Top Ten List

What GAO Found The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) use a variety of methods to ensure researchers consider alternatives to animal use in research (see figure). Two of these methods are (1) requiring researchers...

What GAO Found No comprehensive data are available to determine the nature and frequency of passenger assaults—e.g., verbal threats, attempted physical acts, or actual physical acts—against airline customer service agents at airports. This lack of data is due, in part, to the limited federal role...

What GAO Found The electric grid faces significant cybersecurity risks: Threat actors. Nations, criminal groups, terrorists, and others are increasingly capable of attacking the grid. Vulnerabilities. The grid is becoming more vulnerable to cyberattacks—particularly those involving industrial control...

What GAO Found The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have taken steps to address consumer confusion about date labels on packaged foods. For example, to reduce confusion about introductory phrases on date labels, such as whether the dates indicate food is safe...

What GAO Found The catastrophic destruction encountered as a result of Hurricanes Irma and Maria proved overwhelming to the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rican governments and resulted in a large federal disaster response, complicated by losses of power, communication, and health care infrastructure....

What GAO Found More than one in five undergraduate students were raising children, and about half of student parents left school without a degree, according to Department of Education (Education) data. In 2015-2016, an estimated 22 percent of undergraduates (4.3 million of 19.5 million) were parents....

What GAO Found The average value of bonds held by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for oil and gas wells was slightly lower on a per-well basis in 2018 ($2,122) as compared to 2008 ($2,207), according to GAO's analysis of BLM data. The total value of bonds held by BLM for oil and gas operations increased...

What GAO Found The Department of Education's (Education) process for obtaining Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) is not clear to borrowers. Established in 2007, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program forgives federal student loans for borrowers who work for certain...

What GAO Found Disparities in income and wealth among older households have become greater over the past 3 decades, according to GAO's analysis of Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) data. GAO divided older households into five groups (quintiles) based on their income and wealth. Each year of data in the...

What GAO Found The vast majority of reverse mortgages are made under the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) program. In recent years, a growing percentage of HECMs insured by FHA have ended because borrowers defaulted on their loans. While death of the borrower...