We want to let you know about the efforts we are making to ensure that visually-impaired and hearing-impaired individuals have full access to information about our federal student loan, grant, and work-study programs. These programs provide approximately 70 percent of all postsecondary student aid, and we're asking your help in making sure your vision-impaired and hearing-impaired students, and their parents, know how to access information about them, and know how to apply.

For visually-impaired students:
Our 2001-02 Student Aid Audio Guide is available to anyone who wants it. It is an audio CD that contains information on our student aid programs, application procedures, eligibility criteria, loan repayment options, deferment and cancellation provisions, and non-federal resources as well. It lasts for approximately 45 minutes, and individual copies can be requested from our Federal Student Aid Information Center (see below).

Our toll-free Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800 FED AID (1-800-433-3243) is open from 8:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. (Eastern time) seven days a week. The Center's information specialists will answer any question a caller may have about federal student aid in general, or about his or her specific application.

Our Web sites are designed for text-only access, which makes them accessible for individuals with screen readers. We recommend both our Federal Student Financial Aid homepage at http://www.ed.gov/studentaid and students.gov , and interagency Web site developed under the leadership of the U.S. Department of Education. The Hammer-award-winning students.gov portal provides one-step shopping for students wishing to take care of their government business online. If your school maintains a web site, we believe that links from your web site to students.gov and to our Federal Student Financial Aid homepage will benefit your students.

Students and parents can also request Braille copies of our student aid information publications by calling our Federal Student Aid Information Center at 1-800 4 FED AID (1-800-433-3243). The publications are:

- Funding Your Education (FYE): A booklet covering the essentials of the federal student financial aid programs, application procedures, eligibility criteria, etc. It is targeted to high school students.

- The Student Guide : A booklet with detailed descriptions of the federal student financial aid programs. It is targeted to college students and parents.

-The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is also available in Braille. A Braille FAFSA cannot be submitted. It can only be used as a reference aid. (Note that the on-line version of the FAFSA, accessible to screen readers, is available at www.fafsa.ed.gov .)

For hearing-impaired students:
Our Federal Student Aid Information Center is equipped with toll-free TDD. The number is 1-800-730-8913. Students may contact the Center by TDD during its normal operating hours: 8:00 a.m. until midnight Eastern Time, seven days a week.

Hearing-impaired students may also contact us by e-mail at sfamail@mcs.ed.gov .

Students may also contact us by mail at:

Student Financial Assistance
U.S. Department of Education
P.O. Box 84
Washington, D.C. 20044-0084

All students who have access to the internet should apply electronically for student aid at www.fafsa.ed.gov. Doing so will reduce their applications processing time from weeks to days. First-time applicants and any other students without a Personal Identification Number (PIN) can request one from www.pin.ed.gov. The PIN can be used to "sign" the electronic application.

We help put America through school, and thank you for helping us make sure that students and parents have access to our student aid information and services.