APPENDICES
134 FY 2019 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

APPENDIX A: SELECTED DEPARTMENT WEB LINKS AND 

EDUCATION RESOURCES

COLLEGE COMPLETION TOOLKIT

The College Completion Toolkit provides information 

that governors and other state leaders can use to help 

colleges in their state increase student completion rates. It 

highlights key strategies and offers models to learn from, 

as well as other useful resources. https://www.ed.gov/

college-completion/completion-toolkit

COLLEGE COST LISTS

The Department provides college affordability and 

transparency lists under the Higher Education Opportunity 

Act of 2008. Each list is broken out into nine different 

sectors to allow students to compare costs at similar types 

of institutions, including career and technical programs. 

http://collegecost.ed.gov/

COLLEGE NAVIGATOR

College Navigator consists of the latest data from the 

Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, the 

core postsecondary education data collection program 

for the National Center for Education Statistics, as well 

as data from Federal Student Aid on cohort default rates, 

the Office of Postsecondary Education on campus safety 

and accreditation, and information on veterans from the 

Veterans Benefits Administration. https://nces.ed.gov/

collegenavigator/

COLLEGE PREPARATION CHECKLIST

This Departmental tool gives prospective college students 

step-by-step instructions on how to prepare academically 

and financially for education beyond high school. Each 

section is split into subsections for students and parents, 

explaining what needs to be done and which publications or 

websites might be useful to them. http://studentaid.ed.gov

Additional resources within the checklist assist students in 

finding scholarships and grants.

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/prepare-for-college/

checklists

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/grants-scholarships/

finding-scholarships

COLLEGE SCORECARD

The Department’s College Scorecard makes it easier 

to find out more about a college’s affordability and 

value. The College Scorecard continues to be a tool that 

provides clear, accessible, and reliable data on college 

cost, graduation, debt, and postcollege earnings. The 

College Scorecard continues to move the field forward in 

informing college choices with the help of technology and 

open data, making it possible for anyone—a student, a 

school, a policymaker, or a researcher—to decide which 

factors to evaluate. https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/

CONDITION OF EDUCATION AND DIGEST OF 

EDUCATION STATISTICS

The Condition of Education is a congressionally mandated 

annual report that summarizes developments and trends 

in education using the latest available statistics. The report 

presents statistical indicators containing text, figures, and 

data from early learning through graduate-level education, 

as well as labor force outcomes and international 

comparisons. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/

The primary purpose of the Digest of Education Statistics 

is to provide a compilation of statistical information 

covering the broad field of American education from 

prekindergarten through graduate school. The Digest 

includes a selection of data from many sources, both 

government and private, and draws especially on the 

results of surveys and activities carried out by the National 

Center for Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/

programs/digest/

COLLEGE FINANCING PLAN

The College Financing Plan is a consumer tool that 

participating institutions use to notify students about 

their financial aid package. It is a standardized form that 

is designed to simplify the information that prospective 

students receive about costs and financial aid so that 

they can easily compare institutions and make informed 

decisions about where to attend school. https://www2.

ed.gov/policy/highered/guid/aid-offer/index.html
FY 2019 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 135

SELECTED DEPARTMENT WEB LINKS AND EDUCATION RESOURCES | APPENDICES

PERFORMANCE DATA

EDFacts is a Department initiative to put performance 

data at the center of policy, management, and budget 

decisions for all K–12 educational programs. EDFacts

centralizes performance data supplied by K–12 state 

educational agencies with other data assets, such as 

financial grant information, within the Department to 

enable better analysis and use in policy development, 

planning, and management. http://www.ed.gov/about/

inits/ed/edfacts/index.html

PRACTICE GUIDES FOR EDUCATORS

The Department offers guides that help educators address 

everyday challenges faced in classrooms and schools. 

Developed by a panel of nationally recognized experts, 

practice guides consist of actionable recommendations, 

strategies for overcoming potential roadblocks, and an 

indication of the strength of evidence supporting each 

recommendation. The guides themselves are subjected to 

rigorous external peer review. Users can sort by subject 

area, academic level, and intended audience to find the 

most recent, relevant, and useful guides. https://ies.

ed.gov/ncee/wwc/PracticeGuides

EDUCATION RESOURCES INFORMATION 

CENTER (ERIC) 

The Department offers ERIC—the world’s largest free, 

digital library of education research. It is composed of 

1.7 million bibliographic records and 400,000 fulltext materials indexed from 1966 to the present. Each 

ERIC bibliographic record contains an abstract of a 

journal article or grey literature document (for example, 

a technical report or conference paper), along with such 

indexed information as author, title, and publication date. 

https://eric.ed.gov

REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL LABORATORY 

(REL) PROGRAM

The Department administers the REL program to support 

the use of research and evidence to help states and 

school districts improve their education programs and, 

ultimately, student performance. To do this, each regional 

REL contractor works with teachers, administrators, 

GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE (GAO)

The Government Accountability Office supports Congress 

in meeting its constitutional responsibilities and helps 

improve the performance and accountability of the federal 

government for the benefit of the American people. 

http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/agency.php

GRANTS INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

In addition to student loans and grants, the Department 

offers other discretionary grants. These are awarded using 

a competitive process, and formula grants use formulas 

determined by Congress with no application process. This 

site lists Department discretionary grant competitions 

previously announced, as well as those planned for later 

announcement, for new awards organized according to 

the Department’s principal program offices. http://www2.

ed.gov/fund/grant/find/edlite-forecast.html

For more information on the Department’s programs, see 

http://www2.ed.gov/programs.

NATIONAL ASSESSMENT OF 

EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS

The National Assessment of Educational Progress assesses 

samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in various 

academic subjects. Results of the assessments are reported 

for the nation and states in terms of achievement levels—

Basic, Proficient, and Advanced. https://nces.ed.gov/

nationsreportcard/

OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL (OIG)

The Office of Inspector General conducts independent 

and objective audits, investigations, inspections, and other 

activities to promote the efficiency, effectiveness, and 

integrity of the Department’s programs and operations. 

http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/index.html

For a list of recent reports, go to http://www2.ed.gov/

about/offices/list/oig/reports.html.

ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR STUDENT LOANS

The Department provides a site from which students can 

manage their loans. http://studentloans.gov/
136 FY 2019 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

APPENDICES | SELECTED DEPARTMENT WEB LINKS AND EDUCATION RESOURCES

RESOURCES FOR ADULT, CAREER, AND 

TECHNICAL EDUCATION 

The Department, through the Perkins Collaborative 

Resource Network, offers resources and tools for the 

development and implementation of comprehensive 

career guidance programs. This includes guides for 

students, parents, teachers, counselors, and administrators 

across relevant topics, such as planning and exploring 

careers, selecting institutions, finances, and guidance 

evaluation. This source is an example of interdepartmental 

cooperation between the Department and the U.S. 

Department of Labor. http://cte.ed.gov

To support the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity 

Act (WIOA), the Department offers professional 

development resources through the Literacy Information 

and Communication System (LINCS). This initiative 

seeks to expand evidence-based practice in the field of 

adult education and literacy. LINCS serves as Office 

of Career, Technical, and Adult Education’s (OCTAE) 

primary outreach and dissemination mechanism to 

adult educators and provides high-quality, on-demand 

educational opportunities to practitioners of adult 

education. LINCS is comprised of: the LINCS Resource 

Collection, which provides online access to high-quality, 

evidence-based materials and instructional resources; 

the LINCS Community, a virtual professional learning 

space where adult educators can engage in discussions 

focused on critical topics to the field of adult education; a 

Learning Portal that offers anytime, anywhere professional 

development courses; a Professional Development Center 

that provides technical assistance to states in meeting the 

state leadership requirements set forth in WIOA; and 

the Learner Center, which provides access to federally 

developed or federally reviewed resources to assist adult 

learners in reaching their learning goals. Through these 

efforts, LINCS demonstrates OCTAE’s commitment 

to delivering high-quality, on-demand educational 

opportunities to practitioners of adult education and 

literacy, so those practitioners can help adult learners 

successfully transition to postsecondary education and 

21st century jobs. http://lincs.ed.gov/

and policymakers to identify “high-leverage” problems 

of practice and build the research capacity of local 

stakeholders. Each REL develops partnerships with stateand local-level education agencies to gather and analyze 

data, conduct evaluations, and provide technical assistance 

that address these “high-leverage” problems. https://ies.

ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/

PROGRAM INVENTORY

The GPRA Modernization Act of 2010, P.L. 111-352, 

requires that the OMB establish a single website with a 

central inventory of all federal programs, including the 

purpose of each program and its contribution to the 

mission and goals of the Department. The initial Federal 

Program Inventory was published in May 2013. The 

Department described each program within 27 budgetary 

accounts, as well as how the programs support the 

Department’s broader strategic goals and objectives.

Since that time, Congress passed the Digital Accountability 

and Transparency Act (DATA Act) requiring new public 

reporting requirements, which impact the definition 

of programs used in this guidance. OMB is currently 

working with agencies to merge the implementation 

of the DATA Act and the Federal Program Inventory 

requirements to the extent possible to avoid duplicative 

efforts. While OMB and agencies determine the right 

implementation strategy, the initial Federal Program 

Inventory remains available on performance.gov or at 

http://www2.ed.gov/programs/inventory.pdf.

PROJECTIONS OF EDUCATION STATISTICS 

TO 2027 

For the 50 states and the District of Columbia, the tables, 

figures, and text in this report contain data on projections 

of public elementary and secondary enrollment and 

public high school graduates to the year 2027. The report 

includes a methodology section that describes the models 

and assumptions used to develop national and state-level 

projections. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019001.pdf
FY 2019 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 137

EDGAR Education Department General 

Administrative Regulations 

EDSOC The Department of Education 

Security Operations Center 

EFC Expected Family Contribution

ELG Evidence Leadership Group 

EO Evaluation Officer 

ERIC Education Resources 

Information Center

ERM Enterprise Risk Management

ESEA Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act

ESSA Every Student Succeeds Act

FAFSA® Free Application for Federal 

Student Aid

FASAB Federal Accounting Standards 

Advisory Board

FCRA Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990

FECA Federal Employees’ 

Compensation Act

FERS Federal Employees 

Retirement System

FAA Financial Aid Administrator

FFB Federal Financing Bank

FFEL Federal Family Education Loan

FFMIA Federal Financial Management 

Improvement Act of 1996

FIO Financial Improvement Operations

FIPCA Federal Improper Payments 

Coordination Act of 2015

FISMA Federal Information Security 

Modernization Act of 2014

FMFIA Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity 

Act of 1982

FMS Financial Management System 

APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS 

AND ABBREVIATIONS

ABCP Asset-Backed Commercial Paper

AFR Agency Financial Report

AGI Adjusted Gross Income

APG Agency Priority Goals

APR Annual Performance Report

AR Abandon rate

CDO Department Chief Data Officer 

CEAR Certificate of Excellence in 

Accountability Reporting 

CEMS Customer Engagement 

Management Systems

CFO Chief Financial Officer

CPSS Contracts and Purchasing 

Support System

CPT Contingency Plan Testing 

CSF Cyber Security Framework

CSP Charter School Program

CSRS Civil Service Retirement System

DATA Digital Accountability and 

Transparency Act of 2014

DCIA Debt Collection Improvement Act 

of 1996

DGB ED Data Governance Board 

DL Direct Loan

DMCS Debt Management and 

Collection System

DNP Do Not Pay

DOL U.S. Department of Labor

DRT Data Retrieval Tool

ECASLA Ensuring Continued Access to 

Student Loans Act of 2008 

EDCAPS Education Central Automated 

Processing System
138 FY 2019 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

APPENDICES | GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

IPERA Improper Payments Elimination and 

Recovery Act of 2010

IPERIA Improper Payments Elimination and 

Recovery Improvement Act of 2012

IPIA Improper Payments Information Act 

of 2002

IRP Incident Response Plan 

IRS Internal Revenue Service

IRS DRT IRS Data Retrieval Tool

ISCM Information Security 

Continuous Monitoring

IT Information Technology

LEA Local Educational Agency

LEU Lifetime Eligibility Used

LINCS Literacy Information and 

Communication System

LVC Loan Verification Certificate

NLSCD National Longitudinal School 

Choice Database

Next Gen FSA Next Generation Financial 

Services Environment

NCES National Center for 

Education Statistics

NSLDS® National Student Loan Data System

OCDO Office of the Chief Data Officer 

OCIO Office of the Chief 

Information Officer

OFM Office of Financial Management

OFO Office of Finance and Operations

OCR Office for Civil Rights

OCTAE Office of Career, Technical, and 

Adult Education

OELA Office of English 

Language Acquisition

OESE Office of Elementary and 

Secondary Education

OGA Office of Grants Administration

FMSS Financial Management 

Support System

FPRD Final Program Review Determination 

FR Financial Report of the 

U.S. Government 

FSA Federal Student Aid

FY Fiscal Year

FRDAA Fraud Reduction and Data Analytics 

Act of 2015

FRG Fraud Risk Group

G5 Grants Management System 

GAAP Generally Accepted 

Accounting Principles

GAO Government Accountability Office

GLBA Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 

GPRA Government Performance and 

Results Act of 1993

GSA General Services Administration

GTAS Governmentwide Treasury 

Account Symbol Adjusted Trial 

Balance System

HBCUs Historically Black Colleges 

and Universities

HCERA Health Care and Education 

Reconciliation Act of 2010

HCM Heightened cash monitoring 

HEA Higher Education Act of 1965

HEAL Health Education Assistance Loans

HHS U.S. Department of Health and 

Human Services

IDEA Individuals with Disabilities 

Education Act 

IDR Income-Driven Repayment

IES Institute of Education Sciences

IFAP Information for Financial Aid 

Professionals

IHE Institutions of Higher Education
FY 2019 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 139

GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS | APPENDICES

REL Regional Educational Laboratory

RESTART Immediate Aid to Restart

School Operations 

RRTF Regulatory Reform Task Force 

SAFRA Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility 

Act (SAFRA Act)

SAP Satisfactory Academic Progress

SAT Senior Assessment Team

SBR Statement of Budgetary Resources

SEA State Educational Agency

SMC Senior Management Council 

STEM Science, technology, engineering and 

mathematics

SULA Subsidized Usage Limit Applies

TBMS Technology Business 

Management Solutions

TEACH Teacher Education Assistance for 

College and Higher Education Grant

TIVAS Title IV Additional Servicers

TPD Total and permanent disability 

Treasury U.S. Department of Treasury

WIOA Workforce Innovation and 

Opportunity Act

OIG Office of Inspector General

OII Office of Innovation 

and Improvement

OMB Office of Management and Budget

OPE Office of Postsecondary Education

OPM Office of Personnel Management

OSERS Office of Special Education and 

Rehabilitative Services

P–12 Prekindergarten through 12th grade

PAYE Pay as You Earn

Pell Program Pell Grant Program 

PEPS Postsecondary Education 

Participants System

PII Personally Identifiable Information 

PIMA Payment Integrity

Monitoring Application 

PIV Personal Identity Verification

PLUS Parent Loan for

Undergraduate Students 

POA&Ms Plan of Actions & Milestones 

PSLF Public Service Loan Forgiveness

PTAC Privacy Technical Assistance Center

REACH Research on Education Access 

and Choice
140 FY 2019 AGENCY FINANCIAL REPORT | U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The following companies were contracted to assist in the 

preparation of the U.S. Department of Education 

FY 2019 Agency Financial Report:

FOR GENERAL LAYOUT AND WEB DESIGN

OmniStudio, Inc.

FOR ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Quality Software Services, Inc.

FMR Consulting, Inc.

Cotton & Company, LLP

The FY 2019 Agency Financial Report 

U.S. Department of Education

Office of Finance and Operations

An electronic version is available 

on the World Wide Web at 

http://www2.ed.gov/about/reports/annual/index.html

U.S. Department of Education, November 2019

This AFR was produced with the energies and talents of 

our employees and contract partners.

Within the Office of Finance and Operations (OFO), 

the Office of Financial Management is responsible 

for certifying, processing, reconciling, evaluating, and 

reporting all agency financial transactions; preparing 

annual financial statements and related notes and 

schedules; and coordinating the external audit of the 

agency’s financial statements.

Also, within OFO, the Office of Budget Service has lead 

responsibility for multiple functions including developing 

and implementing the Department’s Budget. The Office 

of Grants Administration (OGA) develops, manages, 

and provides policy guidance and oversight of the 

Department’s grant management activities and operations.

The Contracts and Acquisitions Division, within OFO’s 

Office of Acquisition Management, is responsible for 

the solicitation, award, administration, and closeout 

of all contracts and other acquisition instruments for 

the Department.

We offer our sincerest thanks and acknowledgment to 

staff of all participating principal offices. In particular, we 

recognize the following organizations for their contribution:

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

Office of the Deputy Secretary

Federal Student Aid

Office of the Inspector General

Office of Communications and Outreach

Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development

Office of the Chief Information Officer

PARTNERS

Office of Management and Budget

Department of Treasury

Government Accountability Office

Association of Government Accountants
This page intentionally left blank.
Our Mission is to promote student achievement and 

preparation for global competitiveness by fostering 

educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

WWW.ED.GOV