GAO: Higher Education: Higher Education: Department of Education Should Improve Enforcement Procedures Regarding Substantial Misrepresentation by Colleges
If colleges provide inaccurate or misleading information about, for example, their students' ability to transfer course credits to another college or qualify for a specific certification after graduation, students may have difficulty completing their degree, [...]
GAO: Higher Education: Education Needs to Strengthen Its Approach to Monitoring Colleges’ Arrangements with Online Program Managers
What GAO Found At least 550 colleges worked with an online program manager (OPM) to support at least 2,900 education programs (e.g., certificate and degree programs) as of July 2021, according to the most recently [...]
GAO: Federal Student Aid: Education Needs to Take Steps to Ensure Eligible Loans Receive Income-Driven Repayment Forgiveness
To make student loans more affordable, income-driven repayment plans base monthly payments on a borrower's income and family size, and extend repayment periods. Borrowers in these plans are also eligible for forgiveness after 20 or [...]
GAO: VA Could Better Inform Veterans with Disabilities about Their Education Benefit Options
As of August 2020, approximately 4.7 million veterans had a serviceconnected disability, making up about 26 percent of the total veteran population. As these veterans transition to civilian life, many choose to pursue higher education [...]
GAO: 94% of PSLF Applicants Employed By DoD Have Been Denied; 124 Active Duty Servicemembers Have Earned Loan Forgiveness
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: DOD and Its Personnel Could Benefit from Additional Program Information The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program is intended to encourage people to enter public service. It forgives the federal student loan [...]
GAO Report: More Information Could Help Student Parents Access Additional Federal Student Aid
US Government Accountability Office report: More Information Could Help Student Parents Access Additional Federal Student Aid Highlights: "About 1 in 5 undergraduates were raising children in 2015-16, according to the Education Department. Child care costs [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Education Department Needs to Provide Better Information for the Loan Servicer and Borrower
As of April 2018, over a million borrowers had taken steps to pursue Public Loan Service Forgiveness (PSLF) from the Department of Education (Education), but few borrowers have been granted loan forgiveness to date. The [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: U.S. Education Department Should Address Oversight and Communication Gaps in Its Monitoring of the Financial Condition of Schools
The Department of Education (Education) reviews the annual audits of postsecondary schools to assess compliance with financial responsibility standards for schools that participate in federal student aid programs and increases its oversight of schools that [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: Post-9/11 GI Bill: Additional Actions Needed to Help Reduce Overpayments and Increase Collections
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) identified $416 million in Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments in fiscal year 2014, affecting approximately one in four veteran beneficiaries and about 6,000 schools. Overpayments most often occur when VA [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: DOD Education Benefits: Increased Oversight of Tuition Assistance Program is Needed
GAO recommends that DOD (1) improve accountability for recommendations made by third- party quality reviews, (2) develop a centralized process to track complaints against schools, (3) conduct a systemic review of its oversight processes, (4) take actions [...]
U.S. Government Accountability Office: For-Profit Colleges: Undercover Testing Finds Colleges Encouraged Fraud and Engaged in Deceptive Marketing Practices
Enrollment in for-profit colleges has grown from about 365,000 students to almost 1.8 million in the last several years. These colleges offer degrees and certifications in programs ranging from business administration to cosmetology. In 2009, [...]
GAO Report on VA Debt Collection from 1981
The U.S. Government Accountability Office released the following report titled "Legislation Plus Aggressive Action Needed to Strengthen VA's Debt Collection."