Department of Education

In response to a letter requesting that the OIG review the Department's actions related to certain provisions of the gainful employment and borrower defense regulations, we provided our views on the regulations and how the Department's proposed changes to those regulations could affect the integrity...

During this period, we closed 25 investigations involving fraud or corruption related to the Department’s programs and operations, securing more than $20 million in restitution, settlements, fines, recoveries, forfeitures, and savings. In addition, as a result of our investigative work, criminal...

The Reports Consolidation Act of 2000 requires the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Office of Inspector General to identify and report annually on the most serious management challenges the Department faces. The Government Performance and Results Modernization Act of 2010 requires the...

Our audit determined that Western Governors University did not comply with the institutional eligibility requirement that limits the percentage of students who may enroll in correspondence courses. As a result, the school received more than $712 million in Federal student aid funds that it was not...

We found that Idaho’s oversight of the Title I and IDEA, Part B programs was adequate to determine whether services were being provided to students and that teachers were highly qualified, or that deficiencies were identified and corrective actions were required. Specifically, we found that it had...

This report highlighted security vulnerabilities associated with the Federal student aid Personal Identification Number (PIN) Registration System (PIN system) that were identified through various OIG investigations. Vulnerabilities identified included inadequate PIN recovery mechanisms that have the...

This management information report provided the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) and the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) with the results of our risk analysis regarding student aid fraud ring activity associated with the electronic processing of Federal student aid applications.

We issued a special report on a specific issue of concern in California that we identified during the course of our nationwide review. We determined that the California Department of Education instructed LEAs that had not previously met the MOE compliance requirement with local-only special...

We notified the Department that FSA was not enforcing a contract requirement that PCAs report verbal complaints from borrowers to FSA. The contracts between PCAs and the Department provide that each PCA will adhere to Department complaint procedures. Those procedures mandate specific actions a PCA...

FSA paid $448 million in commissions and $8.3 million in bonuses to Private Collection Agencies (PCAs) based on estimates because DMCS2 could not provide the information necessary to calculate actual commissions and bonuses. During FY 2012, FSA had individual contracts with 23 PCAs to perform...