Financial Aid Data Resources

The following are national data resources on student financial aid.

• National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS)

The National Postsecondary Student Aid Survey (NPSAS) provides a nationally representative, stratified random sample of students attending postsecondary institutions examining their characteristics, with special focus on how they finance their education. The survey is administered every four years by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) of the U.S. Department of Education. In both 2003-2004 and 2007-2008 undergraduates from Minnesota, along with several other states, were oversampled to provide state-level analysis of students' characteristics. NPSAS has a query tool for accessing the state level data.

• National Association of State Scholarship and Grant Aid Programs, NASSGAP

Each year, the National Association of State Student Grant and Aid Programs (NASSGAP) completes a survey of state-funded expenditures for postsecondary student financial aid. The survey documents financial aid program data for each state, including administration, spending, eligibility and funding source. The data is summarized in an annual report but can also be queried.

• U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid Data Center

The Federal Student Aid Data Center is a centralized source for information relating to the federal financial aid programs. The reports provide summary information on students applying for federal financial aid and students receiving aid by program. Additional reports summarize applications and awards by institution of enrollment. Both student and institutional data are available at the state level.

• U.S. Department of Education, Federal Cohort Default Rates

The U.S. Department of Education releases official cohort default rates once per year. A three-year cohort default rate is the percentage of a school's borrowers who enter repayment on certain Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program or William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan (Direct Loan) Program loans during a particular federal fiscal year (FY), October 1 to September 30, and default or meet other specified conditions prior to the end of the second following fiscal year.

Data provided by the U.S. Department of Education includes information on default rates for all students as of September 26, 2018, including undergraduates, graduate students, and those pursuing professional degrees or certificates. Default rates for students attending foreign schools were excluded from this analysis. Colleges and universities with consistently high student loan default rates over a period of three years may be denied participation in federal and state financial aid programs for their students. No institutions in Minnesota have been denied participation in recent years.