Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, plays a central and essential role in America's postsecondary education community.

Federal Student Aid's core mission is to ensure that all eligible individuals benefit from federal financial assistance—grants, loans and work-study programs—for education beyond high school. The programs we administer comprise the nation's largest source of student aid: during the 2005-06 school year alone, we provided approximately $78 billion in new aid to nearly 10 million postsecondary students and their families. Our staff of 1,100 is based in 10 cities in addition to our Washington headquarters.   More detail...