The U.S. Department of Education and its Role

Despite the growth of the Federal role in education, the Department never strayed far from what would become its official mission: to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

The Department of Education carries out its mission in two major ways. First, the Education Secretary and the Department play a leadership role in the ongoing national dialogue over how to improve the results of our education system for all students. This involves such activities as raising national and community awareness of the education challenges confronting the United States, disseminating the latest discoveries on what works in teaching and learning, and helping communities work out solutions to difficult educational issues.

Second, the Department pursues its twin goals of access and excellence through the administration of programs that cover every area of education and range from preschool education through postdoctoral research.

While the Department of Education programs and responsibilities have grown over the years, the Department itself has not. In fact, with a planned fiscal year 2008 level of 4,169, ED's staff is nearly 45 percent below the 7,528 employees who administered Federal education programs in several different agencies in 1980, when the Department was created. These staff reductions, along with a wide range of management improvements, have helped limit administrative costs to approximately 2 percent of the Department's budget. This means that ED delivers about 98 cents on the dollar in education assistance to States, school districts, postsecondary institutions, and students.

The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) is the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) central database for student aid. NSLDS receives data from schools, guaranty agencies, the Direct Loan program, and other Department of ED programs. NSLDS Student Access provides a centralized, integrated view of Title IV loans and grants so that recipients of Title IV Aid can access and inquire about their Title IV loans and/or grant data.

Type of Federal Student Loan

CL FFEL Consolidated

D1 Direct Stafford Subsidized

D2 Direct Stafford Subsidized

D3 Direct PLUS for Graduate or Professional Students

D4 Direct PLUS

D5 Direct Consolidated Unsubsidized

D6 Direct Consolidated Subsidized

D7 Direct PLUS Consolidated

DU National Defense Loan

EU Perkins Expanded Lender

FI Federally Insured Student Loan-FISL

GB FFEL PLUS for Graduate or Professional Students

IC Income Contingent Loan-ICL

NU NDSL

PL FFEL PLUS

PU Federal Perkins

RF FFEL Refinanced

SF FFEL Stafford Subsidized

SL Supplemental Loan-SLS

SN FFEL Stafford Non-Subsidized

SU FFEL Stafford Unsubsidized