Today, Federal Student Aid released a series of updates to the quarterly application, disbursement, and portfolio reports on its FSA Data Center to include data through Dec. 31, 2018. As part of this release, the list of Title IV institutions on heightened cash monitoring status was also refreshed. Federal Student Aid proactively posts these reports in support of open government initiatives to help ensure consistency, increase transparency, and establish self-service opportunities for stakeholders.
Key Findings in the Quarterly Reports
While not exhaustive, the information below provides a snapshot of key findings in our most recent reporting. Student loans are highly cyclical in nature so figures should be compared year over year whenever possible.
Outstanding Loan Portfolio Overview
Today, the outstanding federal student loan portfolio is $1.45 trillion. The Direct Loan (DL) portfolio now represents more than 80 percent of the outstanding loan portfolio while the Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) portfolio represents 19 percent, and Federal Perkins Loan Program loans comprise less than one-half percent. The federally managed portfolio, which includes DL and FFEL Program loans owned by the Department, is now $1.26 trillion, representing almost 87 percent of the total portfolio. The growth of the portfolio has slowed since 2010 as new disbursements have declined. Year-over-year, the total federal loan portfolio has increased 5.2 percent—about $72 billion—with the FFEL portfolio decreasing by eight percent and the DL portfolio increasing by nine percent.