiality Provided to Respondents
Data collected on the individual Nurse Corps SP application and monitoring forms is housed in a system of record under the Privacy Act of 1974 – the “HHS/HRSA/BHW Scholarship and Loan Repayment Program Records” (09-15-0037). Information provided on each selected application will be maintained for at least 2 years and up to 10 years. This is necessary to permit the monitoring of Nurse Corps SP participants through the completion of the Program’s service commitments.
Data is collected and stored within the BMISS, an internal HRSA web-based system that uses Multifactor Authentication to ensure data security. Routine monitoring procedures include measures to safeguard data and protect against security breaches. A Privacy Act Statement is embedded within the MyBHW System.
Justification for Sensitive Questions
HHS policy has traditionally been to collect race and ethnicity data on all HHS data collection instruments whenever feasible.1 Questions regarding race and ethnicity are asked in the online application; however, responses to these questions are optional. The Social Security number is required because the amount received for the stipend and tuition payments must be reported to the Internal Revenue Service as income to the scholarship recipient.
The applicant’s income information is required to determine whether the applicant meets the statutory funding preference of funding applicants who demonstrate the greatest financial need. The Right to Financial Privacy Act (RFPA), Public Law 95-630, regulates the Federal Government’s access to the financial records of individuals maintained by a financial institution. The financial information collected through the application complies with the RFPA requirements for customer authorization for disclosure of financial records.
The applicant’s banking information is necessary to electronically transmit stipend payments to the individual’s financial institution, as required by the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 and 31 CFR Parts 208 and 210.
Estimates of Annualized Hour and Cost Burden
The estimates of reporting burden for Applications are as follows;
Form Name
|
No. of Respondents |
No. Responses per Respondent |
Total number of Responses |
Average Burden per Response (in hours) |
Total Burden Hours |
|
3,300 |
1 |
3,300 |
2.00 |
6,600 |
|
600 |
2 |
1,200 |
0.33 |
396 |
|
200 |
1 |
200 |
0.20 |
40 |
|
600 |
1 |
600 |
1.00 |
600 |
|
200 |
1 |
200 |
0.17 |
34 |
|
500 |
2 |
1,000 |
0.42 |
420 |
|
1,000 |
2 |
2,000 |
0.12 |
240 |
|
3,300 |
2 |
6,600 |
0.33 |
2,178 |
|
3,300 |
1 |
3,300 |
0.20 |
660 |
Total |
13,000 |
………….. |
18,400 |
……….. |
11,168 |
Basis for estimates:
Each applicant may only complete one online application per fiscal year. The application consists of (1) eligibility requirements (school enrollment, citizenship and lawful permanent resident status); (2) general information (name, address, school attended); and (3) degree(s) program, which averages 3 documents per applicant plus any necessary supporting documentation. Burden estimate was derived from the comments received by the individuals described in the outside consultation section.
Estimates Annualized Burden Costs
Type of Respondent
|
Total Burden Hours
|
Hourly Wage Rate2
|
Total Respondent Costs
|
Nursing Scholar Applicants:
|
7,300 |
$52.66 |
$384,418 |
Postsecondary Education Administrator (11-9033)
|
3,208 |
$99.96 |
$320,671.68 |
Employers:
(29-1171)
|
660 |
$107.12 |
$70,699.20 |
Total |
11,168 |
|
$775,788.88 |
Basis for Estimates:
Please note that the median wages below have been doubled to account for benefits.
Scholarship applicants may be students and/or may be in the workforce and are accepted into a nursing degree program. Since applicant employment status is mixed, likely occupations that applicants may have at the time of application were selected. Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, the median hourly wage for nursing assistants, registered nurses, and nurse practitioners are approximately $38.02, $90.00, and $124.24. per hour respectively. In 2024, approximately 69 percent applicants pursued RN degrees, and 31 percent pursued nurse practitioner or nurse midwifery degrees. It is assumed that 69 percent of applicants are nurse assistants applying for a scholarship to become an RN, and 31 percent of applicants are RNs applying for a scholarship to become an APRN.
Finally, applicants need to submit two references, either personal or professional. Since references can be anyone, we are using the All-Professions wage rate of $53.74.
Of the estimated burden hours, we assume that references will take a total of 1,650 hours to complete and submit their references, and the applicants will use a total of 5650 hours to complete their applications, fill out the release forms and submit their confirmation of interest form.
((1650*$47.60)+(((5650*0.69)*$38.02)+((5650*0.31)*$90))/7300=$52.66 would be the weighted median hourly wage rate for applications.
A postsecondary education administrator would be responsible for submitting School Verification Form, Data Collection Worksheet, In-School Verification form, and Graduation Close-out form. Based on data from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, they have an median wage rate of $99.96/hour.
Once a student graduates and is in-service, their manager, who may be a Registered Nurse, or a Nurse Practitioner, is responsible for completing their Employment Verification Form and In-Service verification form. Based on data from the BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, the national median hourly wage for registered nurses and nurse practitioners is approximately $90.00 and $124.24 per hour. The nursing workforce would earn a median, hourly wage of approximately $107.12 per hour (the weighted median hourly wage equation used is $90 + $124.24 = $214.24; $214.24/2 = $107.12).
As such, the combined total burden hours and total hour cost for the Nurse Corps SP (including employer, academic institution, applicant, and participant burden hours) would be 11,688 hours and cost respectively $775,789.
Estimates of other Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Record Keepers/Capital Costs
All equipment and software are internally maintained at the Nurse Corps SP as part of its normal business practice. Other than their time, there is no cost to respondents.
Annualized Cost to Federal Government
The average annual costs to the government for implementing the on-line application and processing are as follows:
Contract costs for on-line application: $1,363,203
Staff Review $90,871
Total annualized cost: $1,454,074
Contract costs for the on-line application system include upgrades, enhancements, and fixes to the online system. This cost is inclusive of all Nurse Corps funding to include Nurse Corps SP and Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program. The initial review of the data collection worksheet, school verification and employment certification forms is estimated at 20 minutes by a GS-12, Step 5 employee at an hourly cost of $82.61 (Reviewing applications: 3300 x (1/3) hour x $82.61/hour = $90,871).
Explanation for Program Changes or Adjustments
The total burden hour request has changed from 7,099 to 11,168 due to an increase in the anticipated number of applications.
Plans for Tabulation, Publication, and Project Time Schedule
Section 846(h) of the Public Health Service Act requires annual reports to Congress regarding participant demographics, service sites, default information, etc. These reports provide information tables as well as analysis of trends and evaluation of the program.
Statistical data related to the Nurse Corps LRP has been published and can be obtained at the following website: https://data.hrsa.gov/data/download?data=SCH#SCH (see “BHW Program Applicant and Award Data” and “NCSP Program Applicant Metrics” by fiscal year dropdown menus). Data is published at the end of each fiscal year upon reconciliation of awards data on October 1st.
Reason(s) Display of OMB Expiration Date is Inappropriate
The OMB number and Expiration date will be displayed on every page of every form/instrument.
Exceptions to Certification for Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions
There are no exceptions to the certification.
1 https://aspe.hhs.gov/collaborations-committees-advisory-groups/hhs-data/hhs-data-council-introduction/dc-archive/policy-statement-inclusion-race-ethnicity-dhhs-data-collection-activities.
2 Hourly Wage Rate based on the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics released for May 2024. Hourly median wage doubled to account for benefits. https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/industry/000000
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| File Title | NC LRP - Supporting Statement A |
| Author | Jodi.Duckhorn |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2025-09-18 |