Rising tuition, coupled with the shift to providing loans instead of grants, could result in fewer low-income and minority students’ staying in college. At the same time the Department is concerned with access, its ongoing challenge is to improve its processes to ensure financial accountability in its postsecondary student aid programs, particularly FFELP, FDLP, and the Pell Grant Program. Recurring Problems Hamper the Department’s Ability to Protect Federal Financial Interests

Although major federal student aid programs, such as FFELP, FDLP, and the Pell Grant Program, have succeeded in providing students access to billions of dollars for postsecondary education, our work has shown that the Department has been less successful in protecting the financial interests of U.S. taxpayers. Management shortcomings also continue as a major problem and contribute to the Department’s financial accountability difficulties. In the past, congressional hearings and investigations, reports by the Department’s OIG, our reports, and other studies and evaluations have shown that the Department (1) did not adequately oversee schools that participated in the programs; (2) managed each title IV program through a separate administrative structure, with poor or little communication among programs; (3) used inadequate management information systems that contained unreliable data; and (4) did not have sufficient and reliable student loan data to determine the Department’s liability for outstanding loan guarantees. Challenges in Promoting Access and Excellence in Elementary, Secondary, and Adult Education Programs

Excellence in education in America has become a major concern for the public, and both the Congress and the Department have promoted initiatives to improve the quality of American education. Because the federal role in funding elementary and secondary education is relatively small, and states and local governments have the primary responsibility for and control of education programs, the Department faces a significant challenge in ensuring access and promoting excellence. $7.7 billion appropriated in fiscal year 1997. At this time, the Department does not have the information it needs to determine whether the funding is being targeted as intended. The lack of clearly defined program objectives was one of the reasons for the difficulty. In February, the administration used our reports as the basis for proposing the Partnership to Rebuild America’s Schools Act, which, if enacted, would be administered by the Department. In the 1998 budget, the administration has doubled the amount of money requested for educational technology to help schools integrate technology into the curriculum in order to increase students’ technological literacy and improve the quality of instruction in core subjects. Statutory Framework for Improving the Department’s Management Practices

Adopting improved management practices can help the Department become more effective in achieving its mission of ensuring equal access to education and promoting educational excellence. Although the Department has made progress in improving many management functions, it still has a long way to go. Additional copies are $2 each. A recorded menu will provide information on how to obtain these lists.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO discussed the major challenges the Department of Education faces in achieving its mission to: (1) ensure access to postsecondary institutions, while at the same time protecting the financial interests of the government; and (2) promote access to and excellence in elementary, secondary, and adult education.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) although the Department has made progress in ensuring access to postsecondary education and in providing financial accountability, challenges remain, especially in providing educational access to low-income and minority students in an era of rising tuition costs and in protecting the financial interests of the federal government; (2) the student aid programs make available billions of dollars in loans and grants to promote access to education, but these programs continue to be hampered by problems with process complexity, structure, and program management; (3) the student aid process is a complicated one, it has several participants who play different roles as well as various processes for each of the grant or loan programs; (4) the federal government continues to bear a major portion of the risk for loan losses; (5) moreover, management shortcomings, especially inadequate management information systems that contain unreliable data, contribute to the Department's difficulties; (6) the Department also faces challenges in promoting access to and excellence in preschool, elementary, secondary, and adult education programs; (7) through leadership and leverage, the Department works with states and local education agencies to effect changes intended to improve the nation's educational system; (8) demonstrating accountability is dependent on having clearly defined objectives, valid assessment instruments, and accurate program data; (9) in addition, it is unclear whether the Department has the resources it needs to manage its funds, including funds for the proposed Partnership to Rebuild America's Schools Act of 1997 and for helping schools integrate technology into the curriculum to make students technologically literate; (10) similarly, the Department only has selected information on the implementation of the title 1 program, the largest single federal elementary and secondary grant program, for which $7.7 billion was appropriated in fiscal year 1997; (11) thus, the Department does not have the informational basis to determine whether mid-course changes are necessary; (12) in meeting these challenges, the Department will need to improve its management; (13) major pieces of recent legislation provide powerful tools in the form of a statutory framework for improving agency operations and accountability; and (14) the Department has made progress in implementing these laws, but work remains to be done before the goal of improved management can be reached.