Department of Education

STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Fiscal Year 2017 Budget Request

CONTENTS

Page

Appropriations Language ........................................................................................................Y-1

Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes.......................................................................Y-2

Amounts Available for Obligation ............................................................................................Y-3

Obligations by Object Classification ........................................................................................Y-4

Summary of Changes .............................................................................................................Y-5

Authorizing Legislation............................................................................................................Y-7

Appropriations History.............................................................................................................Y-8

Significant Items in FY 2016 Appropriations Reports.............................................................Y-10

Summary of Request ............................................................................................................Y-13

Activity:

Student Aid Administration ...........................................................................................Y-14

Organization Chart................................................................................................................Y-53
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Ap propriation s Langu ag e

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

and 10] and 91 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, [$1,551,854,000] $1,631,990,000, to remain 

available until September 30, [2017] 20182 : Provided, That [the Secretary shall, no later than 

March 1, 2016, 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]

3 up to $2,000,000 shall be for necessary expenses to establish and deploy a Digital 

Service team. 4 (Department of Education Appropriations Act, 2016.)

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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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Analysis of Language Provisions and Changes

Language Provision Explanation

1 ... and subparts 1, 3, [9, and 10] and 9 The 2017 Budget proposes to move the Iraq 

and Afghanistan Service Grants program to 

the Pell Grant program.

2 ... to remain available until September 30, 

[2017] 2018

This language provides for appropriated funds 

to remain available for 2 years.

3 [the Secretary shall, no later than March 1, 

2016, 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]

The proviso in whole is deleted because it 

applies specifically to action directed in 2016.

4 up to $2,000,000 shall be for necessary 

expenses to establish and deploy a Digital 

Service team.

The 2017 Budget proposes funds specifically 

dedicated for the Digital Service team.

Y-2
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Amounts Available for Obligation

(dollars in thousands)

Appropriation and Adjustments 2015 2016 2017

Discretionary appropriation:

Appropriation............................................................ $1,396,924 $1,551,854 $1,631,990

 Transfer to Department of Education, Program 

Administration .............................................................. -3,500 0 0

Subtotal, appropriation...................................... 1,393,424 1,551,854 1,631,990

Unobligated balance, start of year................................ 57,227 1,978 0

Recovery of prior-year obligations................................ 17,952 0 0

Unobligated balance expiring ....................................... -319 0 0

Unobligated balance, end of year................................. -1,978 0 0

Total, direct obligations ............................ 1,466,306 1,553,832 1,631,990

Y-3
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Obligations by Object Classification

(dollars in thousands)

Change From

Object Class 2015 2016 2017 2016 to 2017

11.10 Full-time permanent $ 145,919 $166,083 $175,951 +$9,868

11.31 Full-time temporary 423 0 0 0

11.32 Part-time 1,075 0 0 0

11.33 Consultants 0 356 357 +$1

11.51 Overtime 38 105 105 0

11.52 Awards 1,717 1,790 1,792 +$2

11.80 Other Compensation 28 0 0 0

Compensation subtotal 149,200 168,334 178,205 +$9,871

12.00 Benefits 45,258 50,226 53,911 +$3,685

13.10 Benefits for former personnel 0 0 0 0

Comp/benefits subtotal 194,458 218,560 232,116 +$13,556

21.00 Travel 2,002 3,299 2,815 -$484

22.00 Transportation of things 0 0 0 0

23.10 Rental Payments to GSA 19,724 18,535 23,019 +$4,484

23.31 Communications 20 0 0 0

23.32 Postage/fees 723 52 52 0

Subtotal 23 20,467 18,587 23,071 +$4,484

24.00 Printing & Reproduction 1,397 1,510 1,514 +$4

25.10 Advisory and Assistance Svcs 10,353 4,444 1,910 -$2,534

25.21 Other Services 751,691 871,490 929,355 +$57,865

25.22 Training/Tuition/Contracts 1,154 2,413 2,514 +$101

25.23 Field Readers 0 0 0 0

25.30 Goods/Services from Gov't 31,864 26,525 29,257 +$2,732

25.40 Operations/Maint of Facilities 306 245 0 -$245

25.50 Research & Development 0 0 0 0

25.71 Operations/Maint of Equipment 0 30 30 0

25.72 IT Services/Contracts 452,110 406,299 408,953 +$2,654

Subtotal 25 1,247,478 1,311,446 1,372,019 +$60,573

26.00 Supplies 260 282 305 +$23

31.01 IT Equipment/Software 187 136 150 +$14

31.03 Other Equipment 0 0 0 0

Subtotal 31 187 136 150 +$14

32.00 Building Alterations 54 10 0 -$10

41.01 Grants 0 0 0 0

43.01 Interest and Dividends 3 2 0 -$2

Total 1,466,306 1,553,832 1,631,990 +$78,158

Note: The 2015 column reflects a $3,500 thousand transfer, using the Department’s transfer authority, to 

the Program Administration account.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Summary of Changes

(dollars in thousands)

2016 ................................................................................................. $1,551,854

2017 ................................................................................................. 1,631,990

Net change................................................................ +80,136

Increases: 2016 base

Change 

from base

Built-in: Built

Increase in salaries and benefits, primarily for a proposed 

1.6 percent Governmentwide pay raise, and increased 

benefits. $218,560 +$1,856

Increase in rent. 18,535 +4,484

Program:

Increase in loan servicing activities due to increased volume 

for loan servicing contracts. 840,098 +59,540

Increase in personnel costs primarily for an increase of 84

FTE to bolster Federal Student Aid (FSA)’s capacity to 

provide adequate Title IV enforcement and oversight. 218,560 +11,700

Increase in core operations, which include reengineering 

efforts of the Application and Eligibility Determination 

System (AEDS). 266,033 +8,076

Increase in training. 2,412 +102

Increase in supplies. 282 +23

Increase in technology equipment. 136 +14

 Increase in printing. 1,510 +4

 Increase in awards. 1,790 +2

Subtotal, increases +85,801

Summary of Changes—Continued

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

(dollars in thousands)

Decreases: 2016 base

Change 

from base

Program: Prog

Net decrease in costs to support other FSA core systems and 

administrative priorities.

$58,589 -$2,394

Decrease in advisory assistance services. 4,444 -2,534

Decrease in travel. 3,297 -482

Decrease in operations and maintenance of facilities. 245 -245

Decrease in building alterations. 10 -10

 Subtotal, decreases -5,665

Net change +80,136

Y-6
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Authorizing Legislation

(dollars in thousands)

Activity

2016

Authorized

2016

Estimate

2017

Authorized

2017

Request

Student aid administration (Higher Education Act 

of 1965, I-D and IV-D, section 458; Public 

Health Service Act, VII-A) 01 $1,551,854 To be determined2 $1,631,990

Total appropriation 1,551,854 1,631,990

Portion of request not authorized 1,631,990

1 The program was authorized in 2016 through appropriation language. 2 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2015; reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2017.

Y-7

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Appropriations History

(dollars in thousands)

Year

Budget 

Estimate 

to Congress 

House 

Allowance Foot

note

Senate 

Allowance Foot

note AppropriationFootnote

2007 $733,720 N/A1 N/A1 $719,9141

Rescission (P.L. 110-28) 0 0 0 -500

Transfer (P.L. 110-05) 0 0 0 -1,464

2008 708,216 $708,216 $708,216 695,843

2009 764,000 714,0002 704,8432 753,402

Recovery Act Supplemental 

(P.L. 111-5) (non-add) (0) (50,000) (0) (60,000)

2010 870,402 870,402 870,4023 870,402

Rescission (P.L. 111-226) 0 0 0 -82,000

2011 1,170,231 994,6004 1,048,0783 992,0125

2012 1,095,418 992,0126 1,045,3636 1,043,387

2013 1,126,363 1,043,3877 1,126,3637 978,9248

2014 

1,050,0919

 

N/A10

 

1,044,3013 

 

1,166,000

 

11

2015 1,446,92412 N/A10 1,446,924 13 1,396,924

2016 1,581,85412 1,446,92414 1,361,70014 1,551,854

2017 1,631,990

1

This account operated under a full-year continuing resolution (P.L. 110-5). House and Senate Allowance amounts 

are shown as N/A (Not Available) because neither body passed a separate appropriations bill. 2

 The levels for the House and Senate allowances reflect action on the regular annual 2009 appropriations bill, 

which proceeded in the 110th Congress only through the House Subcommittee and the Senate Committee. 3

 The levels for the Senate allowance reflect Committee action only. 4

 The levels for the House allowance reflect the House-passed full-year continuing resolution. 5

 The level for appropriation reflects the Department of Defense and Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 

(P.L. 112-10). 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

6

 The level for the House allowance reflects an introduced bill; the level for the Senate allowance reflects Senate 

Committee action only. 7

 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. 8

 Total transfer $9,888 thousand to Program Administration, Office for Civil Rights and Office of Inspector General. 9 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. 10 The House allowance is shown as N/A because there was no Subcommittee action. 11 Excludes $996 thousand transferred from Department of Health and Human Services to Department of 

Education for the Health Education Assistance Loan program. 12 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. 13 The level for the Senate allowance reflects Senate Subcommittee action only. 14 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.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Significant Items in FY 2016 Appropriations Reports

Borrower Account Allocation

Manager’s

Statement

The agreement includes new bill language requiring the Department to 

allocate new student loan accounts based on performance compared against 

all servicers. The Department shall adjust allocations based on capacity of 

servicers to handle all new and current volume, provided that information 

about servicer capacity is made publicly available. Further, in developing the 

framework for a new student loan servicing process, with contracts expected 

to be awarded in 2016, the Department should ensure the participation of a 

sufficient number of servicers, including servicing consolidated student loans, 

to help promote high quality customer service for student loan borrowers. The 

agreement does not intend in any way to constrain the Department from 

pursing efforts to improve the servicing process to best serve the interests of 

student loan borrowers and taxpayers. The Department shall brief the 

Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 

Senate, Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of 

Representatives, and Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of 

the Senate within 30 days of enactment of this Act on how it plans to carry out 

these directives. Further, the Secretary shall, no later than March 1, 2016, 

publish a common policies and procedures manual for servicing that applies to 

all Direct Loan servicers. 

Response The Department will provide a briefing on the plans for these loan servicingrelated directives.

FFEL Wind Down

Manager’s 

Statement

The agreement directs the Department to submit a report to the Committees 

on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the Senate, 

Committee on Education and the Workforce of the House of Representatives, 

and Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions of the Senate, 

within 180 days of enactment of this Act on a plan to assist guaranty agencies, 

lenders and borrowers in the wind down of the Federal Family Education Loan 

(FFEL) program as the outstanding loan portfolio continues to decline. That 

plan shall specifically address guaranty agencies and their subsidies, the 

current status of the wind down, the financial stability of guaranty agencies, 

and an assessment of any authority necessary for purposes of the wind down. 

Response The Department will submit a report on FFEL wind down and guaranty 

agencies.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Outreach to FFEL Borrowers

Manager’s 

Statement

The agreement also directs the Department to conduct outreach to current 

FFEL borrowers who may be eligible for income-driven repayment plans and 

other repayment options. . 

Response The Department will conduct outreach activities to FFEL borrowers.

SAA Obligation Plan Discretionary Funds

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. 

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

administrative obligations.

Post-Secondary Compliance Calendar

Senate The Committee is concerned that the Department of Education has failed to 

implement section 482(e) of the Higher Education Act, as amended by the 

Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008, which directs the Secretary to 

annually produce a compliance calendar with a schedule of all the reporting 

and disclosure requirements for colleges and universities. Publication and 

distribution of this calendar will greatly help colleges and universities 

understand, plan for, and meet their Federal compliance obligations and 

requirements. The Committee therefore strongly encourages the Secretary to 

produce a calendar with 60 days of this enactment of this act. 

Response An electronic announcement was issued February 20, 2015, indicating that 

the compliance calendar was included in the 2014–2015 Federal Student Aid 

Handbook, Appendix F. The announcement is available at 

http://ifap.ed.gov/eannouncements/022015AppendixFInstRptgDisclosureRequ

ireFedStudentAssistPrgms1415FSAHdbk.html and the Handbook Appendix 

can be found at http://ifap.ed.gov/fsahandbook/1415FSAHbkAppendices.html.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Private Collection Agencies

House The Committee recognizes the importance of the Department’s contracts with 

private collection agencies (PCAs) to encouraging the timely repayment of 

federal student loans. The oversight and management of these contracts 

should be performed in a fair and consistent manner to ensure the rights of 

borrowers are paramount and to protect American taxpayers. However, the 

Committee is concerned about the current state of the contracting process 

with PCAs and the Department. During the last contract period, the 

department relied on 22 PCAs to assist borrowers in rehabilitating their

defaulted student loans and resuming timely payments. In anticipation of 

these contracts ending in April 2016, the Department’s awarded extensions of 

only 5 of the 22 companies, effectively reducing the pool of PCAs by almost 

80 percent until the new contract period begins. The Committee is concerned 

this sharp drop in the number of PCAs could lead to poor administration and 

customer care for students and result in fewer rehabilitations and repayments 

of federal student loans. Within 60 days after enactment of this Act, the 

Department is directed to submit a report to the House Appropriations 

Committee on how it plans to ensure proper oversight and management of the 

defaulted student loan portfolio and conduct effective monitoring of 

interactions between borrowers and the PCAs. 

Response The Department will provide the requested report on how it plans to collect 

defaulted student loans.

Y-12
Summary of Request

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FISCAL YEAR 2017 PRESIDENT'S BUDGET

(in thousands of dollars)

Click here for accessible version 

Amount Percent

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

 1. Salaries and expenses D 675,224 696,643 732,352 35,709 5.13%

 2. Servicing activities 1 D 721,700 855,211 899,638 44,427 5.19%

Total 2 1,396,924 1,551,854 1,631,990 80,136 5.16%

NOTES: D = discretionary program; M = mandatory program; FY = fiscal year 

Detail may not add to totals due to rounding. 

1 The 2015 Appropriation column does not reflect actual obligations of $632,644 thousand and the 2016 Appropriation column does not reflect January 2016 reestimates of $840,098 thousand for Servicing activities.

2 The 2015 Appropriation does not reflect a $3,500 thousand transfer, using the Department’s transfer authority, to Program Administration.

2017 President's Budget

2016 Compared to 2016 Appropriation

Account, Program and Activity Appropriation

Category 

Code

2015 

Appropriation

2017 President's 

Budget

Y-13

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Activit y

STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

(Higher Education Act of 1965, I-D and IV-D, section 458; Public Health Service Act, VII-A)

(dollars in thousands)

FY 2017 Authorization: To be determined1

Budget Authority:

2016Footnote2017Footnote20Change 

Personnel costs $218,560 $232,116 +$13,556

Non-personnel costs,

excluding loan servicing costs 493,196 500,236 +7,040

Subtotal, salaries and expenses 711,756 732,352 +20,596

Loan servicing costs 840,0982

 899,638 

3

+59,540

Total, student aid administration 1,551,854 1,631,990 +80,136

FTE 1,537 1,621 84

1 The GEPA extension expired September 30, 2015; reauthorizing legislation is sought for fiscal year 2017. 2

 Includes servicing costs of $741,742 thousand for loan servicer contracts, $78,767 thousand for Debt 

Management Collection System (DMCS) servicing costs, $3,392 thousand for Department-held Perkins Loans 

servicing, $5,800 thousand for loan servicer development costs, $1,533 thousand for a customer satisfaction survey 

required for loan servicer volume allocation, $814 thousand for Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) program 

administration costs, $550 thousand for loan servicer lockbox services, $250 thousand for loan consolidation 

transition activities, and $7,250 thousand for loan servicing recompete costs. 3

 Includes $784,397 thousand for loan servicer contracts, $83,665 thousand for DMCS servicing costs, 

$9,100 thousand for loan servicer development costs, $3,518 thousand for Department-held Perkins Loans servicing,

$1,722 thousand for a customer satisfaction survey required for loan servicer volume allocation, $986 thousand for 

HEAL program administration costs, $550 thousand for loan servicer lockbox services and $15,700 thousand for loan 

servicing recompete costs.

Y-14
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Student Aid Administration provides funds to administer the Federal student financial assistance 

programs authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, as amended. 

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 

student loans; processing approximately 20.5 million student financial aid applications; 

disbursing nearly $150 billion in Direct Loan aid annually; administering a loan portfolio of over 

$1.2 trillion; and protecting students and taxpayers by ensuring that Federal resources are used

appropriately.

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

Federal Government’s first performance-based organization (PBO) 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 Under Secretary (OUS) and FSA oversee 

and administer the Federal student financial assistance programs. OPE formulates policy for 

these student financial assistance programs and administers other Federal postsecondary 

education programs. In addition, other Department offices—Offices of Management, Planning, 

Evaluation and Policy Development, the General Counsel, the Chief Information Officer, the 

Inspector General, and the Chief Financial Officer—contribute to the policy formulation, 

administration and oversight of the student aid programs.

The Federal Pell Grant Program is the foundation for Federal financial grant assistance. The 

program provides financial assistance to students attending postsecondary education programs

disbursing, approximately $31.0 billion to 7.7 million low-and middle-income undergraduate 

students during the 2015–2016 award year, with an average award of $3,720. The maximum 

Pell Grant award has grown from $5,350 for the 2010–2011 award year to $5,815 for the 2016–

2017 award year.

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 2017, the Department will originate $102 billion in new 

Direct Loans, excluding Consolidation Loans. The Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) 

Program was similar to the DL Program except private lenders provided those funds, which 

were insured by loan guaranty agencies and then reinsured by the Government. See the 

Student Loans Overview and Student Aid Overview for details on Student Loan programs in 

the 2017 Budget. 

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

Reconciliation Act, 2010, ended the FFEL program’s authority to originate new Federal student 

loans. Since July 1, 2010, the Department has originated and serviced all new Federal student 

Y-15
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

loans through the DL program. FSA continues to administer the FFEL program, while lenders 

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

FSA services the FFEL and DL Program through the use of private contractors. From passage 

of SAFRA through December 26, 2013, servicing activities were funded both by discretionary 

funds and mandatory funds as provided by SAFRA for eligible Not-For-Profit (NFP) servicers. 

However, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013 eliminated mandatory funding for NFP servicing 

costs, instead requiring all servicing costs from date of enactment on to be funded by 

discretionary budget authority. 

Funding levels for the past 5 fiscal years were:

Fiscal Year (dollars in thousands) footnote

2012............................................................................... $1,043,387

2013.................................................................................... 978,024

2014................................................................................. 1,166,000

2015................................................................................. 1,396,924

2016................................................................................. 1,551,854

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

FY 2017 BUDGET REQUEST

The Department requests $1.6 billion to administer the Federal student aid programs in fiscal 

year (FY) 2017, an $80.1 million, or 5 percent, increase above the 2016 level. The requested 

funds are necessary to manage and service the student loan portfolio, including: anticipated

increases in loan volume; maintaining operations for student aid application processing, 

origination, disbursement functions, and student aid information technology (IT) system hosting; 

improving reporting and dissemination of data to the public; strengthening enforcement and 

oversight to better protect students and taxpayers; and enhancing security across applications. 

The three primary changes in the 2017 budget request from the 2016 level include increased 

funding to cover:

1) Higher servicing costs for the Federal student loan program (+$59.5 million) these 

increased costs are directly tied to expected increases in servicing loan volume and

costs necessary to award and transition to a new loan servicing contract with 

improvements to the service provided to borrowers. More detail is provided on Y-19.

2) Higher overall personnel costs mainly for an additional 84 FTE to bolster FSA’s 

capacity to provide adequate Title IV enforcement and oversight and the proposed 

1.6 percent Governmentwide pay increase and benefits for all FTE within the Student 

Aid Administration account—(+$13.6 million). More detail is provided beginning on 

Y-22.

3) Increase in overall costs for continual operations for FSA core systems including

student aid application processing, origination and disbursement functions, and IT 

system hosting— (+$7.0 million). More detail is provided beginning on Y-26.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

FY 2017 Budget Costs by Category

The following chart provides the funding level for each cost category and the percentage share 

of the fiscal year 2017 Budget request. Eighty-six percent of the proposed SAA budget 

supports 2017 Federal Student Aid operational activities and pay. Federal Student Aid’s major 

operational activities include: effectively servicing the growing student loan portfolio; additional 

84 FTE necessary for institutional enforcement and oversight; operations for student aid 

application processing, origination and disbursement functions; and IT system hosting.

Other core student aid systems (e.g., National Student Loan Data System, FSA’s accounting 

system), matching agreements (e.g., Social Security Administration, IRS), and IT security 

initiatives including FSA’s increased cybersecurity efforts account for 4 percent of the request. 

The remaining 10 percent includes overhead for central support (e.g., rent, background 

investigations), central information technology (e.g., the Department’s EDCAPS financial 

systems) and the “Other” category that includes Web site interfaces, contract specialist support, 

and other activities to carry out FSA’s mission. 

The following sections show the major projects and their fiscal year 2017 budget funding levels

by cost category. The budget request includes $232.1 million to cover the personnel 

compensation and benefits costs of 1,621 FTE; 1,497 FTE in Federal Student Aid and 124 FTE 

in the non-Federal Student Aid offices, as shown beginning on page Y-36.

2017 Priorities 

(including servicing 

loans, hiring critical 

staff, and continuing 

operations for FSA 

core systems), 

$1,187.3, 73%

Pay, $218.6, 13%

Other Core Student 

Aid Systems, $49.3, 

3%

IT Security 

Initiatives, 

$17.2, 1%

Overhead , $109.5, 7%

Other, $50.1, 3%

FY 2017 Costs by Category and as Percent of Request 

 (dollars in millions)

Y-18
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Fiscal Year 2017 Federal Student Aid Budget Priorities: $1,187.3 million

1. Effectively servicing the student loan portfolio including loan servicing recompete 

costs: $899.6 million (an overall increase of $59.5 million from fiscal year 2016)

The budget requests $899.6 million for loan servicing costs ($868.1 million for operations and

maintenance for loan servicers: $9.1 million for system development costs for implementing 

legislative and regulatory changes; $15.7 million for costs of the award of a new servicing

contract; $1.7 million for customer service satisfaction surveys of service used to allocate 

borrower accounts across servicers; and additional costs as detailed in the footnote on page 

Y-14). The servicing costs are based on the overall loan volume, the combination of repayment 

statuses in the loan portfolio, and the timing of loan delivery. 

Currently, the Department contracts with 12 servicers to provide borrower services for the 

Federal Direct Loan, Perkins Loan, and TEACH Grant programs. All servicers are funded 

entirely with discretionary budget authority. In addition, the costs necessary to service the 

Health Education Assistance Loan (HEAL) program are included in the total servicing request 

for fiscal year 2017. 

FY 2017 Servicing Cost Drivers

Loan servicers are paid a unit cost per borrower account that they service. Unit costs are 

structured to incentivize servicers to keep borrower accounts in repayment 

current. Accordingly, servicers are compensated more for accounts that are actively repaying 

(i.e., in-repayment status). Conversely, servicers are paid less for accounts that are not actively 

repaying (in-school, deferment, and forbearance status) and incrementally paid even less as 

accounts shift further into non-payment (i.e., delinquency status). As the total number of 

borrower accounts being serviced increases, servicing costs will increase accordingly. FSA’s 

efforts to reduce the delinquency and default rate and keep more borrowers in good standing 

will also result in higher costs. Servicing cost estimates, thus, are very sensitive to the number 

of borrowers, distribution of borrowers, and performance of borrowers. FSA closely analyzes 

performance and costs of the servicing contractors to ensure that its estimates are as accurate 

as possible and to evaluate whether its servicing contracts are appropriately incentivizing 

servicers to keep borrowers in good standing. The currently negotiated unit costs per borrower 

status are provided in the table below. 

Y-19
STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

 Direct Loan Contractual Costs to Service Borrowers

Deliverable Status Price per Status

In-School $1.05

Grace\Deferment $1.68

Borrower in Repayment who is Current on 

Payments or Military Service Member $2.85

Forbearance $1.05

6-30 Days Delinquent $2.11

31-90 Days Delinquent $1.46

91-150 Days Delinquent $1.35

151-270 Days Delinquent $1.23

271-360 Days Delinquent $0.45

360 or more Days Delinquent $0.45

In an effort to help student borrowers manage their debt, the Department has expanded the 

availability of income-driven repayment plans and provided plans with lower monthly payments 

and shorter repayment periods. It has also improved its outreach to borrowers to ensure that 

they select the best repayment plan for them. The Administration proposes to reform and 

streamline the income-driven repayment plans into a single, simple, and better targeted plan for 

borrowers, while helping them manage their debt. For more information on the Administration’s 

proposal, please see Student Aid Overview.

Loan Servicing Recompete

The current loan servicing contracts are set to expire in 2019. In 2016, the Department will 

begin the process of awarding a new loan servicing contract. This contract will streamline the 

servicing environment for borrowers to reduce complexity and improve borrower outcomes 

consistent with the steps outlined in the President's Student Aid Bill of Rights. The contracts will 

also build upon the joint servicing principles and the Administration’s working group on best 

practices in student loan servicing issued in summer 2015. Funding of $15.7 million, an 

increase of $8.5 million over 2016, is being requested in 2017 to support transition costs to the 

new contract. The request also includes funding for support services such as independent 

verification and validation, program management, and security and process reviews necessary 

for any vendor who handles FSA and borrower data.

Customer Service Survey Data

To allocate loan servicing volume based on performance, the Department annually measures 

servicer performance on customer satisfaction and default prevention. Results from Customer 

Service Survey Data from June 2015 are displayed on pages Y-44–45. Customer Service 

Survey Data can also be found at the “Data Center” section on the Student Aid Web site 

(http://studentaid.ed.gov). Updates to this data will be released by electronic announcement in 

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the “Loans” section of the Information for Financial Aid Professionals Web site 

(http://ifap.ed.gov/ifap). 

Borrower Outreach on Repayment Options for Borrowers

FSA has expanded its efforts to ensure that borrowers understand their repayment options, so 

they can make an informed decision about the repayment option that works best for them. 

During May through June 2015, FSA launched an integrated repayment campaign to inform

borrowers about their student loan repayment options. The campaign focused on reaching

borrowers who recently graduated and were going into repayment and borrowers who were 

continually struggling with repayment options. In fiscal year 2016, FSA is planning three similar 

email campaigns that will focus on borrowers eligible for the Revised Pay As You Earn 

Repayment Plan (REPAYE), borrowers potentially eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, 

and an expansion of the 2015 outreach to in-grace borrowers.

The integrated repayment campaign included outreach through social media including: 

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, digital media, webinars, emails, Public Service Announcements, 

and videos. The video series garnered more than 10 million views over the course of the 

campaign. Overall, the campaign received more than 66 million impressions over 68,000 social 

media engagements, boosted FSA’s social media community by more than 12,000, and 

resulted in nearly 700,000 visits to FSA websites. In addition to direct outreach to borrowers, 

FSA partnered with other organizations that shared tools and resources with their networks. 

FSA also created a webpage on the Financial Aid Toolkit website which highlighted repayment 

tools and resources for partners to use. 

FSA crafted multiple email campaigns that reached over two million borrowers during fiscal year 

2015. FSA sent emails to borrowers who missed their first or second payment, defaulted on 

their loans, were at risk of dropping out of school, were in income-driven repayment plans that 

needed to complete annual recertification, and were in an in-grace status with high balances. 

The emails have focused on providing borrowers with the information to successfully repay their 

loans. In response to the June 2014 Presidential Memorandum-Federal Student Loan 

Repayments and the March 2015 Presidential Memorandum-Student Aid Bill of Rights, FSA has 

worked with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy’s Social and Behavioral 

Science Team to develop, test, and improve messages to borrowers so the messages are 

effective in increasing awareness of options and successful repayment.

FSA also worked with the Department of Treasury and Intuit Inc., to raise awareness about 

repayment plan options on the TurboTax Web site. During the 2015 tax filing season, Intuit 

featured a banner in its TurboTax Online tax preparation software with a message to let users 

know they have options for repaying Federal student loans. The banner linked to the 

Department of Education's online Repayment Estimator, where users could determine if they 

could lower their monthly student loan payments through an income-driven repayment plan and

could then sign up for an income-driven or other repayment plan. TurboTax customers that 

reported student loan interest were also shown an ad through the Benefit Assist tool about the 

possibility of a more affordable student loan payment. Additionally, TurboTax sent out an 

e-newsletter in May 2015 to over 26 million recipients. These outreach efforts resulted in over 

500,000 clicks on the Repayment Estimator and StudentAid.gov/Repay Web page. Most 

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recently, Mint.com sent users a message from President Obama regarding Pay As You Earn 

Repayment Plan (PAYE) and REPAYE as a way to notify borrowers of these options when 

choosing a repayment plan. As a result of these and other efforts by the Administration, 

enrollment in the income driven repayment plans has significantly increased, growing from 

450,000 participants at the end of 2011 to 4.4 million as of September 2015. Availability of 

these plans helps to ensure that borrowers have a way to manage their student debt and avoid 

the consequences of delinquency and default.

2. Hiring critical staff (overall increase of 84 FTE) for higher education enforcement and 

oversight and the proposed 1.6 percent Governmentwide pay increase and benefits for 

all FTE within the Student Aid Administration account: $13.6 million (an overall increase 

of $13.6 million from fiscal year 2016)

The budget request includes $13.6 million for personnel compensation and benefits for an 

additional 84 FTE for improved institutional enforcement through compliance and program 

oversight, and the proposed 1.6 percent Governmentwide pay increase and benefits for all FTE. 

The following charts provide the additional fiscal year 2017 FTE by category. 

FY 2017 FTE Hires by Category

Enforcement and 

Oversight

78%

Finance Operations

2%

Data Management

2%

Technology Assurance 

and Cyber Security

12%

Administration and 

Policy: (Human 

Resources, Policy, 

Communications, 

Training)

6%

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FY 2017 FTE Hires by Category

Category Number of FTE Percent of Total Increase

Enforcement and Oversight

(Schools, Contracts, Clery

Act, Gainful Employment,

Loan Servicing, and Borrower 

Defense) 65 78%

Technology Assurance and 

Cybersecurity 10 12

Administration and Policy 

(Human Resources, Policy, 

Customer Support, 

Communications, and 

Training) 5 6

Data Management 2 2

Finance Operations 2 2

Total 84 100

Enforcement and Oversight

The Program Compliance office monitors and oversees over 6,000 domestic and foreign entities

(i.e., schools, guaranty agencies, lenders, and servicers) participating in the Department of 

Education's Federal Student Aid programs. The office establishes and maintains systems and 

procedures to support the eligibility and certification of program participants as well as the 

enforcement and oversight of requirements to protect students and taxpayers. In addition, the 

office also administers the Secretary's authority to assess liabilities, fine, suspend, terminate or 

take other actions against schools and serves as the initial arbitrator of such actions against 

guaranty agencies, lenders, and servicers. 

Other offices, such as Business Operations and Acquisitions, also provide important oversight 

roles by overseeing the Department’s major student aid system vendors, including loan 

servicers. These offices are vital to ensuring the Department is providing high quality customer 

service to its students, and safeguards the Department’s and taxpayers’ fiscal interest.

The fiscal year 2017 budget request will bolster Federal Student Aid’s (FSA’s) capacity to 

conduct enhanced enforcement by adding resources to the new and independent Enforcement 

Office (EO). Created in fiscal year 2016, the goal of this new office is to enable FSA to take 

enhanced enforcement action against high-risk institutions participating in Title IV 

programs. The EO will work with multiple Federal and State agencies to identify potential 

misconduct or high risk conduct of institutions, proactively use enforcement tools to gather 

information, and fully use available actions to seek remedies. The EO will also include 

enforcement as it relates to the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and 

Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Drug-Free Schools Communities Act. Finally, the EO will 

ensure that students who have been affected by misrepresentation or otherwise defrauded by 

their institutions will have access to a transparent and fair loan discharge process.

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Institutional Enforcement

Institutional enforcement is a FSA priority. Ensuring that postsecondary institutions are 

complying with all federal higher education laws and regulations, including by providing accurate 

information to prospective and current students, is an important function of FSA and the 

Department. A series of federal agency investigations regarding colleges that engaged in 

deceptive practices, including by the Government Accountability Office and U.S. Securities and 

Exchange Commission, have highlighted the need to build FSA’s institutional enforcement 

capacity significantly. During fiscal year 2017, 28 FTE are requested to support more 

institutional reviews of high-risk institutions. These personnel are necessary and match the 

increase of states’ and other federal agencies’ investigations of such institutions and the 

increased number of complaints by students. These additional personnel will also allow FSA to 

continue its existing enforcement and oversight to implement regulations and statutory 

requirements, such as monitoring of cohort-default rates reported by institutions. The 

Administration remains strongly committed to investigating violations that harm students and 

taxpayers and taking swift and immediate action as necessary, and this additional capacity will 

help ensure such activities are completed in an effective and efficient manner.

Contract Oversight

Based on human capital planning and analysis of Government benchmarking of acquisition 

personnel based on the size and volume of contracting, FSA has determined an additional 

15 FTE will be necessary to complete price analysis, heightened performance management 

reviews, and monitoring.

Clery

The Clery unit is responsible for oversight and administrative actions related to the Jeanne Clery 

Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, and the Drug-Free 

Schools and Communities Act. Workload related to Clery has steadily increased since its 

inception and includes additional oversight for the recent implementation of the Violence Against 

Women Act (VAWA). The additional changes to VAWA require institutions to report additional 

crimes such as dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking; provide ongoing prevention 

programs to address these additional crimes; and comply with institutional procedures regarding 

campus judicial proceedings. These additional requirements will increase the workload of each 

institutional review by FSA personnel. 

During fiscal year 2017, an additional 11 FTE will be necessary to complete more institutional 

reviews, which are directly related to the increase in Clery complaints and continual media 

surveillance of campus issues. 

Loan Servicing Oversight

With the transition to new servicing contracts and ongoing improvements of the loan servicing 

systems, proper oversight and compliance measures are critical for management of loan 

servicers’ deliverables and improving borrower customer service. Not only has loan servicing 

become more complex—it has also received increased scrutiny as the number of dollars and 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

borrowers serviced continues to grow. President Obama’s Student Aid Bill of Rights (SABOR)

ensures stronger consumer protections for student loan borrowers and tasked an Interagency 

Task Force consisting of the Department of the Treasury, Department of Education, Office of 

Management and Budget, and Domestic Policy Council to monitor trends in the student loan 

portfolio, budget costs, and borrower assistance efforts. SABOR required that the task force 

review recommendations for the Department of Education from its members and the Consumer 

Financial Protection Bureau on best practices in performance-based contracting to better 

ensure that servicers help borrowers responsibly make affordable monthly payments on their 

student loans. The finalized recommendations will inform the upcoming loan service recompete 

efforts. 

During fiscal year 2017, an additional 7 FTE will be necessary to assist in oversight and 

compliance of current loan servicing contracts with transition activities under a new loan 

servicing award. These staff will augment and enhance ongoing servicing oversight with 

particular focus on phone call and process monitoring to ensure the borrowers’, taxpayers’ and 

the Government’s best interests are protected. 

Borrower Defense 

After the closure of Corinthian Colleges Inc., the Department appointed a Special Master to 

guide a fair and efficient process for borrowers who believe they have been defrauded by 

institutions. Current law allows student loan borrowers to seek loan forgiveness of their Direct 

Loans if an act or omission of the school attended by the student gives rise to a cause of action 

against the school under applicable State law. In addition, the Department has begun a 

negotiated rulemaking process where the Department will clarify how certain federal student 

loan borrowers who believe they were defrauded by their institutions can seek relief, but also 

strengthen provisions to hold colleges accountable for their wrongdoing. An additional 4 FTE 

are requested in FY 2017 to evaluate Borrower Defense claims. 

Technology Assurance and Cybersecurity 

Several recent cybersecurity incidents impacting the Federal Government (e.g., at the Office of 

Personnel Management and the Internal Revenue Service) and major corporations have 

heightened the issue of cybersecurity protection. Several audits have identified large 

vulnerabilities across FSA applications including the ability to perform penetration testing to 

determine FSA’s ability to mitigate intrusions. The ability to perform proactive versus reactive 

investigations of new threats will help to safeguard millions of borrowers’ Personally Identifiable 

Information (PII). Additional FTE will be required to improve the monitoring, reviewing, and 

analyzing of security alerts in a timely manner and reduce the overall risk of intrusions.

The fiscal year 2017 request includes an additional 10 FTE to ensure adequate and proper 

management of major IT systems, including adequate management of complex systems and 

timeliness of system testing, which is crucial for system maintenance, development, and 

ensuring security. 

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An additional 9 FTE will also be necessary to provide human resource and financial 

management policy and procedure implementation; external communications related to 

controlled correspondence on customer service; and enhanced data management including 

statistical analysis and forecasting.

3. Maintaining continual operations for student aid application processing, origination 

and disbursement functions, and IT system hosting: $274.1 million (an overall increase 

of $8.1 million from fiscal year 2016)

The budget request includes $274.1 million for student aid application processing, origination, 

and disbursement functions, and information technology (IT) system infrastructure, a net 

increase of $8.1 million from fiscal year 2016; due to the reengineering efforts for the Application 

and Eligibility Determination System. Included in this request are key FSA operational costs:

• Title IV Origination and Disbursement System (TIVODS) formerly Common

Origination and Disbursement (COD) ($112.6 million);

• Application and Eligibility Determination System (AEDS) ($88.2 million) including

reengineering efforts ($33.7 million), operations and maintenance of the 

development and processing of FAFSA ($28.0 million), ombudsman call center 

operations ($23.8 million), and school products and services ($2.7 million);

• IT system costs ($69.8 million), including the operation and maintenance of the 

data center, software licenses, and the technical architecture and system support 

for FSA applications; and

• eCampus-Based system ($3.5 million).

Title IV Origination and Disbursement System (TIVODS): $112.6 million (an overall decrease of 

$4.2 million from fiscal year 2016)

Federal Student Aid will originate and disburse over $181 billion in Pell Grants (HEA, Title IV, 

Part A, Subpart 1) and Direct Loans (HEA, Title IV, Part D) including loan consolidations in fiscal 

year 2017. TIVODS is responsible for originating and disbursing this aid.

Accordingly, TIVODS is an essential link in the delivery of the following Title IV programs: Pell 

Grants, TEACH Grants, and Direct Loans (Stafford, Unsubidized Stafford, PLUS and Graduate 

PLUS). The system supports interfaces to other systems to enable funding, loan consolidation, 

financial reporting, and program oversight.

FSA began to transition the former COD system in March 2015 and expects the transition to be 

fully implemented by March 2017. FSA has restructured contract activities to reduce the overall 

costs in fiscal year 2017 from fiscal year 2016.

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Application and Eligibility Determination System (AEDS): $88.2 million; including reengineering 

efforts $33.4 million (an overall increase of $12.1 million from fiscal year 2016)

AEDS operations and maintenance (O&M) provides funding for daily operations of systems and 

services related to FAFSA filing (online and paper), application processing, determination of aid 

eligibility, and development of the upcoming annual application. In addition to these contracted 

services, AEDS O&M provides funds for increased hardware and software support during 

FAFSA peak processing months which are expected to start in October 2016 as a result of the 

implementation of prior-prior and early application availability; a top priority of FSA.

In addition, the new FSA Contact Center ensures that customers, both student applicants and 

schools, have accessible, accurate, timely, and professional responses to their inquiries via their 

preferred method of communication. Funding also supports call center operational support for 

the Ombudsmans Group; including call intake, case work, and customer response services for 

new and existing contacts to the Federal Student Aid/Ombudsman Group.

During fiscal year 2016, FSA will enter into the next phase of streamlining AEDS 

operations. The effort will support web delivery, application development, and supporting 

systems as well as taking advantage of new technologies. It will also improve FSA's flexibility 

and responsiveness to legislative changes and organizational priorities, and establish 

contractual arrangements with increased transparency and performance metrics based on 

industry standards. The overall increase in fiscal year 2017 is the result of the remaining 

reengineering and acquisition solicitation activities will take place with contract award prior to 

the end of the fiscal year.

Virtual Data Center (VDC): $42.3 million (an overall decrease of $7.9 million from fiscal year 

2016)

The VDC is a single computing environment for data and transaction processing, network 

communication services, infrastructure, and tools required to deliver financial aid. The VDC 

hosts 56 student aid applications. The fiscal year 2017 request will support the operation and 

maintenance of the VDC.

Enterprise Software Licenses: $20 million (no change from fiscal year 2016)

Enterprise Software Licenses supports maintenance renewal agreements for all FSA and VDC 

supported software. This program consolidates similar software licenses with different renewal 

dates under one agreement and reduces licensing duplication for FSA. Centralizing 

procurements and renewals of software licenses promotes cost savings through quantity 

discounts and reduction of contracts used for maintenance renewals.

Enterprise Architecture & Engineering (EAE): $7.5 million (an overall decrease of $1.5 million 

from fiscal year 2016)

EAE provides a full range of technical architecture and engineering functions that provide FSA 

with the necessary services and support needed to plan, maintain, and develop its enterprise 

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architecture. Engineering services include Enterprise IT Architecture (EITA) middleware 

architecture services and Enterprise Performance Testing (EPT) services.

EITA provides critical technology platform and technical support services, including integrated 

technical architecture and middleware architecture. EITA provides product support services,

including root cause analysis and resolution of middleware-related production issues for FSA's 

mission-critical applications. Middleware services reduce security vulnerabilities within the FSA 

system architecture. EPT provides performance testing analysis services that ensure FSA's 

applications are configured appropriately. It also makes sure that sufficient capacity is deployed 

during production for each mission critical application within the Virtual Data Center. 

eCampus-Based: $3.5 million (an overall increase of $1.1 million from fiscal year 2016)

The eCampus-Based system automates the administration of the Federal Perkins Loan, Federal 

Work-Study, and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant programs. The system 

determines institutional funding needs and allocation levels based on data from the Fiscal 

Operations Report and Application to Participate; collects funding data to inform subsequent 

reallocations; maintains cumulative Perkins Loan funding histories; calculates institutional cohort 

default rates; catalogs low-income elementary and secondary schools for use in determining 

eligibility for teacher cancellation benefits; and identifies delinquent or defaulted Perkins loan 

borrowers. The fiscal year 2017 request will support the operation and maintenance of the 

system and necessary enhancements.

Other Core Student Aid Administration Systems: $49.3 million

Data Challenges and Appeals Solution (DCAS): $12.1 million

Current regulations allow institutions to challenge and appeal metrics published by FSA. By 

regulation, the cohort default rates (CDR) metric allows institutions to submit multiple data 

challenge types. The Department’s Gainful Employment regulations also include provisions to 

allow for multiple data challenge types. DCAS will support these regulations with functionality to 

accept, process, resolve, and archive data challenges and appeals. This system will help 

modernize FSA’s response to institutional challenges and questions and when fully 

implemented, will lower institutional burden in responding to statutory and regulatory 

requirements.

National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS): $12.1 million

NSLDS maintains detailed administrative data on the provision of Title IV aid, such as the 

number of loans and grants made, and provides for the electronic exchange of data between 

program participants and the system. NSLDS collects and stores data from borrowers, schools, 

lenders, and guaranty agencies and integrates data on student aid applicants and recipients.

The Department uses this comprehensive data to effectively administer the student loan and 

grant programs by preventing fraud and abuse through pre-screening and post-screening for 

Title IV aid eligibility, calculating statutory guaranty agency payments, and calculating higher 

education accountability measures. NSLDS data is now integrated into Enterprise Data 

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Warehouse and Analytics project, which improves the Department’s portfolio management, 

policy analysis, and budget formulation. 

The Department’s College Scorecard also uses NSLDS data to provide students and their 

families with information that can help them find colleges that fit their educational and career 

aspirations. In addition to providing ongoing NSLDS operations, maintenance, and customer 

support, FSA is working with other Department offices on data enhancements, system 

integration, and data quality. The fiscal year 2017 request supports the operations and 

maintenance of the system.

Financial Management System (FMS): $7.8 million

FMS consolidates and manages all financial transactions from FSA's feeder systems. FMS 

facilitates reconciliation and internal program management and reporting. The system tracks 

and manages payment processing for Federal Direct Loan originations and Pell Grant awards, 

and it processes refunds to borrowers for overpaid loans and payments to lenders and guaranty 

agencies. It also performs validations and reasonability checks to minimize erroneous 

payments. The fiscal year 2017 request supports the operations and maintenance of the 

system. 

Integrated Partner Management (IPM): $6.2 million

In fiscal year 2017, IPM will be fully operational and will simplify and reduce duplicate and 

conflicting data storage, complex system architectures, and excessive file exchange activities.

IPM will provide a centralized view to all customers and employees of current institutional 

eligibility and oversight data. IPM will provide better data accuracy, information security through 

a single point of access, and help enforcement efforts. The fiscal year 2017 request supports 

the operations and maintenance of the system. 

Federal Student Aid Administration Interagency Agreements: $4.8 million 

The Department enters into agreements with other Government agencies for the purpose of 

verifying Federal student aid eligibility and accessibility, locating borrowers who have defaulted 

on their Federal student loans, and providing services to simplify the aid process. Below is the 

listing of these agencies and the agreements:

Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD): The Department of Education provides 

information on student loan defaulters to the HUD Credit Alert Interactive Voice Response 

System (CAIVRS), which determines eligibility for Federal housing loans. Borrowers who are 

ineligible due to student loan defaults may pay off their defaulted student loan to qualify for the 

housing loan. In addition any agency choosing to consider student loan default as part of their 

eligibility criteria can search CAIVRS.

Department of Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service: The Department has two interagency 

agreements with the Bureau of the Fiscal Service:

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1. Federal Employee Salary Offset Program: Treasury shares information with the Department 

regarding employees whose Federal pay is or could potentially be offset through the Treasury 

Offset Program.

2. Lockbox Services: Treasury provides for the receipt, processing and deposit of all forms of

payments from student loan borrowers. Costs are included under loan servicing activities. 

Internal Revenue Service (IRS): The Department has two interagency agreements with IRS.

1. FAFSA Data Share: This agreement simplifies the FAFSA completion process by directly 

transferring tax return information to the appropriate FAFSA data fields. Applicants are able to 

retrieve this data after passing an authentication process.

2. Repayment Plan Data Share: This agreement allows borrowers to connect with IRS directly 

to retrieve their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) for completing the income-based repayment 

application, allowing an accurate income-based calculation of monthly payment amounts.

Social Security Administration (SSA): 

1. SSA Agreement: This agreement matches Title IV applicants against SSA's master file for 

Social Security and citizenship verification. The purpose of this computer matching program is 

to assist the Department in its obligation to ensure that applicants for student financial 

assistance under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (HEA) (20 U.S.C. § 

1070 et seq.), satisfy eligibility requirements. This agreement establishes the terms, conditions, 

and safeguards under which the SSA will provide Social Security number verification, 

citizenship status as recorded in SSA records, and death indicators to ED. The Death Master 

file (DMF) is used to create and update the CPS DMF Table. All incoming and processed 

FAFSAs are checked against the DMF Table to identify applications using information for those 

who may be deceased. 

2. Medical Improvement Not Expected (MINE) Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Computer 

Matching Agreement (CMA): This agreement discloses MINE disability data of beneficiaries 

and recipients under title II and XVI Social Security Act. The Mine disability data is used to 

contact individuals who have student loan debt and inform those individuals of the TPD 

discharge process for the student loan debt.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Citizenship and Immigration Services: 

This agreement verifies the immigration status of non-citizen applicants for the purpose of 

determining eligibility. ED provides identifying information from Applicant files to the USCIS for 

the purpose of verifying each applicant's immigration status. The USCIS provides ED the 

current immigration status of each applicant processed through the computer matching program

within 24 hours of ED's request for Primary Verification. ED notifies the applicants of the results 

of the match in writing. 

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) HEAL Hosting: As a result of the 

2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act, the HEAL program was transferred from HHS to the 

Department. This agreement covers all IT support services provided by HRSA to the 

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Department of Education. The HRSA Office of Information Technology provides the basis for 

the HEAL operational processing system infrastructure and database hosting support. All costs 

associated with this request are included under loan servicing activities.

Alternative Format: FSA is required by Section 504 and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

1973, as amended, to provide product (i.e., hard copy documents and websites) accessibility to 

the blind, deaf, and others with disabilities. This interagency agreement between the 

Department of Commerce and the Department of Education provides the alternative formats, 

specifically braille, large print, data CD and audio CD of correspondences and publications to 

borrowers. 

EDExpress (EDE): $2.8 million

Funding for this project is for the continued operation and maintenance of the EDE Suite 

(EDExpress and DL Tools) software tool provided by FSA to schools.

EDE Suite is a "school product" software suite provided by FSA to schools at no cost for their 

use in originating, disbursing, and packaging direct loans and grants for students. EDE Suite 

significantly eases the school's process of interacting with TIVODS to submit awards by 

automating most of the tasks involved in building the XML Common Record file that TIVODS 

requires for origination and disbursement of student aid.

The EDE Suite also provides valuable reconciliation functionality to participating Title IV 

schools, allowing them to compare their internal organizational award databases against the 

TIVODS database for direct loan and grant awards, and identify discrepancies that require 

further attention. Without FSA's continued support for this product, schools would be forced to 

seek technical support from private market software products at additional cost, develop their 

own products, or be unable to participate in Title IV programs due to inability to submit records 

to TIVODS. The fiscal year 2017 request will support operations and maintenance including

updates associated with the annual release.

Participation Management (PM): $2.6 million

Participation Management is FSA's central system for managing partner organization enrollment 

in FSA data exchange services. Virtually all schools, third-party servicers, guaranty agencies, 

Federal loan servicers, FSA External Partners, State Agencies, and other organizations must 

use PM to enroll in services provided by FSA systems such as NSLDS, TIVODS, FMS, SAIG, 

AIMS, CPS, FAA Access, TPD and DMCS. Without PM, enrollment in FSA data services would 

be severely impaired as FSA's process for managing that access would become fragmented.

The fiscal year 2017 request supports ongoing operations, maintenance, and customer support 

to manage collecting and integrating service enrollment information, and sharing that 

information in a timely manner across FSA systems.

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OIG Fraud Referral: $850 thousand

The OIG Fraud Referral process streamlines FSA's intake procedures to determine if fraudulent 

activities occurred and the appropriate resolution. This effort is fully responsive to OIG requests 

for coordination on these referrals.

In fiscal year 2017, funds will continue to provide annual contract support to maintain 

sustainable operations and will continue to advance data-driven analysis, outreach, and 

coordination of enhancements to FSA's control framework.

Uniform Complaint System

This initiative directly supports the objective stated in the Student Aid Bill of Rights in February 

2015, during which the President committed to creating "a state-of-the-art complaint system to 

ensure quality service and accountability for the Department of Education, its contractors, and 

colleges" by July 1, 2016. The Student Aid Bill of Rights expressed the need for a system that 

is simple for users to file and track the progress of a complaint through resolution. The 

Department solicited public comments on the construction of the compliant system.

In 2015, FSA completed an assessment of current processes, an analysis of solution 

alternatives, high-level and detailed requirements, and initiated a system design. During fiscal 

year 2016 FSA will fund the continued design, development, and iterated implementation of the 

system, as well as support for operations, maintenance, and licensing. Fiscal year 2017 funding 

will continue to support operations, maintenance, and licensing and is included under the 

Ombudsman support line.

IT Security Initiatives: $17.2 million

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

compromising borrowers’ personal information. In addition to verifying that specific security 

requirements are being met in individual system and service contracts, FSA has specific 

initiatives to mitigate security risks.

Enterprise Identity Management System (EIMS): $8.6 million

Enterprise Identity Management Service (EIMS) enables authentication of FSA system users 

and provides access to FSA systems. EIMS is an umbrella initiative focused on improving the 

overall security posture of FSA systems, making identity management, permission and access 

management more efficient and secure for FSA systems, the 80,000 privileged users (ED, FSA 

and partners) and 76 million non-privileged users (students/borrowers). EIMS supports efforts 

to improve system security and meet dynamic changes to the Federal IT Security 

Requirements. Without EIMS, users (both privileged and non-privileged) would not be able to 

access systems securely. FSA continues to improve the handling and security of users’ 

PII. Most recently FSA decommissioned the use of the FSA PIN, a combination of a user’s last 

name, social security number, and date of birth, used to access to FSA websites and 

applications and electronically sign the FAFSA. Starting in May 2015, the FAFSA ID, which is a 

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user created username and password, allows the user to electronically sign the FAFSA and 

access personal information on Federal Student Aid Web sites without having to enter their 

social security number at each login. 

The EIMS initiative includes Person Authentication Service (PAS), Access and Identity 

Management System (AIMS), and Two-Factor Authentication (TFA). EIMS meets the FSA's 

business and technical requirements through these three main projects.

Person Authentication Service (PAS): $5.3 million

PAS provides a secure identity and access management system for non-privileged users, who 

have access to only their own PII (i.e., parents, borrowers). PAS centralizes access, identity 

management functions, and permissions for non-privileged users and also provides a secure 

system that is integrated with the FSA security architecture.

Access and Identity Management System (AIMS): $2.2 million

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

applications to privileged users, who have access to PII. AIMS allows for simplified logon and 

an integrated horizontal sign-on to multiple FSA applications. Thereby, enforcing standardized 

security requirements such as identity, password complexity, and multi-factor authentication. 

Currently, there are 25 major and minor applications behind AIMS serving a population of 

approximately 80,000 users including FSA employees, postsecondary schools’ financial aid 

administrators, and call center staff. The fiscal year 2017 request supports ongoing operations 

and maintenance.

Two-Factor Authentication: $1.1 million

Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 requires agencies to control access to their 

systems and data through the use of two-factor authentication (TFA). To meet this requirement, 

the Department of Education has implemented the TFA security protocol through which all 

authorized privileged users are required to use TFA to access Federal Student Aid systems via 

the Internet. TFA protects FSA systems that service a population of approximately 

80,000 users including FSA employees, postsecondary schools’ financial aid administrators, 

and call center staff. The fiscal year 2017 request supports ongoing operations and 

maintenance.

System Security Authorizations (SSA): $6.7 million

This initiative provides the basic security critical to ensure all FSA applications and general 

support systems are secured from malicious exploits and threats. Security authorizations and 

annual testing are mandated by the Federal Information Security Management Act and must be 

performed before new systems are launched or system upgrades are implemented. Continuous 

testing must be completed to maintain system security authorization. In addition, an official 

re-authorization is required every 3 years for 50 FSA systems.

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The fiscal year 2017 request will continue to support ongoing operations and external support to 

protect our infrastructure and applications to ward off new threats and continue to defend 

against previous known threats.

Security Operations Center: $1.9 million

The Security Operations Center provides independent monitoring and analysis needed to 

protect the VDC infrastructure, systems, and data from vulnerabilities. The Security Operation 

Center will automate the security sensors on approximately 1,500 servers housed at the VDC 

and communicate real-time information regarding suspicious events. The real-time information 

enables FSA to react timely to suspicious activity and make timely reports to DHS.

In fiscal year 2017, FSA will continue to link external systems into the Security Operation Center 

to obtain a comprehensive evaluation of threats to FSA networks and data.

Other: $50.1 million

The "Other" category includes projects aimed at supporting FSA's mission and projects 

administered by FSA. Costs in the "Other" category include conference management,

compliance activities, Web site interfaces, human capital support, contract specialist support, 

travel, training and other administrative expenses. Additional projects in this category also 

support FSA's efforts to increase awareness of the availability of financial aid through targeted 

customer outreach and information dissemination, information sharing through enterprise 

business collaboration, aid data mart and the integrated student experience, travel for program 

compliance and necessary technical assistance. Below are some descriptions of key activities 

in this category.

Enterprise Data Warehouse and Analytics (EDW&A): $12.3 million

The EDW&A project centralizes FSA lifecycle data. EDW&A allows the Department to access 

timely, accurate, consistent, and repeatable data for improved analytics, insights, and reporting; 

and allows FSA to responsibly expand data available for research without compromising the 

administration of the Federal student aid programs. EDW&A offers the opportunity for 

significant return on investment via data-driven insights to improve program management, retire 

redundant systems, and alleviate strain currently placed on NSLDS and other operational 

systems. The fiscal year 2017 request includes $5.8 million to support continual operations 

and maintenance and $6.5 million for development work, including: warehouse data 

augmentation; consolidation and retirement of the Aid Data Mart, dashboards and portals; and

analytical efforts including default and fraud modeling.

Conference Management: $2.7 million

Conference management supports the annual Federal Student Aid Fall Conference and Federal 

Student Aid’s participation in national financial aid related conferences (e.g., National 

Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators). Federal Student Aid uses these 

conferences to train over 6,500 financial aid professionals and disseminate information about 

Title IV programs. This training is part of FSA’s school oversight and responsibility and 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

increases the integrity of the Federal student aid programs while ensuring appropriate 

stewardship of taxpayer resources. Some conference sessions specifically train against waste, 

fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of Title IV funds.

Information Dissemination: $2.6 million

Information Dissemination is a cross-organizational outreach initiative to increase all students’ 

awareness of and access to postsecondary education and federal financial aid. This initiative 

provides students, parents, and borrowers user-informed tools and resources to: understand the 

benefits of college; demystify the process of planning, preparing, and paying for college; 

encourage responsible borrowing and debt management; and create financially empowered 

consumers.

Integrated Student Experience: $1.8 million

Integrated Student Experience is a multi-year effort to create a simpler and single portal for 

students, parents, and borrowers regarding information related to financial aid, applying for 

federal student aid, repaying student loans, and navigating through the college decisionmaking 

process. 

Attestation Services: $1.5 million

Attestation Services are non-audit services that examine contractor proposals, incurred costs, 

interim/final contract billings, contract closing statements, financial capability, 

accounting/estimating systems, and other internal controls within the contractor’s operational 

environment to ensure services are appropriately compensated. 

A-123 Requirements: $1.1 million

This project ensures that Federal Student Aid has sufficient internal controls to achieve its 

objectives and is in compliance with Federal Manager's Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA) and 

OMB Circular A-123. It supports management's annual assurance on the effectiveness of these 

controls and includes coordination of Improper Payment Act related requirements. 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Non-Federal Student Aid Support Activities

In addition to funds directly allocated to Federal Student Aid to manage student aid programs, 

$131.3 million ($109.5 million in Overhead and $21.8 million in non-Federal Student Aid payroll)

of the fiscal year 2017 request, an increase from $113.8 million in fiscal year 2016, is allocated 

to departmental offices for central support activities, such as central computer services and 

financial management systems operations, rent and other overhead, and legal and policy 

expertise. Over the last several years costs associated with non-FSA offices have steadily 

increased, commensurate with overall increases in volume and workload. Funding for 

Departmentwide financial management systems funded by this account will total $14.8 million in 

fiscal year 2017, a slight decrease from $15.4 million in fiscal year 2016. 

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

$23.0 million for fiscal year 2017, an increase of $4.5 million.

Combined funding for central computer services and telecommunications will total $36.9 million 

in fiscal year 2017. This is an increase of $11.0 million for these activities from fiscal year 2016. 

This increase is necessary for enhanced security initiatives, required increases in E-GOV 

initiatives due to an updated allocation methodology, and required transition costs to a new 

network services contract, as explained in more detail in the Program Administration account 

request.

Other non-pay central support services including background investigations will total 

$25.1 million in fiscal year 2017, an increase of $1.0 million from $24.1 million, the fiscal year 

2016 level. 

In fiscal year 2015 the Department started working with the White House Digital Services Team 

in its effort to support other activities related to College Scorecard. The Department will 

continue to collaborate with the White House Digital Services Team throughout fiscal year 2017. 

Moreover, to ensure the agency can effectively build and deliver important digital services, the 

Budget includes $2 million in funding to build a Digital Service team that will focus on 

transforming the agency’s digital services with the greatest impact to citizens and businesses so 

they are easier to use and more cost-effective to build and maintain. ED’s Digital Service team 

will support ongoing implementation and enhancements to College Scorecard and other data 

analysis and publication activities.

In addition to 1,497 FSA full-time staff, the fiscal year 2017 request also provides $21.8 million, 

for the salaries and benefits of 124 FTE outside FSA who perform student-aid related activities

and are located in the Office of Postsecondary Education; Office of Management; Office of the 

General Counsel; Office of the Chief Financial Officer; Office of the Chief Information Officer; 

and Office of Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

System Application Matrix

The two system matrixes, shown in the charts below, illustrate the interdependencies between 

the major student aid system applications for the core business functions and the end user. The 

first chart shows each system application, its projected costs for 2016 and 2017, and core 

business functions supported by each system application. The second chart shows the 

interdependencies between all system applications and the four end users: schools, students, 

financial partners, and the Department of Education.

System Applications and Core Business Functions Interdependencies

System Application

2016 Cost 

(dollars in 

millions) footnote

2017 Cost 

(dollars in 

millions) footnote

Student Aid 

Application 

Processing

Origination 

and 

Disbursement

Student 

Loan 

Servicing

Loan Servicing $840.21$899.61No X X

Title IV Origination and 

Disbursement System 108.3 112.6 X X X

Application and Eligibility 

Determination System 76.1 88.21 X X No

Virtual Data Center 50.3 42.3 X X X

Enterprise Software Licenses 20.0 20.0 X X X

National Student Loan Data 

System 12.4 12.1 X X X

Integrated Partner Management 8.2 6.2 No X X

Financial Management System 8.0 7.8 No X

Total Discretionary Costs 1,123.5 1,188.8 No No No

1 Amount includes recompete and reengineering efforts.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Systems Applications and End Users

System Application School Student

Financial 

Partners 

Department 

of Education

Loan Servicing X X X X

Title IV Origination and Disbursement 

System X X No X

Application and Eligibility 

Determination System X X No X

Virtual Data Center No No No X

Enterprise Software Licenses No No xo X

National Student Loan Data System X X X X

Enterprise Information Technology 

Integration X

Integrated Partner Management X No X X

Financial Management System No X X

Note: Financial Partners include lenders and guaranty agencies.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Major SAA Contracts

The following tables provide a list of Student Aid Administration contracts estimated to exceed 

$5 million in fiscal years 2016 and 2017:

Contract: Loan Servicing

Description: Servicing and consolidation of direct student loans, Perkins loans, 

TEACH grants, servicing FFEL loans, and defaulted loans

FY 16 Funding: $ 840.1million

FY 17 Funding: $ 899.6 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

PHEAA Harrisburg, PA*

Mechanicsburg, PA

Philadelphia, PA

Pittsburgh, PA

Great Lakes Education Loan Services 

Inc.

Madison, WI*

Eagan, MN

Aberdeen, SD

Plano, TX

Boscobel, WI

Eau Claire, WI

Stevens, Point, WI

Nelnet Servicing LLC Lincoln, NE*

Aurora, CO

Highlands Ranch, CO

Omaha, NE

Houston, TX

Navient Reston, VA*

Fishers, IN

Newark-Prides Crossing, DE

Wiles-Barre, PA

Missouri Higher Education Loan 

Authority

Chesterfield, MO*

Columbia, MO

ESA EdFinancial Knoxville, TN*

Cornerstone Salt Lake City, UT*

New Hampshire Higher Education 

Corporation

Concord, NH*

Oklahoma Student Loan Authority Oklahoma City, OK*

Vermont Student Assistance 

Corporation

Winooski, VT*

Maximus Federal Services, Inc. Frederick, MD*

Lawrence, KS

Educational Computer Systems Coraopolis, PA

Pittsburg, PA

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Contract: Title IV Origination and Disbursement System (TIVODS)

Description: Disbursement of Pell Grants and Direct Loans

FY 16 Funding: $ 108.3 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 112.6 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

Accenture LLP Arlington, VA* 

Columbus, GA 

Monticello, KY 

Niagara Falls, NY 

Philadelphia, PA 

San Antonio, TX

Washington, DC

Contract: Application and Eligibility Determination System (AEDS)

Description: Integration of application processing, aid awareness, and eligibility 

determination

FY 16 Funding: $ 76.1 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 88.2 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

General Dynamics One Source Fairfax, VA*

Hattiesburg, MS

Coralville, IA

Las Cruces, NM

Lawrence, KS

Washington, DC

Senture London, KY*

Monticello, KY

HP Enterprise Services Palo Alto, CA*

Montgomery, AL

El Paso, TX

Monticello, KY

Orlando, FL

Phoenix Programming Services Rockville, MD*

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Contract: Virtual Data Center

Description: Data center for student financial aid systems

FY 16 Funding: $ 50.3 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 42.3 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

Dell Services Federal Government, Inc. Fairfax, VA*

Plano, TX

Washington, DC

Contract: Enterprise Software Licensing

Description: Maintenance for software licenses for Financial Management System and 

database operations

FY 16 Funding: $ 20.0 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 20.0 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

Various Various

Contract: National Student Loan Data System

Description: Loan-level database to verify student eligibility, calculate institutional 

default rates, pay guaranty agency fees, track enrollment for loan 

servicing, and support credit reform accounting

FY 16 Funding: $ 12.4 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 12.1 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

Briefcase Systems Development, Inc Arlington, VA*

Coralville, IA

Venice, FL

Lawrence, KS

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Contract: Integrated Partner Management

Description: Integration of institutional eligibility determination and oversight of 

schools, lenders, guaranty agencies and other FSA partners

FY 16 Funding: $ 8.2 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 6.2 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor(s) Vendor Locations

BSC Systems;

Creative

Ideas Simple Solutions, Inc.;

2020 Co. LLC;

Quality Software Services, Inc.

Clarksville, MD*

McLean, VA

Washington, DC

Contract: Enterprise Architecture and Engineering

Description: Architectural and engineering functions

FY 16 Funding: $ 9.0 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 7.5 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

MB&A Arlington, VA

Contract: Financial Management System

Description: Accounting system for transactions

FY 16 Funding: $ 8.0 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 7.8 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

Avineon, Inc. McLean, VA

Washington, DC

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Contract: System Security Authorization

Description: Basic security for all FSA applications and general support systems

FY 16 Funding: $ 6.7 million

FY 17 Funding: $ 6.7 million

Vendors: *denotes vendor headquarters for loan servicers

Vendor Vendor Locations

Blue Canopy Reston, VA

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Quarterly June 2015 Customer Service Performance Results

Not-For-Profit Servicers

June 2015 Score by Allocation Metric

METRIC

Aspire 

Resources Inc.

1 CornerStone ESA/Edfinancial

1 % of Borrowers in Current 

Repayment Status

85.93% 90.76% 91.24%

2 % of Borrowers 91–270 Days 

Delinquent

4.17% 2.58% 2.51%

3 % of Borrowers 271–360 Days 

Delinquent

1.40% 0.55% 0.49%

4 Borrower Survey2 76.00 70.50 73.75

5 Federal Personnel Survey2 74.00 75.00 77.00

1 The Department no longer contracts directly with this servicer. 2 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scale of 0 to 100.

METRIC Granite State-GSMR MOHELA

1 % of Borrowers in Current Repayment 

Status

88.08% 92.41%

2 % of Borrowers 91–270 Days Delinquent 2.81% 1.44%

3 % of Borrowers 271–360 Days Delinquent 0.59% 0.30%

4 Borrower Survey1 75.75 75.75

5 Federal Personnel Survey1 72.00 74.00

1 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scale of 0 to 100.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Quarterly June 2015 Customer Service Performance Results

Not-For-Profit Servicers

June 2015 Score by Allocation Metric

METRIC OSLA

VSAC Federal 

Loans

1 % of Borrowers in Current Repayment 

Status

86.93% 89.06%

2 % of Borrowers 91 - 270 Days Delinquent 2.69% 3.25%

3 % of Borrowers 271 - 360 Days 

Delinquent

0.90% 0.52%

4 Borrower Survey1 77.25 76.75

5 Federal Personnel Survey1 71.00 71.00

1 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scale of 0 to 100.

Quarterly June 2015 Customer Service Performance Results

Title IV Additional Servicers

June 2015 Score by Allocation Metric

METRIC

FedLoan 

Servicing 

(PHEAA) Great Lakes Navient Nelnet

1 % of Borrowers in 

Current Repayment 

Status

68.69% 75.11% 67.28% 64.51%

2 % of Borrowers 91–

270 Days Delinquent 12.09% 9.90% 9.88% 14.35%

3 % of Borrowers 271–

360 Days Delinquent 2.77% 2.37% 2.10% 3.45%

4 Borrower Survey1 74.50 77.00 72.50 73.75

5 Federal Personnel 

Survey1 63.00 79.00 67.00 77.00

1 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) scale of 0 to 100.

Note: Updates to this data will be released by electronic announcement in the “Loans” section of the Information for 

Financial Aid Professionals (IFAP) Web site (http://ifap.ed.gov/ifap/). 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

PROGRAM PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Performance Measures

This section presents selected program performance information, including, for example, GPRA 

goals, objectives, measures, and performance targets and data; and an assessment of the 

progress made toward achieving program results. Achievement of program results is based on 

the cumulative effect of program resources available in previous years as well as in fiscal year

2017 and future years, and the resources and efforts invested by those served by this program. 

In November 2015, Federal Student Aid (FSA) released an updated strategic plan, Federal 

Student Aid: Strategic Plan, Fiscal Years 2015–19 which described the organization’s current 

goals and objectives. FSA’s performance indicators were updated this year to account for 

improvements in data collection and analysis that allowed for more accurate and better-aligned 

metrics. 

The Department of Education has also included a FSA-specific goal as one of its Agency 

Priority Goals. FSA has committed to 15 new Data Center releases in FY 2016 and another 

15 in FY 2017. These data releases will continue FSA’s commitment to transparency of the 

student aid programs and in particular, trends and data in the student loan portfolio. 

Goal: Provide superior service and information to students and borrowers. 

Measure: Percent of high school seniors filing a FAFSA. 

Year Target Actual

2013 Baseline 59.2%

2014 58.8%–60.8% 60.1

2015 59.1%–61.1% 60.5

2016 59.5%–61.5%

2017 TBD

Additional information: FSA’s record of improving year-over-year performance on this metric 

demonstrates the success of the programs designed to increase the percent of Americans who 

attend institutions of higher education. In particular, improvements to the FAFSA Completion 

Tool, strategic partnerships with external stakeholders, and targeted engagement campaigns 

have helped FSA achieve continued progress. 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Measure: Persistence among first-time filing aid recipients.

Year Target Actual

2013 Metric not established

2014 77.5–79.5% 79.6

2015 78.6–80.6% 79.5

2016 78.5–80.5%

2017 TBD

Additional information: FSA has undertaken various initiatives to improve persistence levels 

among aid filers, including expansion of FAFSA Completion Initiative, the development of 

sophisticated outreach and digital engagement campaigns, and the initiation of partnerships 

with external stakeholders.

Measure: Customer visits to StudentAid.gov.

Year Target Actual

2013 Metric not established

2014 > =32.7 million 32.7 million

2015 > =32.7 million 43.3 million

2016 > =43.3 million

2017 TBD

Additional information: FSA greatly exceeded its target on this metric again in fiscal year 

2015 with a result of 43.3 million customer visits. This represents a more than 32 percent 

increase in visits over the prior year. FSA’s performance on this metric is a testament to the 

success of its effort to consolidate disparate sites and systems into a single integrated student 

experience. Since its launch in 2012, Studentaid.gov has evolved into FSA’s premier 

information interface for student aid tools, resources, and services.

Measure: Social media channel subscribership.

Year Target Actual

2013 Metric not established

2014 > 296,000 subscribers 368,042

2015 >=368,000 subscribers 454,066

2016 >= 454,000 subscribers

2017 TBD

Additional information: FSA met its target with a result of 454,066. FSA greatly exceeded its 

target on this metric for the second year in a row, with a result of 454,066 subscribers to 

Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube social media channels. In today’s information age, digital 

media techniques are becoming increasingly critical for effective customer engagement. Over 

the past several years, FSA has aggressively leveraged social media tools to drive awareness, 

uncover insights, engage and interact with students and borrowers, and drive traffic to FSA’s 

websites. This metric helps track FSA’s progress.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Measure: Customer service level of American Customer Satisfaction Index for entire aid 

lifecycle (1–100 Scale).

Year Target Actual

2012 78.0 78.5

2013 78.0 78.4

2014 77.4–79.4 78.4

2015 77.4–79.4 77.27.2

2016 Rebaselining

2017 TBD

Note: Customer Satisfaction Scores for the Entire Life Cycle are based upon ACSI scores from the application, inschool, and servicing experiences of students and borrowers. Data are weighted based upon the intensity of the 

experience to the overall life cycle and the number of students within each category of the life cycle.

Additional information: FSA did not meet its target on this metric in fiscal year 2015, with a 

final score of 77.2. The score incorporates the following sub-scores: the FAFSA On the Web 

(FOTW) score, the borrowers score, and the aid recipients score. Three mitigating factors 

impacted the average. First, the FOTW ACSI score is down from fiscal year 2014, primarily due 

to changes relating to the implementation of the FSA ID. Second, the total number of applicants 

is down from fiscal year 2014; because the metric is a weighted average, and the FOTW score 

(for applicants) is the highest of the three scores, the reduction in weight for this component 

lowered the overall score. Third, the borrower score, which is weighted most heavily, came in 

just below the score in fiscal year 2014. It is also possible that the addition of delinquent 

borrowers, who were previously not incorporated in the borrowers score, negatively impacted 

the score, as delinquent borrowers report a lower ACSI score than their non-delinquent 

counterparts. Due to the methodology used, the decrease in overall score as a result of this 

change was eliminated in rounding. In order to improve FSA’s performance on this score in 

fiscal year 2016 and beyond, FSA is making enhancements to the FSA ID online experience 

and the associated communications strategy to reverse the downward trend in the fiscal year 

2015 FOTW score. 

Goal: Work to ensure that all participants in the system of postsecondary education 

funding serve the interest of students from policy to delivery. 

Measure: Ease of Doing Business School Survey (1–100 Scale).

Year Target Actual

2012 >=72.0 74.0o

2013 74.0 74.0

2014 73.0–75.0 77.0

2015 75.9–77.9 75.875.

2016 TBD

2017 TBD

Note: At the time of Budget Release, Fiscal Year 2016 targets were not finalized.

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Additional information: FSA did not meet its target with a result of 75.8. FSA works closely 

with institutions to ensure that they fully understand the statutory and regulatory requirements of 

the Title IV programs. FSA is looking carefully at the causes of this small drop in satisfaction 

scores and is committed to ensuring that schools have all the necessary tools and assistance 

for meeting these important requirements. For example, FSA has taken a number of steps over 

the past year to help schools with these other requirements, including extensive training and 

technical support, the implementation of system edits to simplify 150 percent processing, and 

streamlined PLUS loan processing.

Measure: Percent of borrowers >90 days delinquent.

Year Target Actual

2012 Prior to revised metric

2013 Prior to revised metric

2014 8.1 9.9

2015 10.4 9.83

2016 TBD

2017 TBD

Note: At the time of Budget Release, Fiscal Year 2016 targets were not finalized.

The borrower delinquency rate is defined as the average number of borrowers each year who are 91–270 days 

delinquent in the year ending June 30, divided by the average number of borrowers in repayment for the year (does 

not include in-school or in-grace loan statuses).

Additional information: FSA met its fiscal year 2015 target with a performance result of 

9.8 percent. Reducing the percent of borrowers with loans in a delinquent status has been a 

major goal of FSA, and success in this metric reflects FSA’s accomplishments in this area. In 

particular, efforts to encourage borrowers to leverage income-based repayment programs, as 

well as engaging in targeted communications efforts designed to spread awareness of options 

to remain out of delinquency, helped to reduce the delinquency rate since fiscal year 2014.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Goal: Develop efficient processes and effective capabilities that are among the best in 

the public and private sector.

Measure: Aid Delivery Cost per Application.

Year Target Actual

2012 $10.90 $10.85No

2013 11.23 11.16

2014 11.94 11.43

2015 12.28 10.731.

2016 TBD

2017 TBD

Note: At the time of Budget Release, Fiscal Year 2016 targets were not finalized.

Data for this measure is derived from FSA’s Activity Based Costing model, which is updated on a quarterly basis, and 

reconciled to FSA’s Statement of Net Cost, ensuring all costs assigned to FSA are included in the cost model. 

Specifically, the measure is defined as the total direct cost to process FAFSAs and originate aid in the year ending 

June 30, divided by the number of original FAFSAs processed in the year. 

Additional information: FSA met its target with a result of $10.73. Actual costs were 

12 percent lower than projected, as a result of favorable contract negotiations. In addition, the 

number of applications was 0.4 percent higher than the forecast, which further decreased the 

unit cost.

Measure: Loan Servicing Cost per Borrower.

Year Target Actual

2012 $19.64 $18.94

2013 21.02 21.42

2014 21.20 21.59

2015 22.47 22.36

2016 TBD

2017 TBD

Note: At the time of Budget Release, Fiscal Year 2016 targets were not finalized.

Data for this measure is derived from FSA’s Activity Based Costing model, which is updated on a quarterly basis, and 

reconciled to FSA’s Statement of Net Cost, ensuring all costs assigned to FSA are included in the cost model. 

Specifically, the measure is defined as the total direct costs for servicing in the year ending June 30, divided by the 

average number of borrowers in servicing for the year. 

Additional information: FSA met its target with a result of $22.36. Actual costs were 

2 percent lower than targeted costs because 2 percent fewer borrowers were in repayment 

status than had been projected. Because borrowers in the repayment loan status are the most 

costly to service, the lower than forecasted volumes led to the lower unit cost. 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Goal: Ensure program integrity and safeguard taxpayers’ interest

Measure: Improper Payment Rate.

Year Target Actual

2013 Baseline 1.33%

2014 1.33% 1.54

2015 1.65% 1.441

2016 1.42%

2017 TBD

Note: For fiscal year 2012 and fiscal year 2013, the Improper Payment Rate metric was calculated separately for 

each risk-susceptible program. Starting with fiscal year 2014 metric, FSA began reporting a single ‘blended’ rate that 

divides aggregated estimated improper payments for all programs identified as risk-susceptible for that year by 

aggregated estimated program outlays. This new, more comprehensive measure has enabled FSA to view its 

progress in a more holistic manner. The fiscal year 2015 target was set using the fiscal year 2014 actuals for the Pell 

Grant and Direct Loan program, with a confidence interval of plus or minus 1 percent to allow for minor fluctuations in 

responses. Prior to fiscal year 2015, the FFEL program had also been identified as risk-susceptible. However, the 

improper payment rate calculation reported for FFEL for fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2014 was less than 0.005 

percent and OMB approved in fiscal year 2015 a change in designation to low risk. As a result, FFEL is not included 

in the blended improper payment rate or target for fiscal year 2015. 

Additional information: FSA met its target with a result of 1.44 percent. The underlying 

improper payment estimates were calculated using an alternative methodology and the decline 

in the fiscal year 2015 estimate may not be statistically significant. FSA continues to enhance 

its internal control framework to prevent and detect improper payments and continues to work 

closely with the Office of Inspector General and the Office of Management and Budget to 

ensure that its methodology is strong and that it has strong supplemental measures in place. 

Measure: Percentage of contract dollars competed by FSA.

Year Target Actual

2013 Metric not established

2014 85.3–87.3% 88.7

2015 87.7–89.7% 90.3

2016 89.3–91.3%

2017 TBD

Additional information: FSA exceeded this metric with a final score of 90.3 percent. FSA has 

consistently improved the percent of contract dollars competed in each fiscal year and continues 

to develop and maintain the highest quality standards among enterprise contractors.

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Measure: Collection Rate.

Year Target Actual

2012 Baseline $31.90

2013 $34.31 41.57

2014 45.65 35.90

2015 36.56 51.58

2016 TBD

2017 TBD

Note: At the time of Budget Release, Fiscal Year 2016 targets were not finalized.

Additional information: FSA is examining whether dollars collected per unit cost is the best 

measurement of success in moving borrowers out of default and back into good repayment 

status or whether there are other metrics for measuring FSA’s efficiency in managing its 

defaulted debt collection activities.

Goal: Strengthen Federal Student Aid’s performance culture and become one of the best 

places to work in the Federal Government.

Measure: FSA Employee Engagement Index (Subset of Questions from Governmentwide 

Employee Viewpoint Survey)—Percentage of positive responses to survey.

Year Target Actual

2013 Baseline 64.2%

2014 >=64.2% 67.7

2015 66.7–68.7 67.9

2016 66.9–68.9

2017 TBD

Additional information: FSA met its target with a result of 67.9 percent. With a fiscal year 

2015 result of 67.9 percent, FSA met its target range of 66.7-68.7 percent. FSA is committed to 

improving employee morale and the survey revealed gains in significant sections. Among the 

highlights of the fiscal year 2015 FEVS survey, 90 percent of FSA employees believe that the 

work they do is important, more than 86 percent positively rate the quality of work of their work 

unit, and more than 80 percent like the kind of work that they do. FSA experienced year-overyear gains in nearly half of the FEVS survey questions, including improvements in the 

percentage of employees who believe that FSA is successful at accomplishing its mission, the 

percentage of employees who believe they are given a real opportunity to improve their skills at 

FSA, and the percentage of employees who believe that their supervisors support employee 

development. More information about the FEVS and the questions included on the survey can 

be located at Fedview.opm.gov. 

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STUDENT AID ADMINISTRATION

Organization Chart

FEDERAL

STUDENT AID

Policy Liaison and

Implementation

Staff

BUSINESS

OPERATIONS

PROGRAM

COMPLIANCE

CUSTOMER

EXPERIENCE

FINANCE

PERFORMANCE

MANAGEMENT

TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATIVE

SERVICES

RISK

MANAGEMENT

Strategic Planning

And Reporting

Staff

Enterprise Data 

Office

Communications

And Outreach 

Staff

Correspondence

Services Team

Communications

And Outreach 

Services

Team

FSA

ACQUISTIONS

Enterprise Data 

Warehouse 

Architecture Team

Data Analytics Team

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