Student Financial Aid Information: Systems Architecture Needed to Improve Programs' Efficiency
AIMD-97-122
Published: Jul 29, 1997. Publicly Released: Jul 29, 1997.
Skip to Highlights
Highlights
Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO assessed the Department of Education's progress toward integrating the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) with other student financial aid data systems, as required by law.
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Education | Given the importance, cost, and magnitude of student financial aid and the information systems structure needed to support this aid, the Secretary of Education should direct the Department's chief information officer to develop and enforce a Departmentwide systems architecture by June 30, 1998, that includes, but is not limited to: (1) a high-level description of the organization's mission, functional requirements, information requirements, systems, and information flows among systems; and (2) specific information technology and communications standards and approaches that address critical hardware, software, communications, data management, security, and performance characteristics. |
Closed – Implemented
The Department of Education has developed a Modernization Blueprint for the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA), which contains the elements of a systems architecture identified in the report. Specifically, this document establishes the information technology infrastructure on which the future student financial aid systems are to be built.
|
| Department of Education | Given the importance, cost, and magnitude of student financial aid and the information systems structure needed to support this aid, the Secretary of Education should direct the Department's chief information officer to ensure that the developed systems architecture addresses the title IV systems integration, common identifiers, and data standards deficiencies. |
Closed – Implemented
The Department of Education has developed a Modernization Blueprint for the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA), which contains the elements of a systems architecture identified in the report. Specifically, this document establishes the information technology infrastructure on which the future student financial aid systems are to be built.
|
| Department of Education | The Secretary of Education should direct that as of July 1, 1998, the Department's information technology investments conform to the developed architecture and that funding for all projects be predicated on such conformance, unless careful, thorough, and documented analysis supports an exception. |
Closed – Implemented
The Department of Education has developed a Modernization Blueprint for the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA), which contains the elements of a systems architecture identified in the report. Specifically, this document establishes the information technology infrastructure on which the future student financial aid systems are to be built.
|
Full Report
Office of Public Affairs
Topics
Cost controlGovernment guaranteed loansHigher educationInternal controlsLoan accounting systemsRisk managementStudent financial aidStudent loansSystems compatibilitySystems design