Over the last 3 decades, the Direct Loan program has grown in size and complexity, with over $1.3 trillion in outstanding loans as of September 2023. This program provides financial assistance to help students and their parents pay for postsecondary education. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review issues related to…

Federal student loans include a complex consolidation option that gives borrowers the opportunity to combine several loans into a single loan with a longer term to maturity and, for loans originated before July 2006, to convert from a variable- to a fixed-rate loan. The consolidation option adds substantial costs to the federal student loan…

Three models for anlayzing the Tuition Advance Fund (TAF) are examined. The three models are: projections by the Institute for Demographic and Economic Studies (IDES), projections by Data Resources, Inc. (DRI), and the Tuition Advance Fund Simulation (TAFSIM) models from Boston University. Analysis of the TAF is based on enrollment, price, and…

Technical assistance provided to loan guarantee agencies by Touche Ross and Co. under contract to the U.S. Office of Education (OE) is described. Objectives of the report are: to summarize the work performed and the results of each of the projects that were conducted; to describe certain prototype systems that were developed for the guarantee…