Title: Student financial aid
Description: This report presents results of a survey of 600 postsecondary schools concerning their use of the National Student Loan Data System (nslds). Nslds was developed to improve the quality and accessibility of student financial aid data, to reduce the burden on schools of administering the Department of Education's student financial aid programs, and to minimize fraud and abuse in these programs. The study found that postsecondary schools participating in federal student financial aid programs were making limited use of the nslds on-line and batch processing functions. It was estimated that almost half of the schools were not using these system capabilities at all, and more than half of the schools rarely or never performed seven of the ten tasks identified in the survey. The one use made of the system by most schools was to provide and update Student Status Confirmation Report (sscr) information. Schools not using nslds cited such reasons for non-use as relying on alternative methods or facing limitations in resources or staff skills. Appendices provide more detail on the survey responses, the study's methodology, and the major student financial aid systems. Also appended are comments on the report from the Department of Education and the General Accounting Office's response. (Db).
Subjects: National Student Loan Data System (Information retrieval system), Student aid, Databases, Educational surveys
Places: United States