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Department of Education

STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Request

CONTENTS

Page

Appropriations Language........................................................................................................AA-1

Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes......................................................................AA-4

Amounts Available for Obligation............................................................................................AA-8

Obligations by Object Classification, Supplemental, CARES Act (P.L. 116-136) ...................AA-9

Obligations by Object Classification, Supplemental, CRRSAA Act (P.L. 116-260)...............AA-11

Obligations by Object Classification, Supplemental, ARP Act (P.L. 117-02) ........................AA-12

Summary of Changes ...........................................................................................................AA-13

Authorizing Legislation..........................................................................................................AA-15

Appropriations History...........................................................................................................AA-16

Significant Items in FY 2021 Appropriations Reports ...........................................................AA-18

Summary of Request ............................................................................................................AA-21

Activity

Student Aid Administration..............................................................................................AA-22
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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Appropriations Language

For Federal administrative expenses to carry out part D of title I, and subparts 1, 3, 9, and 

10 of part A, and parts B, C, D, and E of title IV of the HEA, and subpart 1 of part A of title VII of 

the Public Health Service Act [$1,853,943,000] $2,053,943,000, to remain available through 

September 30, [2022] 20231 [:Provided, That the Secretary shall allocate new student loan 

borrower accounts to eligible student loan servicers on the basis of their past performance

compared to all loan servicers utilizing established common metrics and on the basis of the 

capacity of each servicer to process new and existing accounts:

2 Provided further, That for 

student loan contracts awarded prior to October 1, 2017, the Secretary shall allow student loan 

borrowers who are consolidating Federal student loans to select from any student loan servicer 

to service their new consolidated student loan: 3 Provided further, That in order to promote 

accountability and high-quality service to borrowers, the Secretary shall not award funding for 

any contract solicitation for a new Federal student loan servicing environment including, the 

solicitation for the Federal Student Aid (FSA) Next Generation Processing and Servicing 

Environment, unless such an environment provides for the participation of multiple student loan 

servicers that contract directly with the Department of Education to manage a unique portfolio of 

borrower accounts and the full life-cycle of loans from disbursement to pay-off with certain 

limited exceptions, and allocates student loan borrower accounts to eligible student loan 

servicers based on performance:4 Provided further, That the Department shall re-allocate 

accounts from servicers for recurring non-compliance with FSA guidelines, contractual 

requirements, and applicable laws, including for failure to sufficiently inform borrowers of 

available repayment options:

5 Provided further, That such servicers shall be evaluated based on 

their ability to meet contract requirements (including an understanding of Federal and State 

law), future performance on the contracts, and history of compliance with applicable consumer 

protections laws:6 Provided further, That to the extent FSA permits student loan servicing
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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subcontracting, FSA shall hold prime contractors accountable for meeting the requirements of 

the contract, and the performance and expectations of subcontractors shall be accounted for in 

the prime contract and in the overall performance of the prime contractor: 7 Provided further, 

That FSA shall ensure that the Next Generation Processing and Servicing Environment, or any 

new Federal loan servicing environment, incentivize more support to borrowers at risk of 

delinquency or default: 8 Provided further, That FSA shall ensure that in such environment 

contractors have the capacity to meet and are held accountable for performance on service 

levels; are held accountable for and have a history of compliance with applicable consumer 

protection laws; and have relevant experience and demonstrated effectiveness: 9 Provided 

further, That the Secretary shall provide quarterly briefings to the Committees on Appropriations 

and Education and Labor of the House of Representatives and the Committees on 

Appropriations and Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate on general progress 

related to solicitations for Federal student loan servicing contracts: 10 Provided further, That 

FSA shall strengthen transparency through expanded publication of aggregate data on student 

loan and servicer performance: 11 Provided further, That not later than 60 days after enactment 

of this Act, FSA shall provide to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of 

Representatives and the Senate a detailed spend plan of anticipated uses of funds made 

available in this account for fiscal year 2021 and provide quarterly updates on this plan 

(including contracts awarded, change orders, bonuses paid to staff, reorganization costs, and 

any other activity carried out using amounts provided under this heading for fiscal year 2021): 12

Provided further, That the FSA Next Generation Processing and Servicing Environment, or any 

new Federal student loan servicing environment, shall include accountability measures that 

account for the performance of the portfolio and contractor compliance with FSA guidelines: 13

Provided further, That, due to concerns with the transfer of borrower accounts and to allow 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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appropriate time for review of the risks of current contracting plans, FSA shall suspend awarding 

of any contract for the Interim Servicing Solution (ISS) Solicitation (Solicitation No. 

91003120R0018) for a period of not less than 90 days after enactment of this Act: 14 Provided 

further, That FSA may not award funding for any contract under such ISS Solicitation unless 

Business Process Operations (BPO) Contractors are, as borrower accounts are migrated to 

ISS, immediately responsible for all contact center and back-office processing, as described in 

BPO Solicitation No. 91003119R0008, necessary to deliver all such servicing requirements for 

accounts that have been migrated to ISS: 15 Provided further, That notwithstanding the 

requirements of the Federal Property and Administration Services Act of 1949, 41 U.S.C. 3101 

et. Seq, as amended; parts 6, 16, and 37 of title 48, Code of Federal Regulations; or any other 

procurement limitation on the period of performance, the Secretary may extend the period of 

performance for any contract under section 456 of the HEA for servicing activities scheduled to 

expire on December 14, 2021 or March 30, 2022, as applicable, for up to two additional years 

from the date of expiration]. 16 (Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2021.)

NOTE

Each language provision that is followed by a footnote reference is explained in the Analysis of Language 

Provisions and Changes document which follows the appropriation language
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Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes

Language Provision Explanation

1 to remain available through September 30, 

[2022] 2023

This language provides for appropriated funds 

to remain available for 2 years.

2 ... [:Provided, That the Secretary shall 

allocate new student loan borrower accounts 

to eligible student loan servicers on the basis 

of their performance compared to all loan 

servicers utilizing established common 

metrics, and on the basis of the capacity of 

each servicer to process new and existing 

accounts:]

This language would require the Secretary to 

allocate new student loan accounts to student 

loan servicers based on performance. This 

language is eliminated because the 

requirement will be included in FSA’s longterm servicing solution.

3 ... [Provided further, That for student loan 

contracts awarded prior to October 1, 2017, 

the Secretary shall allow student loan 

borrowers who are consolidating Federal 

student loans to select from any student loan 

servicer to service their new consolidated 

student loan:]

This language would allow consolidated 

student loan borrowers to select from any 

student loan servicer. This language is 

eliminated because FSA currently complies 

with this language.

4 ... [Provided further, That in order to promote 

accountability and high-quality service to 

borrowers, the Secretary shall not award 

funding for any contract solicitation for a new 

Federal student loan servicing environment, 

including the solicitation for the Federal 

Student Aid (FSA) Next Generation 

Processing and Servicing Environment, 

unless such an environment provides for the 

participation of multiple student loan servicers 

that contract directly with the Department of 

Education to manage a unique portfolio of 

borrower accounts and the full life-cycle of 

loans from disbursement to pay-off with 

certain limited exceptions, and allocates 

student loan borrower accounts to eligible 

student loan servicers based on 

performance:]

This language is eliminated because this 

requirement will be included in FSA’s longterm servicing solution. 
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Language Provision Explanation

5 ... [Provided further, That the Department 

shall re-allocate accounts from servicers for 

recurring non-compliance with FSA 

guidelines, contractual requirements, and 

applicable laws, including for failure to 

sufficiently inform borrowers of available 

repayment options:]

This language would require the Secretary to 

reallocate accounts from servicers with 

recurring compliance issues. This language 

is eliminated because FSA will incorporate 

this requirement into new loan servicing 

contracts.

6 ... [Provided further, That such servicers 

shall be evaluated based on their ability to 

meet contract requirements (including an 

understanding of Federal and State law), 

future performance on the contracts, and 

history of compliance with applicable 

consumer protections laws:]

This language would require servicers to be 

evaluated based on their ability to meet 

contract requirements. This language is 

eliminated because FSA will incorporate this 

requirement into new loan servicing contracts. 

7 ... [Provided further, That to the extent (FSA) 

permits student loan servicing subcontracting, 

FSA shall hold prime contractors accountable 

for meeting the requirements of the contract, 

and the performance and expectations of 

subcontractors shall be accounted for in the 

prime contract and in the overall performance 

of the prime contractor:]

This language would allow FSA to permit 

student loan servicing subcontracting but hold 

the prime contractors accountable for 

subcontractors’ performance. This language

is eliminated because FSA will incorporate 

this requirement into new loan servicing 

contracts. 

8 ... [Provided further, That FSA shall ensure 

that the Next Generation Processing and 

Servicing Environment, or any new Federal 

loan servicing environment, incentivize more 

support to borrowers at risk of delinquency or 

default:]

This language would require FSA to ensure 

that new contracts provide increased support 

to distressed borrowers. This language is 

eliminated because FSA will include this 

requirement in FSA’s long-term servicing 

solution. 

9 ... [Provided further, That FSA shall ensure 

that in such environment contractors have the 

capacity to meet and are held accountable for 

performance on service levels; are held 

accountable for and have a history of 

compliance with applicable consumer 

protection laws; and have a relevant 

experience and demonstrate effectiveness:]

This language would require FSA to establish 

and ensure a variety of requirements for loan 

servicing contractors. This language is 

eliminated because FSA will include this 

requirement in FSA’s long-term servicing 

solution. 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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Language Provision Explanation

10 ... [Provided further, That the Secretary 

shall provide quarterly briefings to the 

Committees on Appropriations and Education 

and Labor of the House of Representatives 

and the Committees on Appropriations and 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 

Senate on general progress related to 

solicitations for Federal student loan servicing 

contracts:]

This language would require the Secretary to 

provide quarterly briefings on the progress of 

Federal student loan servicing solicitations. 

This language is eliminated because FSA is 

extending the current loan servicing contracts

as it is reviewing its plan for the long-term 

servicing solution. 

11 ... [Provided further, That FSA shall 

strengthen transparency through expanded 

publication of aggregate data on student loan 

and servicer performance:]

This language is removed because FSA plans 

to expand and modernize the FSA Data 

Center and continue to augment its data 

warehouse with new data sets as necessary 

to facilitate these efforts. 

12... [Provided further, That not later than 60 

days after enactment of this Act, FSA shall 

provide to the Committees on Appropriations 

of the House of Representatives and the 

Senate a detailed spend plan of anticipated 

uses of funds made available in this account 

for fiscal year 2021 and provide quarterly 

updates on this plan (including contracts 

awarded, change orders, bonuses paid to 

staff, reorganization costs, and any other 

activity carried out using amounts provided 

under this heading for fiscal year 2021):]

This language is removed because the 

requested report has been provided. 

13...[Provided further, That the FSA Next 

Generation Processing and Servicing 

Environment, or any new Federal student loan 

servicing environment, shall include 

accountability measures that account for the 

performance of the portfolio and contractor 

compliance with FSA guidelines:]

This language would require FSA to establish 

and ensure a variety of requirements for loan 

servicing contractors. This language is 

eliminated because Federal Student Aid will 

include this requirement in FSA’s long-term 

servicing solution.
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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Language Provision Explanation

14...[Provided further, That, due to concerns 

with the transfer of borrower accounts and to 

allow appropriate time for review of the risks 

of current contracting plans, FSA shall 

suspend awarding of any contract for the 

Interim Servicing Solution (ISS) Solicitation 

(Solicitation No. 91003120R0018) for a period 

of not less than 90 days after enactment of 

this Act:]

This language is removed because the 90-

day period has passed and a contract for the 

Interim Servicing Solution has not been 

awarded as FSA is reviewing its plans for a 

long-term servicing solution. 

15...[Provided further, That FSA may not 

award funding for any contract under such 

ISS Solicitation unless Business Process 

Operations (BPO) Contractors are, as 

borrower accounts are migrated to ISS, 

immediately responsible for all contact center 

and back-office processing, as described in 

BPO Solicitation No. 91003119R0008, 

necessary to deliver all such servicing 

requirements for accounts that have been 

migrated to ISS:]

This language is removed because FSA has

not awarded a contract for the Interim 

Servicing Solution and is reviewing its plans 

for a long-term servicing solution. 

16...[Provided further, That notwithstanding 

the requirements of the Federal Property and 

Administration Services Act of 1949, 41 

U.S.C. 3101 et. Seq, as amended; parts 6, 

16, and 37 of title 48, Code of Federal

Regulations; or any other procurement 

limitation on the period of performance, the 

Secretary may extend the period of 

performance for any contract under section 

456 of the HEA for servicing activities 

scheduled to expire on December 14, 2021 or 

March 30, 2022, as applicable, for up to two 

additional years from the date of expiration:]

This language is removed because FSA is 

working to use this authority to extend the 

period of performance for its legacy servicing 

contracts.
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Amounts Available for Obligation

(dollars in thousands)

Appropriation and Adjustments 2020 2021 2022

Discretionary budget authority:

ary – Appropriation............................................... $1,768,943 $1,853,943 $2,053,943

nary – Supplemental CARES (P.L. 116-136)......... 40,000 0 0

ary – Supplemental CRRSAA (P.L. 116-260) ...... 0 30,000 0

Subtotal, adjusted discretionary 

appropriation 1,808,943 1,883,943 2,053,943

Mandatory budget authority:

Discretionary – Supplemental ARPA (P.L. 117-02) 0 91,130 0

Subtotal, adjusted mandatory 

appropriation 0 91,130 0

Total, appropriation 1,808,943 1,975,073 2,053,943

Unobligated balance, start of year ................ 2,800 26,968 74,947

Recovery of prior-year obligations ................ 86,597 0 0

Unobligated balance expiring........................ -139 0 0

Unobligated balance, end of year ................. -26,9681 -74,9472 0

Total, direct obligations ........................... 1,871,233 1,927,094 2,128,890

1 Includes unobligated balances of $23,372 thousand from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act 

(P.L. 116-136). 2 Includes unobligated balances of $6,208 thousand from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental 

Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260) and $68,739 thousand from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 

117-02).
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Obligations by Object Classification, Supplemental, CARES Act (P.L. 116-136)

(dollars in thousands)

Objec

t 

Class 

# Object Class

2020

Actual 

2021

Appropriation 

2022

Request 

Change 

from 2021 

to 2022

11.10 Full-time permanent $181,105 $198,130 $203,403 $5,273

11.31 Full-time temporary 3,169 0 0 0

11.32 Part-time 788 0 0 0

11.33 Consultants 18 0 0 0

11.51 Overtime 397 435 373 -62

11.52 Awards 3,431 3,698 3,766 68

11.80 Other Compensation 123 0 0 0

Subtotal, Personnel Comp. 189,031 202,263 207,542 5,279

12.00 Benefits

 

62,790 67,811 70,494 2,683

13.10 Benefits for Former Personnel 0 141 141 0

Subtotal, Per. Comp & Ben. 251,821 270,215 278,177 7,962

21.00 Travel 837 1,836 3,175 1,339

22.00 Transportation of things 11 0 0 0

23.10 Rental payments to GSA 18,400 19,191 19,157 -34

23.31 Communications 0 0 0 0

23.32 Postage/fees 33 33 33 0

Subtotal, 23 18,433 19,224 19,190 -34

24.00 Printing and reproduction 18 27 30 3

25.10 Advisory and assistance services 1,895 2,138 611 -1,527

25.21 Other services 1,078,934 943,722 999,078 55,356

25.22 Training/Tuition/Contracts 522 1,942 2,322 380

25.30 Goods/Services from Gov’t 42,001 47,406 48,983 1,577

25.40 Operations/Maint of Facilities 0 0 0 0

25.71 Operations/Maint of Equipment 4 0 0 0

25.72 IT Services/Contracts 458,672 570,571 701,859 131,288

Subtotal, 25 1,582,028 1,565,779 1,752,853 190,670

26.00 Supplies 128 286 315 29

31.10 IT Equipment/Software 167 172 203 31

31.30 Other Equipment

 

1,112 0 0 0

Subtotal, 31 1,279 172 203 31

32.00 Building Alterations 49 0 0 0

43.10 Prompt payment interest 1 0 0 0

Total, Obligations 1,854,605 1,857,539 2,053,943 196,404
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Obligations by Object Classification, Supplemental, CARES Act (P.L. 116-136)

(dollars in thousands)

Object 

Class # Object Class

2020

Actual 

2021

Appropriation 

Change from 

2020 

to 2021

11.10 Full-time permanent $48 $3,533 $3,485

11.31 Full-time temporary 0 0 0

11.32 Part-time 0 0 0

11.33 Consultants 0 0 0

11.51 Overtime 0 0 0

11.52 Awards 0 0 0

11.80 Other Compensation 0 0 0

Subtotal, Personnel Comp. 48 3,533 3,485

12.00 Benefits

 

23 1,108 1,085

13.10 Benefits for Former Personnel 0 0 0

Subtotal, Per. Comp & Ben. 71 4,641 4,570

21.00 Travel 0 0 0

22.00 Transportation of things 0 0 0

23.10 Rental payments to GSA 0 0 0

23.31 Communications 0 0 0

23.32 Postage/fees 0 0 0

Subtotal, 23 0 0 0

24.00 Printing and reproduction 0 0 0

25.10 Advisory and assistance services 0 0 0

25.21 Other services 16,557 18,731 2,174

25.22 Training/Tuition/Contracts 0 0 0

25.30 Goods/Services from Gov’t 0 0 0

25.40 Operations/Maint of Facilities 0 0 0

25.71 Operations/Maint of Equipment 4 0 0

25.72 IT Services/Contracts 0 0 0

Subtotal, 25 16,557 18,731 2,174

26.00 Supplies 0 0 0

31.10 IT Equipment/Software 0 0 0

31.30 Other Equipment 0 0 0

Subtotal, 31 0 0 0

32.00 Building Alterations 0 0 0

43.10 Prompt payment interest 0 0 0

Total, Obligations 16,628 23,372 6,744
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Obligations by Object Classification, Supplemental, CRRSAA Act (P.L. 116-260)

(dollars in thousands)

Object 

Class # Object Class

2021

Appropriation 

2022

Request 

Change from 

2021 

to 2022

11.10 Full-time permanent 0 $4,222 $4,222

11.31 Full-time temporary 0 0 0

11.32 Part-time 0 0 0

11.33 Consultants 0 0 0

11.51 Overtime 0 0 0

11.52 Awards 0 0 0

11.80 Other Compensation 0 0 0

Subtotal, Personnel Comp. 0 4,222 4,222

12.00 Benefits 0 1,986 1,986

13.10 Benefits for Former Personnel 0 0 0

Subtotal, Per. Comp & Ben. 0 6,208 6,208

21.00 Travel 0 0 0

22.00 Transportation of things 0 0 0

23.10 Rental payments to GSA 0 0 0

23.31 Communications 0 0 0

23.32 Postage/fees 0 0 0

Subtotal, 23 0 0 0

24.00 Printing and reproduction 0 0 0

25.10 Advisory and assistance services 0 0 0

25.21 Other services $23,792 0 -23,792

25.22 Training/Tuition/Contracts 0 0 0

25.30 Goods/Services from Gov’t 0 0 0

25.40 Operations/Maint of Facilities 0 0 0

25.71 Operations/Maint of Equipment 0 0 0

25.72 IT Services/Contracts 0 0 0

Subtotal, 25 23,792 0 -23,792

26.00 Supplies 0 0 0

31.10 IT Equipment/Software 0 0 0

31.30 Other Equipment 0 0 0

Subtotal, 31 0 0 0

32.00 Building Alterations 0 0 0

43.10 Prompt payment interest 0 0 0

Total, Obligations 23,792 6,208 -17,584
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Obligations by Object Classification, Supplemental, ARP Act (P.L. 117-02)

(dollars in thousands)

Object 

Class # Object Class

2021

Appropriation 

2022

Request 

Change from 

2021 

to 2022

11.10 Full-time permanent 0 0 0

11.31 Full-time temporary 0 0 0

11.32 Part-time 0 0 0

11.33 Consultants 0 0 0

11.51 Overtime 0 0 0

11.52 Awards 0 0 0

11.80 Other Compensation 0 0 0

Subtotal, Personnel Comp. 0 0 0

12.00 Benefits 0 0 0

13.10 Benefits for Former Personnel 0 0 0

Subtotal, Per. Comp & Ben. 0 0 0

21.00 Travel 0 0 0

22.00 Transportation of things 0 0 0

23.10 Rental payments to GSA 0 0 0

23.31 Communications 0 0 0

23.32 Postage/fees 0 0 0

Subtotal, 23 0 0 0

24.00 Printing and reproduction 0 0 0

25.10 Advisory and assistance services 0 0 0

25.21 Other services $22,391 $68,739 $45,348

25.22 Training/Tuition/Contracts 0 0 0

25.30 Goods/Services from Gov’t 0 0 0

25.40 Operations/Maint of Facilities 0 0 0

25.71 Operations/Maint of Equipment 0 0 0

25.72 IT Services/Contracts 0 0 0

Subtotal, 25 22,391 68,739 45,348

26.00 Supplies 0 0 0

31.10 IT Equipment/Software 0 0 0

31.30 Other Equipment 0 0 0

Subtotal, 31 0 0 0

32.00 Building Alterations 0 0 0

43.10 Prompt payment interest 0 0 0

Total, Obligations 22,391 68,739 45,348
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Summary of Changes

(dollars in thousands)

2021 ................................................................................................. $1,853,943

2021 Supplemental CRRSA Act (P.L. 116-260) (non-add) .............. (30,000)

2021 Mandatory Supplemental, ARP Act (P.L. 117-02) (non-add) ... (91,130)

2022 .................................................................................................. 2,053,943 

Net change ................................................................ +200,000

Increases:

2021

Appropriation 

Change 

from Base

Built-in:

Increase in salaries and benefits primarily for increased benefits 

for FERS contribution rates, a 2.7 percent pay raise to support 

1,584 FTE, awards, and overtime $270,215 +$7,962

Program:

Increase in contracted IT services primarily for Student Aid and 

Borrower Eligibility Reform (SABER) activities 570,571 +131,288

Increase in other services primarily for legacy loan servicing 940,126 +58,952

Increase in goods and services from the Government 47,406 +1,577

Increase in travel 1,836 +1,339

Increase in Training/Tuition/Contracts 1,942 +380

Increase in IT equipment/software 172 +31

Increase in supplies 286 +29

Increase in printing and reproduction 27 +3

Subtotal, increases +201,561
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Summary of Changes—Continued

 (dollars in thousands)

Decreases:

2021

Appropriation 

Change 

from Base

Built-in:

Rental Payments to GSA $19,191 -$34

Program:

Decrease in advisory and assistance services 2,138 -1,527

Subtotal, decreases -1,561

Net Change +200,000
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Authorizing Legislation

(dollars in thousands)

Activity

2021

Authorized

2021

Appropriation

2022

Authorized

2022 

Request

Student aid administration (Higher Education Act 

of 1965, I-D) 01 $1,853,943 To be determined2 $2,053,943

Total appropriation 1,853,943 2,053,943

Portion of request not authorized 2,053,943

1 The program was authorized in 2021 through appropriation language.

2 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2015; reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2022.
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Appropriations History

(dollars in thousands)

Year

Budget 

Estimate 

to Congress 

House 

Allowance Foot

note

Senate 

Allowance Foot

note AppropriationFootnote

2013 1,126,363 1,043,3871 1,126,3631 978,9242

2014 1,050,0913 N/A4 1,044,301 1,166,0005

2015 1,446,9246 N/A4 1,446,924 7 1,396,924

2016 1,581,854 1,446,9248 1,361,7008 1,551,854

2017 1,631,990 1,551,8549 1,546,8549 1,576,8549

2018 1,697,711 1,697,71110 1,576,85410 1,678,94310

2019 1,772,000 1,678,94311 1,678,94311 1,678,94311

2020 1,812,000 1,678,94312 1,778,94312 1,768,94312

2020 CARES Supplemental 0 0 0 40,00013

1 The levels for the House and Senate allowance reflect action on the regular annual 2013 appropriation bill, which 

proceeded in the 112th Congress only through the House Subcommittee and the Senate Committee. 2 Total transfer $9,888 thousand to Program Administration, Office for Civil Rights and Office of Inspector General.

3 Excludes $2,807 thousand proposed for transfer from Department of Health and Human Services to Department of 

Education for the Health Education Assistance Loan program.

4 The House allowance is shown as N/A because there was no Subcommittee action.

5 Excludes $996 thousand transferred from Department of Health and Human Services to Department of Education 

for the Health Education Assistance Loan program. 

6 The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 eliminated mandatory funding for the Not-for-Profit (NFP) servicing costs, which 

were previously not reflected in this table. Starting in fiscal year 2015, the estimate reflects total cost to service loans, 

discretionary funding and what was previously considered mandatory funding.

7 The level for the Senate allowance reflects Senate Subcommittee action only. 8 The levels for House and Senate allowances reflect action on the annual 2016 appropriations bill, which proceeded 

in the 114th Congress only through the House Committee and Senate Committee.

9 The levels for the House and Senate allowances reflect Committee action on the regular annual 2017 

appropriations bill; the Appropriation reflects the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017.

10 The levels for the House reflect floor action on an Omnibus appropriation bill; Senate allowances reflect Committee 

action on the regular annual 2018 appropriations bill; the Appropriation reflects the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 

2018 (P.L. 115-141). 11 The levels for the House and Senate allowance reflect Committee action on the regular annual 2019 appropriations 

bill; the Appropriation reflects enactment of the Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and

Education Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-245). 12 The level for the House reflects Committee action on the regular annual 2020 appropriations bill; the Senate 

allowance reflects the Chairman’s mark; the Appropriation reflects the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 

(P.L. 116-94). 13 The Appropriation reflects the supplemental funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act 

(P.L. 116-136).
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Appropriations History—continued

(dollars in thousands)

Year

Budget 

Estimate 

to Congress 

House 

Allowance Foot

note

Senate 

Allowance Foot

note AppropriationFootnote

2021 1,883,309 1,768,9431 1,868,9431 1,853,9431

2021 CRRSAA Supplemental 0 0 0 30,0002

2021 Mandatory ARP 

Supplemental 0 0 0 91,1303

2022 2,053,943

1 The level for the Senate Allowance reflects the Chairman’s mark; the Appropriation reflects Division H of the 

Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 116-260). 2 The Appropriation reflects supplemental funds from Division M of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (P.L. 

116-260). 3 The Appropriation reflects the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (P.L. 117-02).
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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Significant Items in FY 2021 Appropriations Reports

Ability to Benefit

Senate: The Committee reiterates the directive included in the fiscal year 2020 

explanatory statement that directs the Department to issue guidance within 60 

days of enactment that serves as a simple and clear resource for 

implementing Ability to Benefit at institutions of higher education.

Response: The Department released an electronic announcement on January 15, 2021 to 

supplement pre-existing guidance in DCL GEN 16-09, which can be located at 

https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronicannouncements/2021-01-15/ability-benefit-frequently-asked-questions-ea-idope-announcements-21-02. 

 

Explanatory 

Statement:

In addition to the language in House Report 116-450, the Department is 

directed to implement the directive included in the fiscal year 2020 explanatory 

statement and issue guidance within 90 days of enactment of this Act that 

serves as a simple and clear resource for implementing Ability to Benefit at 

institutions of higher education (IHEs).

Response The Department released an electronic announcement on January 15, 2021 to 

supplement pre-existing guidance in DCL GEN 16-09, which can be located at 

https://fsapartners.ed.gov/knowledge-center/library/electronicannouncements/2021-01-15/ability-benefit-frequently-asked-questions-ea-idope-announcements-21-02. 

Federal Student Aid Feedback System and Ombudsman Group

House The Federal Student Aid Feedback System may be used by the public to 

submit feedback, report an issue or complaint, send a suggestion, provide 

information about a suspicious activity or an alleged scam, dispute a 

resolution, or give feedback about the Federal financial aid experience. The 

Ombudsman Group at the Department is a neutral, informal, and confidential 

resource to help resolve disputes about Federal student aid. Unfortunately, 

many borrowers do not know that the Department provides these services.

The Committee directs the Department and student loan servicers to inform all 

consumers who express concern with their student aid experience of the 

services offered by the Federal Student Aid Feedback System and the 

Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group. The Committee directs the 

Department to prominently display links to the Federal Student Aid Feedback 

System and the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group at the top of 

https://studentaid.gov/, the Department of Education’s home page and any 

customer facing Federal Student Aid website. Within 120 days of enactment of 

this Act, the Committee directs the Department to update the Committees on 

Appropriations on these efforts to improve knowledge of the Federal Student 

Aid Feedback System and the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman Group. 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Significant Items in FY 2021 Appropriations Reports—continued

AA-19

Response The Department has provided the update as directed. The Department will 

relocate the links to the Feedback Center and FSA Ombudsman Group online 

portals from the current location to the top of each page on its website, 

https://studentaid.gov/. The Department will also direct its contracted loan 

servicers to update headers on their respective home pages to include links to 

the Feedback Center and to the FSA Ombudsman Group by summer 2021.

Student Loan Servicing 

Senate The Committee directs the Department to continue to provide quarterly reports 

detailing its obligation plan by quarter for student aid administrative activities 

broken out by servicer and activity and detailing performance metrics, total 

loan volume and number of accounts, broken out by servicer and for each 

private collection agency. 

Response The Department will continue providing the requested quarterly reports to the 

Committees as directed.

Explanatory 

Statement

In addition to the directives in House Report 116-450, the agreement 

continues to direct the Department to provide to the Committees quarterly 

reports detailing its obligation amounts and plan by quarter for student aid 

administrative activities, broken out by servicer, Next Gen contractor and 

activity, and detailing contract expenses, performance metric outcomes, total 

number of loans, and number of unique borrowers, broken out by servicer, 

Next Gen contractor and for each private collection agency. The agreement 

also directs the Department to provide performance metrics outcomes for 

each servicer and each private collection agency as used to allocate borrower 

accounts or loan volume, regardless of whether such metrics are under 

review.

Response The Department will continue to provide the requested quarterly reports to the 

Committees as directed. 

Next Generation Activities

Senate In an effort to further promote transparency concerning NextGen, the 

Committee directs FSA to provide to the Committees on Appropriations, the 

House Committee on Education and Labor, and the Senate Committee on 

Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, within 45 days of enactment of this 

Act, all contracts pertaining to Next Gen, including Digital and Customer Care, 

Enhanced Processing Solution, and Business Process Operations. FSA is 

further directed to provide a detailed description of the accountability 

provisions pertaining to each contract within 45 days of enactment of this Act, 

as well. 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Significant Items in FY 2021 Appropriations Reports—continued

AA-20

Response The Department has provided the requested deliverable.

Explanatory 

Statement

In addition to the directives in House Report 116-450, the Department is 

directed to brief the Committees not later than 120 days after enactment of 

this Act on how State and Nonprofit Subcontracting will be incorporated into 

Next Gen. Further, such briefing should address concerns about small 

business subcontracting spending requirements at the Department, including 

how such requirements are determined agency-wide and for specific 

solicitations.

Response The Department looks forward to briefing the Committees. 

Perkins Servicing

Explanatory 

Statement

The agreement continues the authority for the Department to provide 

administrative cost allowances for IHEs servicing outstanding Perkins loans. 

The agreement is concerned that the Department has not utilized this 

authority. The agreement directs the Department to provide a report to the 

Committees outlining why this authority has not been used, the number of 

institutions eligible under this authority, and an assessment of the potential 

costs to the Student Aid Administration account should such authority be fully 

utilized.

Response The Department will provide the requested report. 
AA-21

AA-21

Summary of Request

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FISCAL YEAR 2022 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

(in thousands of dollars)

Cat Code

2020

Appropriation

2021

Appropriation

2022

Request

2022 Request Compared to

2021 Appropriation

Amount Percent

1.

2.

Total 1,768,943 1,853,943 2,053,943 200,000 10.79% 

NOTES: D = discretionary program; M = mandatory programDetail may 

not add to totals due to rounding.

Salaries and expenses D 878,943 981,954 1,133,354 151,400 15.42% 

Servicing activities D 890,000 871,989 920,589 48,600 5.57%

Student Aid Administration (HEA I-D and IV-D, section 458)

Click here for accessible version
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

AA-22

Activity

Student Aid Administration

(Higher Education Act of 1965, I-D)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2022 Authorization: To be determined1

Budget Authority:

Categories 2021 

Appropriation

2022 

Request

Change from

2021 to 2022

Personnel Comp. & Ben. Costs $270,215 $278,177 +$7,962

Non-Personnel Costs,

excluding Loan Servicing Costs 711,739 855,177 +143,438

Subtotal, Salaries and 

Expenses

981,954 1,133,354 +151,400

Loan Servicing Costs 871,9892 920,589 +48,600

Total, Student Aid 

Administration 1,853,943 2,053,943 +200,000

Supplemental Appropriation, 

CRRSA Act (P.L. 116-260) 30,000 0 -30,000

Mandatory Supplemental 

Appropriation, ARP Act (P.L. 

117-02) 91,130 0 -91,130

FTE 1,5843 1,5844 0

1The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2015; reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2022. 2 The 2021 appropriation column reflects the updated Servicing reestimate of $871,989 thousand.

3 The 2021 FTE total does not include 36 FTE related to and funded by CARES. 4 The 2022 FTE total does not include 46 FTE related to and funded by CRRSAA.
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Student Aid Administration (SAA) account provides funds to administer the Federal student 

financial assistance programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 

1965. The Title IV programs, which provide funds to help students and families pay for the cost 

of postsecondary education, are the Nation’s largest source of financial aid for postsecondary 

students. The account provides funding to administer the student aid lifecycle including: 

educating students and families about the process for obtaining Federal aid and repaying 

Federal student loans; processing approximately 18 million student financial aid applications; 

disbursing nearly $131 billion in Direct Loans, including consolidation loans, and approximately 

$40.9 billion in Pell grants during fiscal year 2022; administering a loan portfolio of more than

$1.5 trillion; and protecting students and taxpayers by ensuring that Federal resources are used 

appropriately.

The Higher Education Amendments of 1998 established Federal Student Aid (FSA) as the 

Federal Government’s first performance-based organization to improve service for students, 

parents, schools, and other program participants; to reduce student aid administration costs; to 

increase the accountability of the officials responsible for administering program operations; and 

to integrate the student aid processing and delivery systems. The Offices of Postsecondary 

Education (OPE), the Office of the Under Secretary (OUS), and FSA oversee and administer 

the Federal student financial assistance programs. OPE, under the direction of the Under 

Secretary, formulates policy for these student financial assistance programs and administers 

other Federal postsecondary education programs. In addition, other Department offices—Office 

of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO); Office of the General Counsel (OGC); Office of 

Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development (OPEPD) and Office of Finance and Operations

(OFO)—contribute to the policy formulation, administration and oversight of the student aid 

programs.

The Federal Pell Grant Program is the foundation of a low- or moderate-income student’s 

financial aid package. The program provides financial assistance to students attending 

postsecondary education programs, disbursing approximately $27.1 billion to 6.3 million lowand moderate-income undergraduate students during the 2020–2021 award year, with an 

average award of $4,305. The maximum Pell Grant award for the 2021–2022 award year is 

$6,495.

The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (DL) Program drives a significant portion of FSA’s 

workload. The DL program lends funds directly to students and their families through 

participating schools. In fiscal year 2022, the Department anticipates it will originate $92 billion 

in new Direct Loans, excluding Consolidation Loans.

SAFRA (Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act), Title II, Part A of the Health Care Education 

Reconciliation Act, 2010, ended the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) program’s authority 

to originate new Federal student loans. In the FFEL Program, private lenders provided funds, 

which are insured by loan guaranty agencies and then reinsured by the Government. Since July 

1, 2010, the Department has originated and serviced all new Federal student loans through the 

DL program. FSA continues to administer the FFEL program, while lenders and guaranty 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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agencies continue to service and collect some outstanding loans in the FFEL portfolio. FSA 

services government held-FFEL and DL program loans through the use of private contractors. 

See the Student Loans Overview and Student Aid Overview for details on Student Loan 

programs in the fiscal year 2022 request. 

Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were: 

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands)

footnote

2017................................................................................. $1,576,854

2018................................................................................... 1,678,943

2019................................................................................... 1,678,943

2020................................................................................... 1,768,943

2020 CARES Act .................................................................... 40,000

2021................................................................................... 1,853,943

2021 CRRSA.......................................................................... 30,000

2021 Mandatory ARP Act ....................................................... 91,130

FY 2022 BUDGET REQUEST

The Administration requests $2.1 billion to administer the Federal student aid programs in fiscal 

year 2022, which is $200 million more than the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. The requested

funds are necessary to implement the FAFSA® Simplification Act and FUTURE Act, provide 

high-quality loan servicing to more than 40 million student loan borrowers, and protect the 

personally identifiable information of approximately 75 million parents and students.

The fiscal year 2022 request includes the following major categories: 

1) Student Aid and Borrower Eligibility Reform (SABER) initiative totals $194.4 million,

an increase of $91.2 million more than the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. The increased 

costs are necessary for implementing the requirements in the FAFSA®

Simplification Act, FUTURE Act, and work necessary for a re-engineered Aid Eligibility

and Determination System. Additional information is provided on page AA-26.

2) Loan servicing activities total $920.6 million, an increase of $48.6 million more than

the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. The higher level reflects an increase in average cost

per borrower associated with the COVID payment pause ending in September 2021 as

well as higher overall servicing volume. More information is provided on page AA-28.

3) Federal Student Aid IT activities total $154.7 million, an increase of $36.2 million more

than the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. Increased costs are necessary to support

activities to protect against security breaches and to ensure protection of borrowers’

personal information as well as providing the necessary IT infrastructure for FSA’s data

storage. More detail is provided on page AA-30.
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4) FSA Core Systems and Other Non-Major FSA activities total $375.1 million, a net 

increase of $2.1 million more than the 2021 appropriation. The fiscal year 2022 funding 

request is needed to provide the support to core system costs including Common 

Origination and Disbursement (COD), Digital and Customer Care (DCC), call centers 

associated with the Business Process Operations (BPO), and other systems that support 

FSA’s core activities that assist with supporting students and borrowers throughout the 

financial aid lifecycle. Additional information is provided on Z-33. 

5) Personnel Compensation and Benefits (PC&B), Overhead, and Other Non-FSA 

Activities total $409.1 million, a net increase of $21.9 million more than the 2021 

appropriation. For fiscal year 2022, PC&B totals $278.2 million, which is an $8 million 

increase from the 2021 appropriation. The increased costs include a proposed 

Governmentwide 2.7 percent pay raise and increase in benefits to support the 1,453

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) in FSA and the 131 FTE for non-FSA offices. Additionally, 

$130.9 million, $15.5 million more than the fiscal year 2021 appropriation of $115.4

million, is for overhead and other non-FSA activities, primarily for increases in enterprise 

cybersecurity, network support, and the Grants Management System redesign project.

More information is provided on Z-38. 

FY 2022 Categorical Costs

The below chart includes the FY 2022 funding requests by category and percent of the total 

fiscal year 2022 Budget. 

SABER, $194,446,195 , 9%

Loan Servicing, 

$920,588,293 , 45%

Federal Student Aid IT 

activities, $154,712,678 , 

8%

PC&B, Overhead, and 

Other Non-FSA 

Activities, 

$409,112,000 , 20%

FSA Core Systems and Other 

Non-Major FSA activities, 

$375,083,834 , 18%

FY 2022 Category Costs
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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Fifty-five percent of the fiscal year 2022 Budget Request includes support for the SABER

initiative and legacy loan servicing. Personnel Compensation and Benefits for 1,584 FTE and 

Overhead costs (e.g., central support, central information technology, non-FSA offices) account 

for twenty percent of the request with FSA core systems, other non-major FSA activities, and 

FSA IT representing twenty-five percent. 

The following sections provide descriptions of each categories’ initiatives and select activities.

Student Aid and Borrower Eligibility Reform (SABER): $194.4 million

The FUTURE Act amends Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) and allows for

certain taxpayer information to be shared with the U.S. Department of Education through FSA 

for the purposes of the administering the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) 

form, income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, and total and permanent disability (TPD) discharge 

programs. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 amends confidentiality requirements stated in IRC 

section 6103 to allow individuals to share Federal Tax Information (FTI) among family members, 

and included the FAFSA® Simplification Act, which modifies the student aid eligibility 

determination, disbursement, and verification process by changing how aid eligibility (e.g., 

Federal Pell grants) is calculated and determined.

The FUTURE Act and certain provisions of the FAFSA® Simplification Act fundamentally 

change the way students apply for and receive aid as well as how institutions of higher 

education and the federal government administer that aid. For example, the FUTURE Act and 

the FAFSA® Simplification Act introduce complex changes to intricately linked business 

processes, systems and partnerships including the Common Origination and Disbursement 

System and the National Student Loan Data System. Further, the successful implementation of 

the FAFSA® Simplification Act will depend on a modernized FAFSA backend system. 

Additionally, this legislation will impact the financial aid community (e.g., schools, software

vendors, state agencies, etc.) and require substantive changes to their processes and systems. 

Since both legislative mandates leverage much of the same group of subject matter experts and 

business units across FSA to deliver changes to the FAFSA, IDR and TPD processes, FSA 

initiated the Student Aid and Borrower Eligibility Reform (SABER) initiative to address the 

legislative changes within FUTURE Act and the FAFSA® Simplification Act and enable critical 

changes to the student aid and borrower eligibility determination processes. 

The SABER initiative aims to implement the FUTURE Act, TPD post-discharge monitoring, IDR, 

and FAFSA solutions; provisions of the FAFSA® Simplification Act; the modernization of the 

FAFSA system through the Award Eligibility Determination (AED) solution; impacts to the 

Application Eligibility Determinations System (AEDS); and communications and outreach to 

students, parents, borrowers, and partners.

There are three main phases to implementing the FUTURE Act and FAFSA® Simplification Act 

with the AED Solution being integral to implementation. 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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• Phase one aims to enable FSA’s ability to request and receive certain FTI from the 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) through the FUTURE Act Direct Data Exchange (FADDX). The IRS will build the FA-DDX interface and FSA will begin the development the 

systems that connect with the interface.

• Phase two includes updates to FSA systems and processes to enable the new FAFSA 

process. FSA will implement a new FAFSA backend system through the AED solution 

(i.e., the system that processes student aid applications and determines aid eligibility) 

and will make modifications to over ten FSA systems and processes, which includes the 

Common Origination and Disbursement system, National Student Loan Data System, 

Enterprise Data Warehouse and Analytics platform, Person Authentication System, 

Access and Identify Management System, Student Aid Information Gateway, and the 

Digital Customer Care platform.

• Phase three enables FSA’s work with its partners - schools, state agencies, and 

designated scholarship organizations - as they update their systems and processes to 

implement the FUTURE Act and FAFSA Simplification Act

Until the implementation of the FUTURE Act and FAFSA® Simplification Act is entirely complete 

through phase one, FSA will need to continue its interagency agreements with IRS for the IRS 

Data Retrieval Tool (DRT), which provides applicants access to specific data elements from 

their individual tax return and a secure way to transfer data to complete tax-related sections on 

the online FAFSA® form and IDR application. This tool allows federal aid applicants and student 

loan borrowers a convenient and simplified way for applying for aid and options for repayment, 

while reducing the submission of inaccurate financial information. 

As part of phase two, FSA will need to implement the changes from the FUTURE Act and 

FAFSA® Simplification Act into the FAFSA backend system, which is currently the Central 

Processing System (CPS). Through the Application and Eligibility Determination System 

(AEDS) contract, CPS calculates eligibility for student aid and enables the FAFSA form through 

StudentAid.gov, the myStudentAid mobile app, phone, and paper channels. The AEDS contract 

also provides FSA’s partners with products to support the administration of student aid such as 

FAA Access, EDExpress and Participation Management. CPS is a legacy system that runs on a 

mainframe, which results in increased delivery time and expenses to make required system and 

business changes. With the two pieces of legislation requiring alterations to functional and 

business requirements of CPS, FSA must redesign CPS through the AED solution. AED will 

improve upon CPS by increasing FSA’s agility, efficiency, stability, and security in delivering 

changes to students and families. By upgrading the capabilities of CPS, FSA aims to realize the 

benefits of the FUTURE Act and FAFSA® Simplification Act, while minimizing the risk for critical 

system issues in functionality and customer experience.

While the AED modernization activity is key to the SABER initiative, the extension of the AEDS 

contract ensures continual operations and maintenance and development activities for the CPS 

and products for FSA’s partners. 
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The fiscal year 2022 request for the SABER initiative is $194.4 million, an increase of $91.2 

million more than the $103.2 million in the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. The fiscal year 2022 

request will support $165 million for operations and maintenance and development activities to 

support changes from the FUTURE Act and FAFSA® Simplification. These activities include the 

development of the new FAFSA backend system; development and operations of the systems 

that will manage and store federal tax information; and implementation of system and process 

changes based on the FUTURE Act and FAFSA Simplification Act. Additionally, $12.8 million 

will support the CPS legacy system’s development and operations of the 2023-2024 FAFSA 

form, and $16.6 million is necessary for the IRS DRT interagency agreements for the FAFSA 

and IDR forms. 

Loan Servicing: $920.6 million

On March 20, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 emergency, FSA began providing temporary 

relief on ED-owned federal student loans through suspending loan payments, halting collections 

on defaulted loans, and instituting a 0% interest rate. One week later, the Coronavirus Aid, 

Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) was signed into law, extending the relief 

through September 30, 2020, while adding several borrower benefits and protections. The 

COVID-19 emergency relief measures were extended two more times in August 2020 and 

December 2020. On January 20, 2021, President Biden extended the payment pause for Direct 

Loan borrowers through September 30, 2021. In March 2021, the Department expanded the

emergency relief measures to federal student loans made through the FFEL Program that are in 

default. During fiscal year 2021, the Department was able to provide this payment relief to 

approximately 25 million borrowers. An even higher number of borrowers have benefited from 

the suspension of interest accrual; the Department estimates the 0% interest rate is saving 

borrowers at least $5 billion each month alone. 

Entering Repayment

When payments resume, the Department must ensure that the transition back into repayment is 

as smooth as possible. Certain groups of borrowers are at particularly high risk of delinquency 

when payments resume. For example, the payment pauses effectively “cured” any borrowers 

who were delinquent at the time of the pause. As a result, approximately 3.9 million borrowers 

shifted out of delinquency status through the government-provided forbearance. The 

Department acknowledges that these borrowers are at high risk of re-entering delinquency, and 

eventually defaulting, once the payment pause ends. In addition, many borrowers who 

completed undergraduate study during the payment pause have never had to make student 

loan payments at all, which could also present special challenges. Further, some Americans 

have experienced unemployment or decreased earnings during the pandemic, and as a result, 

some borrowers who were current on their payments prior to the pause may be at higher risk of 

delinquency. The Department is preparing to assist all borrowers in resuming payments with a 

particular focus on those who are at risk. The Department will execute a multi-channel 

communication and engagement plan, which will raise awareness of the resumption of 

payments and direct all borrowers, particularly those who need assistance, towards available 

resources. FSA is planning to collaborate with borrower advocates, Congressional offices, 

schools, and community-based groups when providing return to repayment education. 

Additionally, media outlets will also be used as another avenue for publishing accurate 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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information about how borrowers can navigate returning to repayment. The Administration is 

also considering a range of initiatives to improve the processing of existing loan discharge 

programs and ease the transition back into repayment for borrowers who struggle once 

payments resume. We will share more information on these initiatives as it becomes available.

Loan servicers will also play a key role in helping borrowers and the Department will work with 

servicers to ensure that borrowers are getting adequate outreach regarding payment 

resumption and assistance to meet their repayment needs. The Department is committed to 

ensuring that borrowers can successfully resume student loan repayment and remain in goodstanding with their student loans. The CARES Act, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, 

and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provided additional funding to prepare and respond 

to the coronavirus, which will allow FSA to use some of this funding for borrower outreach.

Loan Servicing

Currently, the Department has eight loan servicers; however, the current legacy servicing 

contracts are set to expire in December 2021 and March 2022 for the Title IV Additional 

Servicers and the Not-for-Profit servicers, respectively. The Department anticipates using the 

authority provided in the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 to extend legacy loan servicing 

to ensure stable operations while also working to develop a long-term servicing solution. 

Extending the legacy loan servicing contracts will give the Department the ability to focus on 

major challenges including ensuring a smooth transition out of the payment pause and 

implementing the FAFSA Simplification Act and FUTURE Act as quickly as possible. In both the 

extension of legacy servicing and the development of a long-term servicing solution, the 

Department will be focused on improving outcomes for student loan borrowers including 

increased oversight and accountability of servicers. It should be noted that the Department has 

established a robust Quality Assurance (QA) framework to oversee its extended workforce,

including loan servicers. This QA framework leverages industry best practices of establishing 

multiple lines of oversight within FSA and targeted risk-based reviews. Specifically, the 

Department has enhanced operational reporting, established vendor liaisons, renewed its focus 

on customer listening and complaint analysis and partnered with federal regulators like the 

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission.

The budget includes $920.6 million for loan servicing activities, a net increase of $48.6 million 

more than the $872 million in the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. Servicing costs are contingent 

on the total number of borrowers being serviced and the distribution of those borrowers across 

the various pricing tiers, which are differentiated by loan status (e.g., in-school, in-grace, inrepayment, forbearance/deferment, delinquency and COVID forbearance). The net increase is 

the result of borrowers who are anticipated to transition from COVID forbearance to the higher 

priced in-repayment servicing tier, and overall increases in servicing volume.

The fiscal year 2022 request includes $812.0 million for operations and maintenance and 

system development work for legacy loan servicing; $81.2 million for operations and 

maintenance and development work of the Debt Management Collection System; $22.4 million 

for operations and maintenance and development activities for Perkins Loan and Health 

Education Assistance Loan servicing, Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher 

Education grant tracking and servicing costs, Total and Permanent Disability application 
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

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processing and servicing, and Public Service Loan Forgiveness application processing; and 

$5.0 million for Treasury lockbox services. 

Federal Student Aid IT activities: $154.7 million

With increased cybersecurity risks across government and organizations, security threats 

may come in many forms including patching vulnerabilities, ransomware, and phishing 

attacks. FSA takes seriously the ongoing security threats to operations and the real risks 

of compromising borrowers’ personal information not just at FSA, but also at institutions of 

higher education. FSA has been dedicated to working with schools to safeguard students’ 

data and has provided multiple presentations to education professionals on FSA’s role in 

assisting schools with addressing cybersecurity findings. Additionally, FSA continues to

collaborate with OCIO to ensure compliance with the Federal Information Technology

Acquisition Reform Act and other IT requirements. During fiscal year 2021, many core 

operations were partially funded to start the necessary work of the SABER initiative. The

increase in the fiscal year 2022 request for IT activities is to fully fund operations and 

maintenance. 

The below descriptions provide details for most of FSA’s IT activities.

FSA Cybersecurity Program: $50.6 million 

The FSA Cybersecurity Program protects information assets including data, IT infrastructure, 

and applications for the third largest Federal repository of sensitive personally identifiable 

information (PII), as well as a $1.5 trillion student loan portfolio. The FSA Cybersecurity 

Program strives to improve IT security by increasing situational awareness, improving network 

monitoring and continued incident response, conducting formal security authorizations, securing 

operations of FSA systems, managing security vulnerabilities at an acceptable risk level and 

documenting FSA security guidelines. FSA must comply with the Federal Information Security 

Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014 through testing, verification, and validation of the security 

controls of approximately 75 reportable FSA systems. The fiscal year 2022 request includes 

$50.6 million to support continuation of existing services and new or expanded capabilities to 

address known gaps and threats. 

The $13.8 million increase allows FSA to address several major shortfalls or new programs

through the expansion of the continuous monitoring program to the Servicers, TIVAS, and 

systems hosted by third party vendors, and the integration of automated data feeds enabling 

situational awareness and monitoring for all FSA information systems. The FUTURE Act 

requires FSA to a create a Safeguards organization that ensure the people, process and 

technology are available to protect Federal Tax Information. The final major increase focuses on 

the complete integration of all FSA information systems in a continuous assessments program 

that ensures FISMA compliance and verifies the cyber hygiene for each information system in a 

continuous and repetitive cycle.
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Next Generation Data Center (NGDC) and Data Center Dedicated Circuits: $56.5 million 

NGDC serves as the host facility for FSA applications that process student financial aid 

applications (grants, loans, and work-study), provides schools and lenders with eligibility 

determinations, and supports payments from and repayment to lenders. The NGDC is 

organized around four types of components: network infrastructure, midrange servers (Microsoft 

Windows platforms, UNIX/Linux platforms), IBM mainframes, and components in the cloud. The 

NGDC supports a technical infrastructure that aligns closely with FSA strategic drivers, business 

objectives, and mission goals. It leverages security measures to ensure the protection of 

controlled unclassified information; increased availability and reliability of the services that 

support FSA operations; improved elasticity and scalability of resources to the cloud 

environment and preservation of legacy mainframe capabilities and infrastructure.

Additionally, the Data Center Dedicated Circuits provides the telecommunications backbone to 

FSA systems and call centers. Network services include NGDC, call centers and Managed 

Trusted Internet Protocol Service for Common Origination and Disbursement and DMCS, which 

is used to support system management functions and inquiries into data processing by external 

stakeholders. Data Center Dedicated Circuits includes data and voice lines and toll-free 

numbers. 

The fiscal year 2022 request includes $56.5 million for operations and maintenance and is

necessary for planning the closure of the physical data center and migration of applications to 

the cloud environment. 

Enterprise Software Licensing (ESL): $19.5 million

ESL is the agency’s licensing expense that supports numerous technologies and platforms for 

business systems. This function consolidates and establishes enterprise-wide agreements for

similar types of software to reduce licensing duplication to gain economies of scale and benefit 

from volume pricing discounts. 

The fiscal year 2022 request is $19.5 million, an increase of $4.1 million more than the $15.4 

million in the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. The increase is due to the increased need for

software licenses to support the Next Gen Digital and Customer Care and other enterprise 

activities.

Enterprise Architecture and Engineering (EAE) and Data Center Support: $12 million

EAE provides essential IT strategy, IT Portfolio Management (PfM), IT Project Management, 

Capital Planning and Investment Control, Enterprise Architecture, software engineering and 

testing services that are critical to the operational support and execution of all key FSA business 

applications. 

Services related to this support are:

• Technology platform and technical support services designed to provide security, control, 

integration, and optimized access to a full range of mobile, web, application programming 

interfaces and service-oriented architecture. This also includes integrated technical 
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architecture, middleware architecture and transitional activities supporting cloud 

computing.

• Application Performance testing analysis services that ensure FSA applications 

are appropriately configured and enough capacity is deployed for mission critical

applications in production environments within the NGDC.

• Subject matter expertise for Enterprise Architecture and Capital Planning/PfM 

to analyze, design, plan and implement enterprise solutions to successfully 

execute business strategies. This support helps FSA structure IT projects and 

policies to achieve desired business results and stay up to date with industry 

trends. IT engineering expertise is also, provided to ensure technical solutions 

meet FSA requirements, represent industry best practices, and implement 

FSA IT engineering processes that evaluate and improve design standards. 

• Project Management support for project governance, project reporting, project 

prioritization, risk and schedule management and project management training. 

The fiscal year 2022 request includes $12.0 million for operations and maintenance. 

Identity and Access Management (IAM): $8.7 million

IAM includes multiple systems and capabilities including, Access and Identity Management 

System (AIMS), Person Authentication Service (PAS – FSA-ID), Two Factor Authentication 

(TFA) and Privileged Access Management (PAM). It integrates with all new and legacy FSA 

applications to manage and track two-factor authentication, security training, rules of behavior 

acknowledgement, self-service password resets and security access policy enforcement for 

privileged users. IAM provides secure, efficient access to FSA systems for the approximately 80

thousand privileged users (ED, FSA, and partners) and approximately 75 million non-privileged 

users.

IAM provides the FSA enterprise with enhanced sign-on capability and access control for web 

applications to privileged users. It also provides integrated horizontal sign-on to multiple 

applications, thereby enforcing standardized security requirements such as identity, password 

complexity and multi-factor authentication. 

The fiscal year 2022 request is $8.7 million, $2.0 million more than the 2021 appropriation.

The increase is for operations and maintenance and development work for PAS and AIMS

infrastructure improvements.

Enterprise Business Collaboration (EBC): $1.9 million

EBC provides FSA and the Department a platform where the Department can collaborate 

across the agency with Microsoft SharePoint. EBC also, provides supports to FSA investments 

that are enhanced by using the Project Server and native workflow capabilities. The fiscal year 

2022 request includes $1.9 million for operations and maintenance.
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FSA Core Systems and Other Non-Major FSA Activities: $375.1 million

There are various core systems and FSA activities that assist in federal student aid delivery 

throughout the student aid lifecycle. From engaging with students, parents, and borrowers; 

communicating with school partners; and originating and disbursing federal aid—these 

interactions all require support from FSA core systems and activities. This section will provide 

details about core systems and the Next Generation Federal Student Aid (Next Gen FSA)

initiative, which is modernizing systems and business models for engaging with FSA.

The Next Gen FSA initiative started in fiscal year 2017 and has emphasized the importance of 

creating an improved, high-quality customer experience for FSA's millions of students and 

families by streamlining student aid systems and processes through consolidation of websites

and alignment of supporting operations. Next Gen FSA is transforming various aspects of how

FSA operates when interacting with customers and partners at postsecondary institutions.

The below sections provide descriptions of some of FSA’s core systems and non-major 

activities in the areas of student and borrower engagement, institution engagement and data. 

Student and Borrower Engagement

Next Gen Digital and Customer Care (DCC): $99.2 million

DCC was launched in 2019 as the digital front door for students, parents, and borrowers. DCC 

allows customers to interact with FSA through their preferred communication channel including,

web, mobile app, phone, chat, virtual assistant, email, text, or social media. 

DCC includes FSA’s single 1-800 number for reaching all of FSA’s customer-facing contact 

centers, the digital platform consisting of StudentAid.gov, the myStudentAid mobile app, the 

customer care platform for contact centers, the marketing and communications platform for 

email and text messaging, and the Aidan Virtual Assistant. DCC provides modern tools to 

ensure students, parents and borrowers see FSA as the most trusted and reliable resource in 

managing federal student aid. DCC will continue to provide operational support and make 

necessary enhancements to existing capabilities as part of its continuous improvement plan. 

Those continuous improvements will allow for more automated processes, reducing the need for 

manual activities including, faxing, or mailing documents, all of which results in a more efficient 

delivery of services to customers. 

Customers interact with FSA-branded channels from the time they create an FSA ID and 

complete their FAFSA to when they complete their program of study and prepare to start loan 

repayment. However, once repayment starts, borrowers interact directly with one of FSA’s many 

loan servicers and receive less communication directly from FSA. During fiscal year 2022, DCC 

will develop increased self-service functionality allowing customers to make payments, upload 

documents, and view account information on StudentAid.gov as well as the myStudentAid 

mobile app. This will allow borrowers to manage their account in one central location. The 

customer care platform will also be expanded to include new training materials to ensure 

consistent answers are provided to borrowers, and the marketing and communications platform 

will be expanded to include, communications related to loan servicing. The fiscal year 2022 
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request includes $99.2 million for ongoing operations and maintenance as well as funding for 

continual development activities that amongst other objectives will grow and promote selfservice capabilities. 

Business Process Operations (BPO): $51.5 million 

During fiscal year 2022, BPO will begin operating contact center and back-office operations for 

the non-servicing activities, which includes FSA’s legacy contact centers (e.g., Federal Student 

Aid Information Center, the Student Loan Support Center, the FSA Feedback System, the FSA 

Ombudsman, the Borrower Defense Hotline, the Office of Inspector General Fraud Referral and 

Analysis Support Center and applicant support services for students that were supported by the 

TIVOD contract). This is a major step in providing enhanced customer support, improving 

customer service, and providing operational flexibility. The $51.5 million for fiscal year 2022 is 

for ongoing operations and maintenance. 

The BPO contact centers will be responsible for handling much of FSA’s direct communication 

with customers and partners including, inbound and outbound calls, email, chat, social media 

inquiries and physical correspondence. BPO vendors will receive on-going training from FSA to

ensure they are providing customers with accurate and consistent information and are treating 

customers and partners equitably. Customer service representatives will have access to a 

customer relationship management tool, which ensures consistent call management workflows, 

agent access to comprehensive information on customers and partners and the ability for the 

agent to tap into FSA-provided resources when necessary.

Institution and Partner Engagement

Next Gen Partner Participation and Oversight (PPO) Initiative: $48.4 million

FSA is focused on transforming the partner experience through the implementation of a new 

technology solution, PartnerConnect, and new operational approaches to address current 

customer and partner pain points. These pain points include the need for schools to interact with 

multiple systems to determine student eligibility for aid, process awards, and report and 

reconcile funding information. The institutional eligibility process is heavily manual and 

dependent on outdated, vulnerable systems that prevent FSA staff from expediting and 

automating many school interactions such as recertifications. Annually, FSA disburses more 

than $131 billion dollars in student aid to help millions of students and their families pay for 

postsecondary education. More than 5,600 postsecondary institutions and other organizations 

are vital partners in delivering this aid. As a major first step, in early 2021 FSA launched 

PartnerConnect —a new, digital portal for our partners—at fsapartners.ed.gov. This site 

streamlines and modernizes the partner experience by fully integrating 15 websites into the new 

site with an updated look and feel and improved search capabilities. PartnerConnect also 

created a new Knowledge Center easing access to student aid program information and

containing a searchable Student Aid Handbook that will help schools more quickly access 

information on how to effectively administer Federal student aid, which will substantially improve 

students’ and borrowers’ experience. Development is underway for a second PartnerConnect

release in early 2022 that will replace the e-application system through which schools apply to 
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participate in the Title IV aid programs, and the Postsecondary Education Participants System, 

one of FSA’s oldest and most technically vulnerable systems. 

The fiscal year 2022 request is $48 million, an increase of $28.4 million from the fiscal year 

2021 appropriation to support operations and development work. The primary increase in funds 

will allow FSA to continue to address inefficiencies at partner schools by executing the next 

phase of PartnerConnect, Milestone 2 and Partner Customer Care. Milestone 2 integrates five

additional partner-facing sites (ezaudit.ed.gov, FAAaccess.ed.gov, experimentalsites.ed.gov, 

fsaconferences.ed.gov, and nsldsfap.ed.gov) to support more than 5,600 postsecondary 

institutions. This milestone also focuses on establishing the capabilities and services that will 

centralize customer service delivery by introducing proactive analytical capabilities that targets

oversight resources on high-risk schools, and expands the digital presence to consolidate 

partner websites and business functions. The additional benefits of this investment include

improving the partner experience through streamlined processes and automation, improving 

management and oversight capabilities, and enhancing FSA’s ability to respond to legislative 

changes. During fiscal year 2022, the legacy contract costs for PEPS will be phased out and its

functionality will be incorporated into the Next Gen PPO initiative.

Participation Management (PM): $2.3 million

PM aids the process of granting and managing access to services provided by various FSA 

systems for school personnel and other FSA partners (e.g., National Student Loan Data System 

Transfer Student Monitoring/Financial Aid History, enrollment reporting, Common Origination 

and Disbursement direct loan services, FAFSA applications and Institutional Student 

Information Requests). PM allows FSA to maintain centralized enrollment processes for each 

system and service by creating a seamless interaction across FSA systems to efficiently 

process changes. The fiscal year 2022 request of $2.3 million is for operations and 

maintenance.

Postsecondary Education Participants System (PEPS): $1.8 million

PEPS maintains the file of eligible Title IV institutions and supports a range of processes to

manage school participation and oversight by FSA. During fiscal year 2022, PEPS will be 

incorporated into Next Gen PPO initiative. The fiscal year 2022 request of $1.8 million will be 

needed for the continual operations and maintenance of the PEPS system during the integration 

of the functionality into Next Gen PPO initiative. 

Title IV Origination and Disbursement System (TIVODS): $86.5 million

Through the TIVODS contract the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system will

originate and disburse approximately $132 billion in Pell Grants and Direct Loans to millions of 

student recipients in fiscal year 2022. COD interfaces with several FSA systems to verify 

borrower eligibility, enable funding, support loan consolidation and income-based repayment 

applications, provide borrower counseling, fulfill reporting and financial reconciliation 

requirements, and provide oversight. With the Next Gen BPO providing contact center and 

applicant support services for students beginning in fiscal year 2022, those services will be 

transitioned out of the TIVODS contract.
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The fiscal year 2022 request of $86.5 million is needed to provide continual operations and

maintenance and support development activities for optimal system performance. 

eZ-Audit: $2.8 million

eZ-Audit is a web-based application for submission of financial statements and compliance 

audits from institutions that participate in the Title IV program, which allows FSA to enhance

program integrity and improve oversight. The fiscal year 2022 request of $2.8 million will provide 

ongoing operations and maintenance and necessary support for development work.

Conference Management: $2.5 million

Conference Management provides support for the annual FSA Conference and FSA’s

participation in the national financial aid related conferences (e.g., National Association of

Student Financial Aid Administrators). FSA trains over 6,500 financial aid professionals and 

disseminates information about Title IV programs through these forums. This training is part of 

FSA’s school oversight responsibility and increases the integrity of the Federal student aid 

programs while ensuring appropriate stewardship of taxpayer resources.

Data Management

Next Gen Enterprise-wide Data Management and Analytics Platform Services (EDMAPS):

$18.5 million 

The EDMAPS investment will provide a unified data platform and common data environment for 

FSA to improve accuracy and consistency of loan data through real-time data access while 

leveraging advanced cybersecurity measures to reduce the risk associated with managing PII 

data. Currently, FSA’s data infrastructure is fragmented with information spread in stand-alone 

systems that are tethered together in a patchwork. EDMAPS will bring together some of FSA’s 

largest data platforms, including the National Student Loan Data System; Award Eligibility 

Determination, the replacement for the Central Processing System; and Enterprise Data 

Warehouse and Analytics (EDWA). It has also created new systems to manage and reconcile 

data including a Data Lake and Master Data Management. Data from the student aid lifecycle 

will be received, loaded, curated, and archived in the Data Lake with the Master Data 

Management establishing a master copy of key data entities after reconciling and resolving 

interface discrepancies among various databases. 

EDMAPS will result in a more flexible technical architecture that will allow FSA to respond to 

policy changes and data requests more efficiently and accurately. It will also, allow FSA to 

collect more data than it has in the past, providing additional insights into FSA programs, 

improved oversight of FSA vendors and a global view of FSA operations.

The fiscal year 2022 request of $18.5 million is for operations and maintenance and 

development work.
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Enterprise Data Warehouse and Analytics (EDWA): $9.0 million

EDWA is FSA’s enterprise data warehouse that includes multiple toolsets and an analytics 

platform with data including the full Title IV lifecycle spanning over 15 years. EDWA leverages

analytics and reporting efforts to meet the increased data requests of internal and external 

customers. It provides the enterprise accurate, timely and repeatable information while also 

allowing for data-driven decision making. EDWA will be integrated with the Next Gen Master 

Data Management and Data Lake components in EDMAPS, which will provide more timely and 

robust data for analytics and reporting purposes. 

The fiscal year 2022 request of $9.0 million is for operations and maintenance and development 

work. Operations and maintenance for data warehouse increases each year as FSA houses 

new datasets, toolsets and operationalize more models and data products. Specifically, fiscal 

year 2022 operations and maintenance will increase as EDWA will be hosting new DCC and 

PPO data feeds, supporting new toolsets and standing up its scalable analytics platform. 

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS): $19.0 million

NSLDS fulfills a Congressional mandate from the Higher Education Act of 1992 (HEA) and is 

the hub for student, borrower, and partner data reporting. It maintains student-level data for the 

full student aid lifecycle and provides the core data for most FSA systems. The main work for 

NSLDS is providing administrative data on the provision of Title IV aid and providing the 

electronic data exchange between program participants and the system.

The transformation of NSLDS to a modern, more secure, and flexible platform is a fundamental 

component of the Next Gen initiative. It is a major enabling factor in the ability to deliver an 

enhanced customer experience. The re-platformed NSLDS will continue to meet the 

requirements of the HEA as amended but will do so using modern technology that better 

integrates with the Next Gen technology infrastructure and data systems. This will allow the 

organization’s data system to scale more efficiently.

The fiscal year 2022 request of $19.0 million is for operations and maintenance.

Financial Management System (FMS): $6.6 million

FMS consolidates and manages all financial transactions from FSA feeder systems; facilitates 

reconciliation and internal program management and reporting; and tracks and manages

payment processing for Federal Direct Loan originations and Pell Grant awards. The fiscal year 

2022 request of $6.6 million supports the operations and maintenance of FMS.

Personnel Compensation and Benefits (PC&B), Overhead and Other Non-FSA Activities: 

$409.1 million

PC&B: $278.2 million

The Administration’s request for SAA in fiscal year 2022 includes $278.2 million in PC&B to 

support a total of 1,584 FTE, which is the same FTE level as the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. 
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The Department continues to align FTE to the highest priorities of the agency. The $8 million 

increase in fiscal year 2022 supports higher FERS contribution rates, a 2.7 percent pay raise, 

awards, and overtime. In addition to the 1,453 FSA FTE, the fiscal year 2022 request includes 

$26.1 million for the salaries and benefits of 131 FTE outside FSA who perform student-aid 

related activities supporting the mission of FSA but are located in the Office of Finance and 

Operations, the Office of Chief Information Officer, Office of the General Counsel, Office of 

Postsecondary Education, Office of Planning, Evaluation Policy Development and the Office of 

the Under Secretary. 

Overhead and Other Non-FSA Activities: $130.9 million

The SAA account also provides funding to non-FSA offices to support FSA’s mission and the 

management of the student aid programs. It includes funds for departmental support activities, 

such as central computer services and financial management system operations, rent, and 

other overhead. It also includes Student Aid Administration activities carried out in other offices, 

such as the annual financial audit of FSA, negotiated rulemaking, and budgetary cost 

estimation. The total request in fiscal year 2022 for these activities is $130.9 million, $15.5 

million more than the fiscal year 2021 appropriation of $115.4 million, primarily for increases in 

enterprise cybersecurity, network support, and the Grants Management System redesign 

project. 

Rent: $19.2 million

Rent payments to the General Services Administration for FSA-occupied space will total $19.2 

million for fiscal year 2022, no increase from the fiscal year 2021 appropriation.

Centralized Information Technology: $40.8 million

Combined funding for central computer services and telecommunications will total $40.8 million 

in fiscal year 2022, $10.8 million more than the fiscal year 2021 appropriation. Of this increase, 

$8 million is for cybersecurity and network support.

Centralized Support: $53.6 million

Other non-pay central support services, including background investigations, guard services, 

security, and departmental training and development courses, will total $23.1 million in fiscal 

year 2022, an increase of $2.1 million over the fiscal year 2021 appropriation, primarily for 

background investigations.

Student Loan Modeling: $4.1 million 

Student Loan Modeling is one non-FSA activity managed by the Office of Finance and 

Operations that is highlighted for its direct support in assisting with the forecasting and 

management of the student loan portfolio. The fiscal year 2022 request for this activity is $4.1 

million, slightly less than the fiscal year 2021 appropriation of $4.2 million. The Student Loan 

Modeling investment provides support for developing cost estimates and budgetary impacts of 

student loan policies affecting a portfolio of more than $1.5 trillion. Given the magnitude of the 
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portfolio, cost estimates of the student loan programs are vitally important. The Department’s 

financial reporting, informed policy making, and effective monitoring of Government borrowing 

by Treasury all rely on accurate cost estimates. This investment is critical for the projection of 

future cost estimates and will support 1) continued development of a borrower-based 

microsimulation student loan cost model, 2) validation support for credit models and 3) ongoing 

support of the current student loan model. Student Loan Modeling is comprised of the following:

Microsimulation Model Development

In order to estimate student loan costs more accurately, to provide more detailed analysis of 

program effects, and better inform student loan policy, this investment aims to develop and 

implement a borrower-based microsimulation model. This model will consist of multiple 

components, most significantly the Servicer Emulator (which will process borrower and loan 

events to calculate cash flows) and the Event Generator (which will simulate borrower and loan 

events). Full development of this model is expected to be highly complex and rely on a 

combination of Department, interagency and vendor support.

• Servicer Emulator: The Department currently has an interagency agreement with the 

Department of Treasury to develop a borrower-based (i.e., microsimulation) cash flow 

model, otherwise known as the Servicer Emulator. The Servicer Emulator portion of the 

model replicates the events and actions that occur during the life of a loan. The fiscal 

year 2022 request of $495 thousand will be used to fund this agreement. In fiscal year 

2019, the Servicer Emulator was adapted to support a modification cost estimate for the 

Temporary Extended Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) authority that has 

been approved by OMB. In fiscal year 2020, Treasury and the Department’s Cost 

Estimation and Analysis Division (CEAD) staff finalized testing of the maturity, 

deferment, and forbearance components. In fiscal year 2021, efforts have focused on 

refinements and testing of the Servicer Emulator IDR component. Treasury will continue 

to support that effort and make updates and adjustments as needed. To the extent that 

CEAD management can devote sufficient staff resources to building initial test scenarios, 

Treasury and CEAD will perform an operational test of the Servicer Emulator 

immediately following the fiscal year 2022 President’s Budget cycle. Operational testing 

will continue as CEAD updates its assumptions for the fiscal year 2021 Financial 

Statements. Treasury staff will also be working with CEAD staff to resolve any issues 

that might arise regarding IT challenges. Lastly, Treasury staff will work with the 

contractor that has been awarded the Micro-Simulation Event Generator contract to 

facilitate integration and data sharing between the two model components. That contract 

was awarded at the end of fiscal year 2020. 

• Event Generator: In fiscal year 2020, the Department awarded a contract for the MicroSimulation Event Generator. The design phase is expected to last through fiscal year 

2022. The contractor has reviewed the existing SLM and assumptions, started 

evaluating potential data sources and is developing the initial designs for the Event 

Generator’s loan modules. A design feasibility report and a final design report will be 

submitted before the end of fiscal year 2022. The two reports will be reviewed by a 

Technical Working Group of microsimulation modeling, tax data student loan experts,
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and all inputs will be considered in finalizing the model design. The contractor will also 

work with the available data and develop necessary imputations for key fields. In 

particular, the contractor will be developing data and methods to impute incomes, 

payments, and household characteristics for student loan borrowers.

The implementation phase will be supported by the fiscal year 2022 request of $2.4 

million along with the fiscal year 2021 appropriation of $2.5 million.

Model Validation

The Department engages with an independent vendor to provide validation of its student loan 

models. In fiscal year 2021, vendor support was used to review modeling methodology changes 

to the collections assumption; Public Service Loan Forgiveness modeling; and the Death, 

Disability, and Bankruptcy assumption (DDB), and review updates to the IDR model. The 

specific credit models validated are determined on a priority basis using an assessment of 

model risk. Planned work for fiscal year 2022 includes review of the Servicer Emulator, 

prepayments, and revisions to the IDR and DDB assumptions. The fiscal year 2022 request is 

$655 thousand.

The Student Loan Modeling investment request for fiscal year 2022 also includes $160 

thousand for continued support of the current student loan cash flow model as well as server 

maintenance and upgrades necessary to house the models and accompanying data.

Credit Reform Support and Analysis

The Department has additionally engaged contractor support to address credit reform analysis 

and documentation needs, particularly those related to financial and budget reporting. Various 

tasks include generating audit documentation, developing a comprehensive catalog of data 

elements, preparing analyses of model output, providing expert analysis of various credit 

reform, and financial reporting issues related to the student loan models. The fiscal year 2022 

request for Credit Reform Support and Analysis is $386 thousand, $15 thousand more than the 

fiscal year 2021 appropriation.

Other Non-FSA Activities: $13.2 million

Other non-FSA activities, including negotiated rulemaking, College Scorecard support, 

centralized financial reporting support, and data collection, will total $13.2 million in fiscal year 

2022, $0.6 million higher than fiscal year 2021.
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PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Performance Measures

This section presents selected program performance information including strategic goals, 

objectives, measures performance targets and data and an assessment of the progress made 

toward achieving program results. During fiscal year 2021, FSA released its current strategic 

plan, FY 2020–24 Strategic Plan, which described the organization’s current goals and 

objectives. From an organizational performance standpoint, FSA managed the organization 

towards the strategic goals, objectives and performance metrics established in the FY 2020–24 

Strategic Plan throughout fiscal year 2020. 

In the FY 2020 Annual Performance Report, FSA provided results associated with the goals, 

objectives, and performance metrics introduced in the FY 2020–24 Strategic Plan. The 

performance framework established within the FY 2020–24 Strategic Plan encompasses all 

areas of business and offers a renewed focus on data-driven decisions that will enable positive 

outcomes for customers, stakeholders, and taxpayers. 

A subset of those goals, objectives, and performance metrics are offered within this document 

to support the FY 2022 Budget request and as such, some of the ordering of the performance 

metrics may not be sequential. 

Strategic Goal 1: Empower a High-Performing Organization 

FSA’s employees are its greatest resource, and their knowledge, skills, and abilities are 

essential to building and sustaining a high-performing organization. To meet the expectations 

outlined in the FY 2020-24 Strategic Plan, it is essential that staff are trained, aligned, and 

equipped to provide best-in-class customer service while fulfilling the fiduciary responsibilities of 

the organization.

Strategic Objective 1.1: Improve employee engagement and workplace inclusion to develop and 

retain talent, improve employee satisfaction, and engage in effective succession planning.

Performance Metric 1.1. Improve Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey score: Employee 

Engagement Index. FSA’s scores will improve the first year and continue to increase 1–2% 

annually. 

Year Target Actual

2017 65.4–69.4 69.7

2018 67.7–72.7 62.0

2019 61.0–63.0 61.0

2020 62.0–63.0 70

2021 70

2022 TBD

Note: Formerly E.1 in FSA Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report.

Target Context:

The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) FEVS measures employees' perceptions of 

whether, and to what extent, conditions characteristic of successful organizations are present in 

their agencies. The FEVS serves as a tool for employees to share their perceptions in many 
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critical areas including their work experiences, agency, and leadership. The Engagement Index 

assesses the critical conditions conducive for employee engagement (e.g., effective leadership, 

work, which provides meaning to employees, etc.). It is made up of three subfactors: Leaders 

Lead, Supervisors, and Intrinsic Work Experience.

Analysis of Progress:

The fiscal year 2020 data was released in February 2021 due to a delay in survey 

administration by OPM. The fiscal year 2020 FEVS began on September 23, 2020 and closed 

on November 4, 2020.

Prior to the February release of the FY 2020 results, FSA analyzed the results of the FY 2019 

FEVS survey and focused on communication, fundamentals for success (recruiting, staffing, 

training, and resources), leadership, recognition and rewards and work/life balance as key areas 

of focus in FY 2020. FSA conducted focus groups with 243 managers and staff to inform its 

Employee Engagement Action Plans developed by each organizational business unit.

Data Quality and Limitations:

OPM has been conducting FEVS since 2002 and maintains a 100 percent accuracy rate for 

employee security and data integrity. One limitation is that the survey results are provided in 

real time and there is at least a one quarter delay in receipt by agencies. This may limit the true 

interpretation of the data due to leadership changes, employee attrition and a shift in 

organizational priorities may impact the relevance of the data.

In addition, FSA continues operating at a near 100 percent virtual capacity and the lack of direct 

employee interaction and communication may negatively impact survey participation for fiscal 

year 2020. FSA will continue using focus group data to assist with employee engagement and 

other organizational improvements based on feedback. The data source for this performance 

metric is the fiscal year 2020 FEVS survey.

Strategic Goal 2: Provide World-Class Customer Experience to the Students, Parents, and 

Borrowers We Serve

FSA will modernize its systems and operations to deliver world-class customer and partner 

experiences. FSA will be able to quickly respond to the ever-changing financial aid environment 

and consistently be a trusted resource for students and families.

Strategic Objective 2.1: Ensure that all students can easily access information on federal 

student aid, apply for federal student aid and have information on repayment options.
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Performance Metric 2.1.B. Percentage of high school seniors submitting the FAFSA. 

Year Target Actual

2017 N/A N/A

2018 66.4–68.4 67.4

2019 67.0-69.0 65.9

2020 64.0-66.0 63.8

2021 66.25

2022 TBD

Note: Formerly A.1 in FSA Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report.

Target Context:

A primary goal of FSA is to encourage FAFSA completion among high school seniors.

Analysis of Progress:

FSA did not meet the target for this metric with only 63.8 percent of high school seniors 

submitting the FAFSA.

Fiscal year 2020 presented two major challenges. For the first half of the FAFSA filing year, 

from October 1, 2019–March 15, 2020, there was near record low unemployment in the United 

States. In periods of low unemployment, FAFSA filing among high school seniors normally 

decreases as the job market offers better opportunities and greater pay. This likely accounted 

for some of the decrease in FAFSA filing from 65.9 percent in fiscal year 2019 to 63.8 percent in

fiscal year 2020. In March 2020, the COVID-19 emergency resulted in most high schools across 

the country moving to an on-line only model, which meant that students were not in the 

classroom or in school buildings with guidance counselors, teachers, coaches, and other 

support personnel that reminded them to file the FAFSA. Additionally, the COVID-19 emergency

resulted in many low-income families having a change in financial circumstances that may have 

prevented filing of the FAFSA in favor of work opportunities or the need to care for others to 

help support the family unit. 

Data Quality and Limitations:

FSA operational systems have procedures in place to address potential data quality issues. The 

process for querying system data is consistent and disciplined. A separate data analyst from a 

different office within FSA, validates the accuracy of the queries, resulting data and validates 

any anomalous data findings. Queries and calculations are simultaneously conducted on data 

from previous years by FSA’s Business Intelligence Team to ensure technical definitions remain 

consistent. The Customer Analytics Group is responsible for the primary calculation of the 

metric as well as the technical validation of the metric, which is done by reviewing for accuracy 

the query used to pull the data and all calculations made with the data. The data is housed in 

the FSA’s Central Processing System.

Finally, the Financial Reporting and Analysis Branch is responsible for ensuring that 

documentation is complete and archived. These calculations also restrict the application period 

to the first nine months of the application cycle (through the close of the fiscal year) rather than 

the entire 18 months. Since most applicants including, high school seniors, file their FAFSA 

prior to the start of the upcoming academic year (usually before fiscal year end), this decision 
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better aligns the performance metric with the fiscal year where most of the performance 

occurred.

Strategic Goal 3: Increase Partner Engagement and Oversight Effectiveness

Other non-FSA activities, including negotiated rulemaking, College Scorecard support, 

centralized financial reporting support, and data collection, will total $13.2 million in fiscal year 

2022, $0.6 million higher than fiscal year 2021.

Strategic Objective 3.1: Provide effective oversight of FSA’s partners utilizing a comprehensive 

suite of monitoring tools.

Performance Metric 3.1.A. FSA will annually conduct an Institutional Review for its participating 

partners including schools, third-party servicers, and financial institutions.

Year Target Actual

2017 N/A N/A

2018 N/A N/A

2019 N/A N/A

2020 40% 51%

2021 60%

2022 TBD

Note: New performance metric for fiscal year 2020. Prior-year data is not available under this metric.

Target Context:

This metric measures the performance of holistic comprehensive compliance reviews of 

institutions relating to certification actions, deficient audit resolutions, flagged financial 

statements, program reviews, method of payment actions and technical assistance.

Analysis of Progress:

FSA met its target for this metric with a result of 51 percent of partners reviewed.

In fiscal year 2020, FSA conducted oversight reviews for 2,878 unique institutions of higher 

education relating to certification, deficient audit resolutions, flagged financial statements, 

program reviews, method of payment, and technical assistance. FSA completed 1,078 

recertifications and 4,410 other institutional eligibility related applications, evaluated more than 

2,000 school financial responsibility notifications, processed more than 3,000 deficient audits, 

and flagged financial statements and issued 143 Final Program Review Determinations or other 

close-out actions with a total of approximately $146.7 million in liabilities. FSA accomplished this 

work while also issuing 211 Automatic Closed School Discharge letters asserting approximately

$59.1 million in associated liabilities. FSA also, conducted oversight of lenders, lender servicers, 

and guaranty agencies. FSA conducted 16 program reviews and identified untimely reinsurance 

requests for more than 38,000 loans impacting approximately $319.2 million.

Data Quality and Limitations:

Next Gen PPO’s data for the metric measurement and sub-measurements are highly reliable 

and retained in the Postsecondary Education Participants System (PEPS) and in the eZ-Audit 

system. Metric calculations are based on data extracts from the data systems. The data extracts 
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are subject to quality checks and validation. After data are compiled, a staff member reviews the 

queries and formulas to ensure proper functioning and correct counting reviews/schools. Since 

Next Gen PPO may perform more than one compliance review of an institution during a fiscal 

year, the data are de-duplicated to ensure an institution is counted only once. The count of 

unduplicated institutions for whom Next Gen PPO performed a compliance review is compared 

with an unduplicated count of participating institutions to calculate the actual percentage for this 

performance metric.

Strategic Objective 3.2: Strengthen partner engagement and provide effective outreach and 

assistance

Performance Metric 3.2.C. FSA will enhance the self-service training resource and informational 

platform to improve communication with participating partners, including schools, third-party 

servicers, and financial institutions.

Year Target Actual

2017 N/A N/A

2018 N/A N/A

2019 N/A N/A

2020 Baseline 62%

2021 72%

2022 TBD

Note: New performance metric for fiscal year 2020. Prior-year data is not available under this metric.

Target Context:

This metric represents enhancements to the FSA Learning Management System (LMS)—

specifically, courses created or revised in fiscal year 2020. It is not only a percentage of selfservice courses available—it includes, revisions, deletions and new courses added. During 

fiscal year 2020, FSA created or revised 167 LMS courses, which reflects 62 percent of the 

available 271 courses in fiscal year 2019. This includes revising the learning tracks for new, 

intermediate, and expert level financial aid administrators. The courses focus on the proper 

administration of Title IV programs with offerings for new financial aid office to institutional 

presidents and chief executive officers.

Analysis of Progress:

Fiscal year 2020 is a baseline year for this performance metric with 62 percent of the courses

offered within the LMS being either newly created or revised based on customer needs.

FSA’s training platform, the FSA LMS, provides on-demand self-service training to registered 

users. The number of FSA LMS users has increased 22 percent from 44,662 registered users in 

fiscal year 2018 to 57,487 users in fiscal year 2020. This population represents 3,955 Title IV 

participating institutions as well as third party servicers, auditors, and FSA Staff.

FSA continues to innovate and partner with its institutions to support internal staff training. LMS 

has upgraded functionality that allows Title IV participating schools to create training programs 

for their own staff and track their progress to a particular goal. The feature been transitioned 

from a testing phase to full rollout to all interested users. FSA is in the process of integrating the 

LMS into the Phase Three roll-out of the Next Gen PPO. There are also efforts underway to 
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implement a training referral process for offices within FSA to propose specialized training for 

Title IV participating institutions or technical assistance resources as needed.

Data Quality and Limitations:

This performance metric is a numerical count of changes within a defined electronic training

environment. FSA has a baseline of 260 courses deployed on the training system. The Next

Gen PPO team tracks additions, modifications, and removals. The data source for this metric is

the FSA LMS.

Strategic Goal 4: Strengthen Data Protection and Cybersecurity Safeguards

FSA has a responsibility to protect student and borrower data integrity and confidentiality. Risk

management and mitigation—especially regarding data protection and cybersecurity—remains 

a top priority within the scope of the FY 2020-24 Strategic Plan. 

Strategic Objective 4.1: Implement business partner and vendor systems that house, manage, 

and provide systems supporting FSA business processes, outreach and awareness focused on 

oversight, enforcement, infrastructure, systems, and data.

Performance Metric 4.1 Increase partner/vendor cybersecurity effectiveness by reducing the 

total number of FSA system assessment findings by 20% per year.

Year Target Actual

2017 N/A N/A

2018 N/A N/A

2019 N/A N/A

2020 1,800 3,561

2021 2,800

2022 TBD

*Note: New performance metric for FY 2020. Prior-year data is not available under this metric. 

Target Context: 

The fiscal year 2020 metric is a measurement of the number of findings discovered during 

independent assessments or continuous diagnostics and monitoring efforts that are indicative of 

potential cyber security issues leading to a breach of privacy information or the potential 

compromise of an information system. 

Analysis of Progress: 

FSA did not meet its target for this metric with a result of 3,561 FSA system assessment 

findings. 

During fiscal year 2020, additional systems were added to the ongoing security authorization 

program to allow timely assessments and identification of cyber security vulnerabilities. This 

increased oversight has resulted in earlier discovery of vulnerabilities allowing early correction 

before they have had an opportunity to be exploited. 

The fiscal year 2019 measurements, used to establish the preliminary target for fiscal year

2020, failed to account for increased federal requirements for more frequent assessments, 
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quarterly versus triannual. The increased assessment activity resulted in a significant increase 

in the number of actual findings over the target number. 

The challenge was the introduction of significant modernization efforts, through the Next Gen 

FSA project, in the form of new and untested capabilities, features, and technologies presenting 

significant cyber security issues and findings. While FSA tackled the challenges associated with 

the modernizing efforts, data protection and cybersecurity safeguards remained top priorities to 

protect student and borrower data integrity and confidentiality. The introduction of new 

information systems into a quarterly ongoing security assessment program identified a 

significant number of findings that were previously not discovered or reported, directly impacting 

the actual number of findings for the year. This is anticipated to continue into fiscal year 2021. 

For future improvement, FSA will research the availability and applicability automation 

technologies to rapidly identify, discover, and resolve issues before they become findings. 

Data Quality and Limitations:

The data for this performance metric is provided by the assessments conducted and utilized by 

the OCIO for the Department’s monthly cybersecurity scorecard. Data is verified through the 

assessment process as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the 

Department and FSA guidance. The plan of action and milestone is a description of the 

vulnerability findings using the National Vulnerability Database. The source of the data is the 

following: FSA Enterprise Cybersecurity Group; Department Cybersecurity Assessment and 

Management Shared Service.

Strategic Objective 4.3: Build an effective cybersecurity culture through employee awareness, 

training and accountability focused on protecting systems and data.

Performance Metric 4.3: Decrease the number of employee-related cybersecurity events 

associated with inappropriate use, distribution, or storage of Personally Identifiable Information 

(PII) and financial information by 20% a year.

Year Target Actual

2017 N/A N/A

2018 N/A N/A

2019 N/A N/A

2020 1,800 1,713

2021 1,440

2022 TBD

*Note: New performance metric for FY 2020. Prior-year data is not available under this metric. 

Target Context: 

The target is an indicator of employees’ ability to properly oversee, store and distribute sensitive 

privacy and financial information. 

Analysis of Progress: 

FSA met its target for this metric with a result of 1,713 employee-related cybersecurity events in 

fiscal year 2020. 

This is a new performance metric for fiscal year 2020 that was defined prior to the full 

implementation of the Department’s data loss prevention email capabilities. 
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In fiscal year 2020, the Department implemented an email monitoring system that automatically 

detects, blocks, and notifies the employee of inappropriate transmission of sensitive data 

reducing the potential for a breach to occur. The capability identified previously undetected 

behaviors that may be potential breaches. 

FSA relies upon self-reporting for those third parties. As part of continuous monitoring, FSA is 

developing automated integration with third parties for real time data visibility. The proactive 

blocking of privacy information transmitted through email has reduced the number of email 

related breaches while increasing employee awareness of their actions through automated 

notifications. 

To address this metric, the expansion of continuous monitoring capabilities and data 

aggregation using cloud technologies will enhance the ability to rapidly identify and respond to 

inappropriate use, distribution, or storage of personal identifiable information PII or financial 

data. Additional desktop computer data loss prevention technologies will automate the 

protection of sensitive data and alert users to potential inappropriate handling. 

Data Quality and Limitations: 

The performance metric is a numerical count of events-based exercise results and actual 

incident reports over time. The data source FSA SecOps, email reports, exercise results and 

OCIO Data Loss Prevention metrics. The data is validated through a manual review of 

automated reports from SecOps, which provides the test results for the cybersecurity exercises 

administered to employees.

Strategic Goal 5: Enhance the Management and Transparency of the Portfolio 

Portfolio management and organizational transparency are important initiatives to drive the 

success of achieving FSA’s mission and vision. These efforts require enhanced analytic, risk 

management, performance management and quality management capabilities to provide better 

outcomes for students and greater value to taxpayers.

Strategic Objective 5.1: Improve the management and transparency of FSA’s student loan 

portfolio performance.
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Performance Metric 5.1.A. Initiate monthly reporting to the public through the FSA Data Center.

Year Target Actual

2017 N/A N/A

2018 N/A N/A

2019 N/A N/A

2020 Establish number of 

public reports

56

2021 Standardize reports 

and pilot self-service 

module

2022 TBD

Note: New performance metric for fiscal year 2020. Prior-year data is not available under this metric.

Target Context:

FSA’s fiscal year 2020 target related to Performance Metric 5.1.A. was to establish a specific 

number of published FSA Data Center reports suitable for monthly reporting.

Analysis of Progress:

FSA met its target for this metric by establishing 56 specific reports to be published monthly.

In fiscal year 2020, FSA’s Enterprise Data Directorate assessed the reports published on its 

FSA Data Center website to determine feasibility for monthly reporting. Published reports span 

the student aid lifecycle from application through repayment. In determining the reports most 

suitable for monthly reporting, FSA considered how likely the data was to change in each 

month, privacy implications if the data were to be published monthly and potential benefit to

customers.

Most published reports are tied to a specific award year data or represent a snapshot of the 

outstanding portfolio as of a specific point in time. Award year disbursement data is currently 

provided quarterly to allow customers to monitor progress throughout an award year. Further 

segmentation would make it difficult to track comparisons over time and increase the likelihood 

of a privacy disclosure. Due to the size of FSA’s portfolio, most portfolio snapshots do not 

significantly change from month to month. As a result, FSA focused its efforts on productionbased reports, particularly those related to application volume.

Through this analysis, FSA identified a total of 56 reports for monthly reporting, including the

FAFSA by High School state-level reports (54), the PSLF Report and the BD Report. These

reports have been published at least monthly on the FSA Data Center website

(Studentaid.gov/data-center) since January 2020.

Data Quality and Limitations:

FSA leverages a data request process to ensure queries are written by one subject matter

expert and validated separately by a second subject matter expert to help ensure consistency

and accuracy. Queries used to produce FSA Data Center reports are required to go through this

data request process. Subject matter experts also, review results prior to publication to help

identify any potential areas of concern.
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Performance Metric 5.1.E: Persistence among first-time filing aid recipients

Year Target Actual

2017 78.7–80.7 82.6

2018 81.6–83.6 82.5

2019 82.0–84.0 82.8

2020 83.0–84.0 81.0

2021 81

2022 TBD

Note: Formerly A.2 in FSA Fiscal Year 2019 Annual report.

Target Context:

FAFSA application persistence among first-time filing aid recipients is likely lower this year due

to the COVID-19 emergency and the uncertainty about fall enrollment for many returning

students.

Analysis of Progress:

FSA did not meet its target for this performance metric with persistence among first-time filing

aid recipients measuring 81.0 percent.

In May 2020, an email campaign focused on returning FAFSA filers resulted in an increase in 

FAFSA filing by returning applicants this summer. This effort helped prevent further decline in 

this metric and FAFSA filing rebounded for this group from an all-time low in March 2020, due to 

the COVID-19 pandemic and students who were sent home.

In March 2020, the COVID-19 emergency resulted in most colleges and universities across the 

country moving to an on-line only model, which meant that students were not in the classroom 

or on-campus seeing cues to remind them to file the FAFSA. During this time of national 

emergency, it is likely that some percentage of first-time FAFSA filing aid recipients delayed

applying for the 2020-21 academic year. In addition, many low-income families had a change in 

financial circumstances due to the COVID-19 emergency, and this may have prevented some 

students from returning to school due to the gap between Title IV aid and the cost of 

attendance for them to manage.

Once more Americans return to work or find new employment, FSA expects this metric to

increase in fiscal year 2021 as more Americans have the ability to pay for a postsecondary

education.

Data Quality and Limitations:

Data results are ascertained through standardized system queries. These queries are used to

rerun and match calculations for earlier cycles as part of the verification and validity

assessment. The data source is EDWA and CPS Strategic.