About Federal Student Aid

Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, ensures that all eligible individuals can benefit from federally funded or federally guaranteed financial assistance for education beyond high school. We consistently champion the promise of postsecondary education to all Americans—and its value to our society.

Federal Student Aid plays a central and essential role in supporting postsecondary education by providing money for college to eligible students and families. We partner with postsecondary schools, financial institutions and other participants in the Title IV student financial assistance programs to deliver services that help students and families who are paying for college.

Today, Federal Student Aid performs a range of critical functions that include, among others:

Processing 14 million student financial aid applications each year;
Disbursing more than $80 billion annually in financial aid to students through schools;
Enforcing financial aid rules and regulations;
Partnering with schools, financial institutions and guaranty agencies to prevent fraud, waste and abuse;
Educating students and families on the process of obtaining aid and other college funding;
Servicing millions of student loan accounts;
Securing repayment from borrowers who have defaulted on their loans; and
Operating information technology systems and tools that help manage our $400 billion loan portfolio.
This is a complex, multifaceted mission that calls on a range of staff skills and demands coordination by all levels of management. Consequently, Federal Student Aid—the government's first Performance-Based Organization (PBO)—emphasizes tangible results and efficient performance, as well as the continuous improvement of the processes and systems that support our mission.

Strategic Planning, Performance and Reporting
As a federally designated PBO, Federal Student Aid operates under a congressional mandate to achieve concrete results while improving performance. Since Federal Student Aid became a PBO in 1998, we have introduced many substantial and measurable improvements in how we plan and report our operational and portfolio performance in administering the federal student financial assistance programs. Learn more about Federal Student Aid's Strategic Planning, Performance and Reporting here.

Federal Student Aid Conferences
Each year, Federal Student Aid engages more than 5,000 members of the financial aid community during our Federal Student Aid Conferences. These conferences provide us with direct access to our customers in order to share the most up-to-date information on Title IV programs and Federal Student Aid policies and procedures.

Source: http://federalstudentaid.ed.gov/about/index.html

I'm in college, Mom. Can I have $56,000, please?

While costs continue to rise, a many colleges have eliminated student loans from their financial aid offerings and are opting to offer grants instead. Others are waiving tuition for low-income families altogether.

Although free money is helpful, many students will still need to borrow from a the student-lending market that has seen two big changes in the past year. First, funding for many types of loans has ceased. And second, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act of 2007 cut government subsidies to issuers of federal student loans.

So how do you fund college for your little scholar if you need a student loan? Start with federal programs. With smaller fees, lower interest rates, and better terms than private student loans, federal loans are still the best option for most borrowers.

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