This guide is designed to provide student financial aid officers and other college administrators with an overview of the William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan and Federal Family Education Loan programs. Sections of the guide review recent changes to the programs encompassed in the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1998, as well as the guidelines…

This introductory guide discusses federal student aid programs for postsecondary education and how to apply for them. Sources for finding out about student aid, such as schools, state higher education agencies, guidance counselors, and organizations connected with particular fields of interest, are given using a question and answer format. This is…

This paper identifies issues that underlie student financing of education in the health professions in terms of the interrelationships and interactions between financial aid programs under Title IV of the Higher Education Act and Titles VII and VIII of the Public Health Service Act. Section 1 provides background to the issues by describing…

During academic year (AY) 1996-97, 83,000 students left Texas postsecondary institutions with $882 million in federally guaranteed loans. This study attempts to analyze the cumulative Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation loan indebtedness of student borrowers who left postsecondary educational institutions from AY 1991 through 1997. The major…

As part of a series of hearings on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, testimony was heard on the safety and soundness of the Student Loan Marketing Association (Sallie Mae). Witnesses discussed many issues surrounding financial oversight of federal agencies and financial risk to the taxpayer through the potential failure of…

Trends in the level of borrowing by graduate and professional students, and the capacity of students to repay their education debt are considered. In addition, sources of debt data and implications of this information for national student aid and data collection policy are addressed. Attention is also directed to levels of indebtedness between…

Issues concerning indebtedness of undergraduate students are examined, including the implications of debt burdens for: the national economy, the individual well-being of borrowers, equality of access to higher education, and the educational process itself. Risks students face in borrowing to pay for education and how the United States compares to…

Some of the faults and values implied by present methods of financing higher education are examined, and new financial arrangements are proposed. Problems with the current system include: the price to the consumer of higher education in relation to its cost of production, tuition gaps among schools, and evaluating the price in relation to value of…

This study used data from the Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B) and Beginning Postsecondary Student (BPS) studies to examine: the early labor force experiences of college students who either graduated or dropped out; student borrowing for postsecondary education; and student loan debt burden and repayment status. The B&B group (n=11,000) was…

This study examined effects of increased availability of undergraduate student loan funds under the Higher Education Act Amendments of 1992. It studied the effects of price variables and accumulated debt on student persistence decisions using data from the National Student Postsecondary Aid 1992-93 and 1995-96 Surveys. For two-year college…

Information on federal student financial aid is provided for counselors. Step-by-step instructions on how to complete the federal application are provided, and application procedures that must be followed in these special circumstances are described: dependent students, independent students, national disaster area asset adjustment, and correcting…

The management and operations of federal student assistance programs are addressed in hearings before the Committee on Education and Labor. In fiscal year 1981, the Office of Inspector General (OIG), Department of Education (ED) issued 4,811 audit reports on postsecondary education programs. Costs disallowed or questioned amounted to $25.3…

This testimony on the Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act defines the objectives of the National Student Educational Fund. The remarks focus on putting the student's right to good information about educational opportunities into practice by providing better information, by simplifying the financial aid system, and by providing key roles…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Profiles in Leadership": Alliance Releases a Collection of Essays from America's Foremost Education…

This report presents recommendations from the Office of Inspector General for amendments to the 1998 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act that are intended to improve integrity of student financial assistance programs and to save taxpayer dollars. Seventeen proposals divided into four areas--institutional eligibility and enforcement;…