Skip to main content

Low-Income and Minority Serving Institutions: Sustained Attention Needed to Improve Education's Oversight of Grant Programs

GAO-10-659T Published: May 27, 2010. Publicly Released: May 27, 2010.
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

Higher education has become more accessible than ever before, although students from some demographic groups still face challenges in attending college. To help improve access to higher education for minority and low-income students, Titles III and V of the Higher Education Act, as amended, provide grants to strengthen and support institutions that enroll large proportions of these students. GAO was asked to testify on the Department of Education's (Education) oversight of institutions receiving Title III or V grants and progress Education has made in monitoring the financial and programmatic performance of Title III and V grantees. GAO's testimony is based primarily on its recent report, Low-Income and Minority Serving Institutions: Management Attention to Long-standing Concerns Needed to Improve Education's Oversight of Grant Programs (GAO-09-309, August 2009) and updated information provided by Education. In that report, GAO recommended that Education, among other things, (1) develop a comprehensive, risk-based approach to target monitoring and technical assistance; (2) ensure staff training needs are fully met; (3) disseminate information about implementation challenges and successful projects; and (4) develop appropriate feedback mechanisms. No new recommendations are being made in this testimony.

Full Report

Office of Public Affairs

Topics

Historically Black colleges and universitiesCollege studentsColleges and universitiesEducational facilitiesEducational grantsFederal fundsGovernment grantsGrant administrationGrant monitoringGrantsHigher educationInternal controlsMinoritiesMinority educationRisk managementStudent financial aidTechnical assistance