Review of Federal Student Aid's Borrower Defense to Repayment Loan Discharge Process

We found that FSA established policies and procedures related to the intake and discharge of borrower defense claims in 2015 and refined the claims intake policies and procedures throughout our review period. FSA also established policies and procedures related to reviewing borrower defense claims in April 2016 and introduced new policies and procedures throughout our review period. However, we identified weaknesses with FSA’s procedures for: (1) documenting the review and approval of legal memoranda establishing categories of borrower defense claims that qualified for discharge, (2) reviewing borrower defense claims, (3) processing claims approved for loan discharge and flagged for denial, and (4) establishing timeframes for claims intake, claims review, loan discharge, and claims denial processes and controls to ensure timeframes are met.