This workbook is intended to assist schools that participate in the William D. Ford Direct Loan Program gain the necessary skills to reconcile their loan records with U.S. Department of Education data each month. After an introduction that offers general information, establishes course goals and objectives, and sets out the course agenda, the…

The way that the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) should conduct its quality assurance function of monitoring a processing contractor is described. For the following quality assurance procedures, information is provided on the goal of the procedure, activities to be measured, measures, and the role of…

A framework for monitoring quality control (QC) of processor contracts administered by the Department of Education's Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) is presented and applied to the Pell Grant program. Guidelines for establishing QC measures and standards are included, and the uses of a sampling procedure in the QC system are…

The issues, options, and procedures for annually measuring overall payment error in the Pell Grant program are specified in detail. Guidelines for establishing a definition of Pell Grant payment error are provided, and the design issues related to error measurement are examined. A comparison is made of options for selecting a study sample and for…

The College Scholarship Service guide to implementing financial aid data processing systems is presented, based on conferences that promoted information exchange between data processing and financial aid administrators. The following topics are addressed: long-range planning, the rationale and organizational basis for financial aid, specific…

This participant workbook on electronic aid offices is intended to be used in a two-day workshop that provides hands-on computer instruction and addresses regulatory requirements for participating in electronic processes of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). The materials encompass eight training sessions that cover the following topics: How…