Book Description

Concerns have been raised about the Department of Education's (Education) role in overseeing the lenders and schools that participate in the largest of the federal government's student loan programs, the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP). GAO was asked to analyze Education's use of its oversight, guidance, and enforcement authorities under FFELP. To do this, GAO reviewed departmental documents and federal laws, regulations, and cases and interviewed officials from Education and the student loan industry. GAO recommends that the Secretary of Education: (1) update the department's oversight mechanisms to proactively identify possible instances of improper inducements and limitations on borrower choice; (2) be more proactive in investigating situations involving possible instances of these prohibited activities; (3) issue new guidance regarding inducements to guide the student loan industry until the relevant proposed regulations are finalized and become effective; and (4) develop a protocol to determine the appropriate level of response for cases of non-compliance and assess the effectiveness of these actions to inform and improve this protocol. Education agreed with the first two recommendations but did not explicitly agree or disagree with the other two. The following are appended: (1) Briefing Slides; (2) Scope and Methodology; (3) Comments from the Department of Education; and (4) GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments. [This report was produced by the United States Government Accountability Office.].