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Open Recommendations

Head Start: Office of Head Start Could Improve Communication with Tribal Programs
GAO-26-107775
May 13, 2026
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Health and Human Services The Secretary of HHS should ensure OHS identifies and addresses the causes of challenges in the timeliness and consistency of its communication with Tribal Head Start programs related to improving enrollment. (Recommendation 1)
Open
HHS agreed with this recommendation. HHS said OHS would assess current communication practices and implement standardized procedures to improve timeliness, consistency, and clarity in its engagement with Tribal Head Start programs. OHS recognizes that enrollment remains an ongoing challenge for Tribal Head Start programs, with factors including workforce shortages and transportation limitations, and would incorporate these considerations into its efforts. We will monitor the agency's progress to address this recommendation.

Mariner Training: Maritime Administration Should Share More Information About Financial Aid and Careers
GAO-26-108184
May 07, 2026
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4 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Maritime Administration The Administrator of the Maritime Administration should leverage the CMTS to identify options to help institutions that offer mariner training address challenges in accessing federal aid programs, including institutions with USCG-approved courses. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Maritime Administration The Administrator of the Maritime Administration should request that CMTS include information about federal financial aid for mariner training in the Federal Funding Handbook. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Maritime Administration The Administrator of the Maritime Administration should identify and use targeted approaches to help raise awareness of the available federal financial aid for mariner training provided through the Departments of Education, Labor, and Veterans Affairs. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Maritime Administration The Administrator of the Maritime Administration should identify and use targeted approaches, such as social media efforts, to help raise awareness of maritime careers, including raising awareness on the various types of mariner occupations and training pathways. (Recommendation 4)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Federal Student Loans: Education Needs to Address Gaps in Servicer Oversight
GAO-26-108534
Mar 11, 2026
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should ensure that FSA assesses servicer accuracy and call quality. (Recommendation 1)
Open
Education disagreed with this recommendation, asserting that the servicer accuracy and call quality metrics do not meaningfully measure servicers' performance and would not improve the financial health of the federal student loan portfolio. Education described a variety of different tools and methods it uses to monitor and assess it. However, we believe that these tools and methods do not provide a systematic approach that ensures servicers are maintaining accurate records or providing correct information to callers. In addition, Education's monitoring tools do not include mechanisms, such as financial penalties, to hold servicers accountable for accuracy and call quality and ensure the government is not overpaying them for poor performance. We continue to believe that Education should ensure FSA assesses servicer accuracy and call quality.

K-12 Education: Lessons Learned from Implementing COVID-19 Relief Funding Provisions Could Improve Future Grant Monitoring
GAO-26-107727
Feb 27, 2026
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should develop internal written procedures to use when engaging in technical assistance to ensure staff have a common understanding of the information program managers provide to grantees when overseeing grants. (Recommendation 1)
Open
Education disagreed with this recommendation. Education noted that for some programs such as Title I, Title II, or Title V of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Education program offices retain internal banks of grantee questions and answers that are continually refreshed and vetted by attorneys and senior leadership to ensure consistent technical assistance to grantees. However, as our report noted, Education officials told us they did not document procedures-such as a MOEquity technical assistance plan-for how program managers would ensure they delivered consistent information to grantees. We continue to believe that all technical assistance efforts should be guided by internal written procedures to ensure guidance is applied consistently-in line with federal oversight and performance management principles and practices that stress the importance of doing so.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should establish procedures to ensure the quality and reliability of data collected for grants oversight and technical assistance. (Recommendation 2)
Open
Education disagreed with this recommendation. Education stated noted that the agency has procedures in place to ensure the quality and reliability of data collected for grant oversight, as well as a Data Governance Board and data stewards in each office. However, during the course of our review, Education did not provide us with data reliability procedures or information about procedures used to review MOEquity data. In addition, Education officials stated that they could not answer questions about what steps they took or if they followed data reliability procedures to ensure the data submitted by states were complete and accurate. Education also did not address why there were inconsistences in its MOEquity data-inconsistencies that prevent Education and us from determining whether the application of state MOEquity requirements had the intended effect of targeting the highest need school districts. Education stressed that the MOEquity data collection was particularly challenging for the department and states-as we discuss in the report-because it was an entirely new requirement. We will need to obtain the procedures Education mentions to determine if the agency addressed this recommendation.
Department of Education The Secretary of Education should develop a way to ensure that, as appropriate, staff timely identify, document, and share any lessons learned from implementing new and ongoing initiatives that may inform future grants oversight. (Recommendation 3)
Open
Education partially agreed with this recommendation. Education noted that the agency has procedures in place to document lessons learned over time. However, Education officials told us during our review that they do not have such procedures and generally have not identified a need for them. Education stated that it would consider setting up a site on an internal website for maintaining and sharing internal lessons learned. The agency noted that if lessons learned include information useful to external parties, it could share the lessons through conferences, webinars, or through other means of distribution. We encourage such efforts and will monitor any progress the agency makes on these and other relevant efforts.
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