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…

Barriers to accessing financial aid may keep students from matriculating to college. To test whether FAFSA completion is one of these barriers, I utilize a natural experiment brought about by a Louisiana mandate for seniors to file the FAFSA upon graduation from high school. Exploiting pre-treatment FAFSA completion rates as a treatment intensity…

Two independent studies conducted by Baker, Sciarra, and Farrie (2015) and Augenblick, Palaich and Associates (2015) reveal Alabama's public school funding mechanism to be regressive and inequitable. The recommendation from both of these studies is to develop a funding formula including per pupil-based allocation and supplemental categorical…

The institutional administration of student financial aid programs is examined in this first of a two-volume study on program management procedures in the Basic Grant and Campus Based assistance programs. Sections I and II begin by sketching the background and context of the subject of student aid with emphasis on institutional practices, i.e.,…

Who gets student financial aid and how much is given is the focus of this second volume of a two-volume study on program management procedure in the Basic Grant and Campus Based assistance programs. Section I provides general supporting information for the study. It begins by sketching the background and context of the subject of student aid,…

This report discusses the Federal Pell Grant Program, the largest need-related federal postsecondary student grant program administered by the U.S. Department of Education, along with recent changes in the program authorized by the 1992 Amendments to the Higher Education Act. The program is designed to assist student from low-income families who…

The purpose and direction of the quality improvement program of the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) are described. The improvement program was designed to develop a systematic approach to identify, measure, and correct errors in the student aid delivery system. Information is provided on the general approach…

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…