During spring 2001, Noel-Levitz created a student loan default model for the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin). The goal of this project was to identify students most likely to default, to identify as risk elements those characteristics that contributed to student loan default, and to use these risk elements to plan and implement targeted,…

This exploratory study examines the factors that college students perceive are important in helping them make good financial decisions about paying for a college education. The study categorizes and summarizes students' self-reported responses to an open-ended survey question about recommendations for changes in financial aid counseling practices.…

Fiscal year 1995 marks the first year during which an independent audit was conducted of the U.S. Department of Education's financial statements. This first annual accountability report describes the department's history, current mission, priorities, and progress. It highlights the department's program and fiscal accomplishments and describes…

This report presents findings and recommendations resulting from a study on the costs and benefits of a Department of Education policy of encouraging lenders of student loans to grant forbearances to borrowers who experience temporary financial hardship but do not satisfy the specific conditions required for government-prescribed deferments. The…

This report examines the Perkins Student Loan Program, and in particular, the weaknesses in the Department of Education's policies, procedures, and practices for recovering Perkins loan fund assets from schools that go out of business. The report reveals that when schools in the Perkins Student Loan Program close, the Department of Education…

In the current implementation of the Federal Direct Student Loan Program, there are lessons to be learned from past higher education loan programs, better ways to administer these programs and direct loans, and points to remember as direct loans are implemented. Current guaranteed student loan programs have been the subject of scrutiny recently…

The congressional hearing report scrutinized the role of banks, guarantee agencies, student loan secondary markets, and loan servicers in the operation of federal student aid programs. Program weaknesses which have contributed towards to abuse and fraudulent practices of federally backed student loans were identified. Witnesses included officials…

This report presents testimony, along with prepared letters, statements, and supplemental materials, submitted before a House congressional hearing concerned with the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965 in general, and the integrity and quality of grant and loan assistance for students in particular. The testimony and statements…

This testimony before the House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education addresses the need for improving student financial aid programs administered by the Department of Education, and in particular, the Stafford Student Loan Programs. The testimony begins with a brief review of the default problems involving student loans. Next, an examination is…

In enacting the 1998 Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, the Congress changed Section 435(a)(5) of the act to lift the exemption for cohort default rates that were established for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Navajo Colleges in 1990. The new provisions became…

The National Institutes of Health has developed innovative programs to help students, mostly medical school graduates, to repay or to forgive student loans, including physician participation in AIDS research, general research, and contraception and fertility, and plans for graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds. The program also provides…

Analysis of National Postsecondary Student Aid Study data for 11,000 students in loan programs at 1,400 institutions found borrowers with similar earned degrees, marital status, number of dependent children, showed similar levels of income/loan default, regardless of racial/ethnic group. Findings dispute national policy and suggest that campuses…

Most federal support for student financial aid is distributed through student loans via the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program (FDLP) and the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). This report provides information on the number of schools in each program, and the distribution of student loans between the two programs; the loan…

A hearing was held on the subject of two bills introduced by Senator Edward M. Kennedy aimed at increasing Pell Grants and at helping minority students earn doctoral degrees and enter the teaching profession at the college level. Specifically the first bill would increase the maximum Pell Grant from $3,100 to $4,500 and expand the number of…

A study examined student outcomes at those schools and colleges that filed reports with the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools/Colleges of Technology during the 1990, 1991, and 1992 school years. The study focused on the following rates calculated separately for full- and part-time students: graduation, withdrawal, training-related…