This training guide is intended for use by personnel who administer Federal Direct Loan Programs at institutions of higher education. Chapter 1 describes the program, the school's role, school eligibility criteria, the Department of Education's role, the 7-step electronic data exchange (EDE) process, and quality assurance. Chapter 2 explains set-up features for establishing codes and default operating parameters for EDExpress Direct Loan functions. Chapter 3 covers the data elements required to originate a loan record. Chapter 4 continues the explanation of loan records, showing how to export origination batches, browse the batch activity database, and import acknowledgments. Chapter 5 focuses on promissory notes, the official loan obligation document. Chapter 6 explains calculating and requesting drawdowns, a cash management activity. Chapter 7 lists the steps involved in disbursing Direct Loan funds. Chapter 8 explains reconciliation, the process which ensures that loan data stored at the loan origination center (LOC) agrees with local information. Chapter 9 discusses efficient and effective methods of using EDExpress, and Chapter 10 discusses the process for resolving student loan servicing problems. Appended are the Direct Loan Quality Assurance Planning Guide, examples of EDExpress reports, program-related phone numbers, sample promissory notes, and sample letters from the LOC to the school. (DB)