Schools and school districts collect and store a lot of personal information about their students. But are K-12 institutions adequately securing student data? We found: Thousands of K-12 students had their personal information compromised in data breaches between 2016 and 2020Compromised data included grades, bullying reports, and Social Security numbers—leaving students vulnerable to emotional,...

The Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) partners with various entities (“non-school partners”) that are involved primarily in supporting the repayment and collection of student loans.Federal loan servicers are responsible for collecting payments on loans and providing customer service to borrowers on behalf of the Department of Education through its Direct Loan progr...

As required by the Federal Cybersecurity Workforce Assessment Act of 2015 (act), the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) developed a cybersecurity coding structure under the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) as well as procedures for assigning codes to federal civilian cybersecurity positions. However, OPM issued the coding structure and procedures 5 and 4 months later than t...

Cyber-based risks to federal systems and information can come from unintentional threats, such as natural disasters, software coding errors, and poorly trained or careless employees, or intentional threats, such as disgruntled insiders, hackers, or hostile nations. These threat sources may exploit vulnerabilities in agencies' systems and networks to steal or disclose sensitive information, among o...

Postsecondary education plays an important role in producing a skilled workforce able to compete in the global economy. Some stakeholders have suggested that collecting information on graduates' employment outcomes--whether they are employed in their field of study, for example--will provide better information to help assess the impact of a postsecondary education. The Higher Education Opportunity...

The Department of Education relies heavily on the central automated processing system (EDCAPS) to support its core financial management information functions, including general ledger and funds management, grant planning and payment processing, and purchasing and contract management. Education's Inspector General (IG) has reported serious information system control weaknesses in this system. These...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed computer security weaknesses within 22 federal agencies' operations.GAO noted that: (1) the Department of Agriculture's National Finance Center had serious access control weaknesses that affected its ability to prevent or detect unauthorized changes to payroll and other payment data or computer software; (2) the Department of Commerce Inspector Gen...

GAO reviewed the general controls over the Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) information system, focusing on weaknesses that may affect the Department of Education's ability to safeguard assets, maintain sensitive loan data, and ensure the reliability of financial management information.GAO found that: (1) Education's general controls over the FFELP information system do not adequately...

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO estimated the number of incarcerated felons receiving social security and other cash benefits from various federal programs. Initial GAO estimates on the number of prisoner beneficiaries receiving benefits from Social Security Administration (SSA) and Veterans Administration (VA) programs resulted in Congress enacting legislation in 1980 to exclude certain...