/education-data-source-fsa

name: education-data-source-fsa
description: >-
  FSA — Title IV aid at institution level (~5,500 institutions, 1999-2021). Pell Grants, Direct/PLUS loans, campus-based aid, financial responsibility scores, 90/10 metrics. Use for aid distribution, loan volume, or for-profit analysis. By unitid.
metadata:
  audience: any-agent
  domain: data-source
  skill-authored: "2026-02-09"
  skill-last-updated: "2026-02-09"

FSA Data Source Reference

Federal Student Aid (FSA) — institutional-level Title IV aid data for ~5,500 postsecondary institutions, covering Pell Grants, Direct and PLUS loans, campus-based aid (FWS, FSEOG, Perkins), financial responsibility composite scores, and 90/10 revenue metrics (1999-2021, varies by dataset). Use when analyzing Pell Grant distribution by institution type, student loan volume, campus-based aid allocation, or for-profit financial health and 90/10 compliance. Identified by IPEDS unitid.

Reference guide for FSA data available through the Urban Institute Education Data Portal. FSA data provides institutional-level information on Title IV federal student aid programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

> **CRITICAL: Value Encoding** > > The Education Data Portal converts categorical variables to **integers**. This differs from original FSA documentation which may use string codes. All categorical columns in the Portal parquet files are integer-typed. > > | Variable | Example Value | Meaning | > |----------|---------------|---------| > | `grant_type` | `1` | Federal Pell Grant | > | `loan_type` | `1` | Subsidized Direct Loan - Undergraduate | > | `award_type` | `1` | Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants | > | `fips` | `6` | California | > | `allocation_flag` | `1` | Yes | > > **Missing data codes** (`-1`, `-2`, `-3`) apply to `numeric` format variables, not categorical codes. > > See `./references/variable-definitions.md` for complete encoding tables.

Truth Hierarchy

When interpreting FSA data values and resolving discrepancies between this skill documentation and observed data, apply this priority:

| Priority | Source | Rationale | |----------|--------|-----------| | 1 (highest) | **Actual data file** (parquet) | What you observe IS the truth | | 2 | **Live codebook/metadata** (.xls in mirror) | Authoritative documentation; may lag behind data | | 3 (lowest) | **This skill documentation** (variable-definitions.md, etc.) | Summarized; convenient but may drift |

• When this skill contradicts observed data: trust the data, flag the discrepancy
• When codebook contradicts observed data: trust the data, but investigate
• When this skill contradicts codebook: trust the codebook, update this skill

**Codebook Access:** Use `get_codebook_url()` from `fetch-patterns.md` with paths from `datasets-reference.md`:

# Example: Get codebook for FSA grants
url = get_codebook_url("fsa/codebook_colleges_fsa_grants")

| Dataset | Codebook Path | |---------|---------------| | Grants | `fsa/codebook_colleges_fsa_grants` | | Loans | `fsa/codebook_colleges_fsa_loans` | | Campus-Based Volume | `fsa/codebook_colleges_fsa_campus_based_volume` | | Financial Responsibility | `fsa/codebook_colleges_fsa_financial_responsibility` | | 90/10 Revenue | `fsa/codebook_colleges_fsa_90-10_revenue_percentages` |

> **FSA naming note:** The Financial Responsibility dataset uses `composite_scores` in its data path but `financial_responsibility` in its codebook path. The 90/10 Revenue dataset uses underscores (`90_10`) in the data path but hyphens (`90-10`) in the codebook path. Always use the exact paths shown above.

What is Federal Student Aid?

Federal Student Aid (FSA) is the office within the U.S. Department of Education that administers Title IV aid programs:

• **Title IV Programs**: Federal financial aid authorized under Title IV of the Higher Education Act (HEA)
• **Institutional Coverage**: All Title IV-eligible postsecondary institutions (approximately 5,500+ schools)
• **Data Types**: Aid disbursements, recipient counts, loan/grant volumes, financial responsibility metrics
• **Primary Identifier**: `unitid` (6-digit IPEDS institution ID)
• **Years Available**: 1999-2021 depending on dataset

Reference File Structure

| File | Purpose | When to Read | |------|---------|--------------| | `title-iv-programs.md` | Pell Grants, Direct Loans, PLUS, campus-based aid | Understanding aid program types | | `financial-responsibility.md` | Composite scores, institutional oversight | Analyzing institutional financial health | | `90-10-rule.md` | For-profit revenue requirements | Working with proprietary institutions | | `variable-definitions.md` | Key variables, aid types, amounts | Building queries, interpreting results | | `data-quality.md` | Known issues, coverage, timing | Understanding data limitations |

Decision Trees

What FSA topic am I researching?

FSA research topic?
├─ Grant programs
│   ├─ Federal Pell Grants → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   ├─ FSEOG (campus-based) → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   └─ Grant amounts/recipients → ./references/variable-definitions.md
├─ Loan programs
│   ├─ Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   ├─ Parent PLUS loans → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   ├─ Graduate PLUS loans → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   ├─ Perkins Loans (legacy) → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   └─ Loan volumes/disbursements → ./references/variable-definitions.md
├─ Campus-based programs
│   ├─ Federal Work-Study → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   ├─ FSEOG → ./references/title-iv-programs.md
│   └─ Program allocations → ./references/variable-definitions.md
├─ Institutional oversight
│   ├─ Financial responsibility scores → ./references/financial-responsibility.md
│   ├─ 90/10 rule compliance → ./references/90-10-rule.md
│   └─ Eligibility/participation → ./references/data-quality.md
└─ Data quality concerns
    └─ Coverage, timing, limitations →