A summary of the information presented at a May 31, 1988 meeting between the staff members of the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education and the General Accounting Office (GAO) is provided. The information represents preliminary results of the GAO analysis of the characteristics of borrowers and defaulters in the Guaranteed Student Loan (GSL) program. This analysis was done as part of the ongoing GAO study of guaranty agencies' activities required by section 1311 of the Higher Education Amendments of 1986. The focus was on the more than 1,182,000 borrowers who had received their last loan in 1983 and had either begun to repay or had defaulted on their loans as of September 30, 1987. Preliminary analysis of student loan borrowers and defaulters show that: (1) vocational school students defaulted at higher rates than other students; (2) independent students defaulted at higher rates in each income catetgory than dependent students; and (3) borrowers who attended school one year or less defaulted at higher rates than those who continued beyond one year. Appended charts show: kind of institution attended by students; borrowers and defaulters by institution attended; more defaulters from low income families; independent students have higher default rates; most defaulters attend school for one year or less; defaulters' income by selected characteristics; percent of 1983 borrowers who defaulted by 9/30/87; and characteristics of borrowers and defaulters. A list of related GAO products (reports and testimonies) is provided. (SM)