Congress enacted section 117 of the Higher Education Act, as amended, (Section 117) mandating financial transparency of institutions of higher education (institution) through required reporting of gifts from and contracts with a foreign source. Applicable institutions must file a disclosure report by one of the two annual reporting deadlines,…

Federal Student Aid (FSA) processes more than 17.6 million Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) forms each year to help students pay for college and provide students with approximately $120.8 billion in grant, work-study, and loan funds. The FAFSA Simplification Act of 2021 required FSA to overhaul its systems and processes to…

The purpose of this audit was to determine whether Federal Student Aid (FSA) was effectively implementing the Fostering Undergraduate Talent by Unlocking Resources for Education (FUTURE) Act and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Simplification Act's provisions pertaining to Federal taxpayer information (FTI) through the Student…

This article estimates earnings impacts for those who completed long-term college credentials (degrees or college certificates requiring a year or more of study) and those who did not in an experimental evaluation of a federally-funded sectoral job training program. The experimental evaluation found no overall impact of the program on earnings,…

Veterans' educational assistance programs provide financial assistance to individuals, whose eligibility is based on their or a family member's experience in the uniformed services, while they are enrolled in approved programs of education. The GI Bills--particularly the Post-9/11 GI Bill--are the most popular veterans' educational assistance…

This statutory report presents the activities and accomplishments of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) from October 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. The audits, investigations, and related work highlighted in this report are products of OIG's mission to identify and stop fraud, waste, and abuse; and promote…

Although colleges receive funds from student loans, they have largely escaped accountability for their role when students take on unaffordable student loan debt. One partial exception was a set of regulations called "Gainful Employment" that sought to hold some higher education programs accountable for excessive student loan debt. If a…

Federal Student Aid (FSA), a principal office of the United States (U.S.) Department of Education (Department), is required by law to produce an annual report, which details the organization's fiscal year financial and program performance. The Federal Student Aid FY 2024 Annual Report (Annual Report) is a comprehensive document that provides an…

This management information report provides the Office of Inspector General's (OIG) perspective on challenges the U.S. Department of Education (Department) may face as it implements and oversees the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. In preparing this report, audit work performed by OIG and the Government Accountability…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) annual plan identifies the audits, inspections, and other activities that the OIG intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's citizens and students. The FY 2024 Annual Plan details the assignment areas they plan to…

The U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General (OIG) annual plan identifies the audits, inspections, and other activities that the OIG intends to undertake to assist the Department in fulfilling its responsibilities to America's citizens and students. The FYs 2025-2026 Annual Plan details the assignment areas OIG plans…

Amid rising college tuition, low college-completion rates, and ever-changing employer demands for specialized skills, new forms of postsecondary education are gaining prominence. These "nontraditional" programs (such as coding boot camps) are typically short in duration and designed to prepare students for a particular occupation or…

As college promise programs proliferate across the United States with noted intentions to promote access through increased affordability, it is necessary to understand the relationship between these programs and other forms of financial aid, including loans. Using federal, state, and program-level data, we leverage a natural experiment to estimate…

The objective of this audit was to determine whether the U.S. Department of Education's (Department) overall information technology (IT) security programs and practices were effective as they relate to Federal information security requirements. In fiscal year (FY) 2020, the focus of the audit was solely on Departmental Systems. This year the focus…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study that examines Oregon's statewide promise program. Representatives from Oregon's Higher Education Coordinating Commission and K-12 state and local education agencies worked with the Regional Educational Laboratory Northwest to conduct this study of Oregon Promise's reach and impact in its…