This source did not publish a separate summary. Review SKILL.md before using the skill.
SKILL.md
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")
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
FSA dataset selection?
├─ Need grant data (Pell, FSEOG)
│ └─ fsa/colleges_fsa_grants (single-file, 1999-2021)
├─ Need loan data (Direct, PLUS)
│ └─ fsa/colleges_fsa_loans (single-file, 1999-2021)
├─ Need campus-based program data
│ └─ fsa/colleges_fsa_campus_based_volume (single-file, 2001-2021)
├─ Need institutional financial health
│ └─ fsa/colleges_fsa_composite_scores (single-file, 2006-2016)
└─ Need 90/10 compliance (for-profits)
└─ fsa/colleges_fsa_90_10_revenue_percentages (single-file, 2014-2021)
Data access: All FSA datasets are single-file (all years in one file). Fetch using fetch_from_mirrors() from fetch-patterns.md with the canonical path from datasets-reference.md. See mirrors.yaml for mirror configuration.
Key Identifiers
ID
Format
Level
Example
Notes
unitid
6-digit integer
Institution
110635
IPEDS institution ID; primary join key across FSA datasets and to IPEDS/Scorecard
fips
2-digit integer
State
6
State FIPS code
Title IV Programs
Program
Type
Eligibility
Max Amount (2025-26)
Federal Pell Grant
Need-based grant
Undergrad with financial need
$7,395
Direct Subsidized Loan
Need-based loan
Undergrad with financial need
$3,500-$5,500/yr
Direct Unsubsidized Loan
Non-need loan
Undergrad/Grad students
$5,500-$20,500/yr
Parent PLUS Loan
Credit-based loan
Parents of dependent undergrads
Cost of attendance
Graduate PLUS Loan
Credit-based loan
Graduate/professional students
Cost of attendance
FSEOG
Need-based grant
Undergrad with exceptional need
$100-$4,000/yr
Federal Work-Study
Employment program
Students with financial need
Varies by school
Perkins Loan
Need-based loan
Discontinued (no new loans after 2017)
N/A
Financial Responsibility Scores
Score Range
Classification
Meaning
1.5 to 3.0
Financially Responsible
Meets all standards
1.0 to 1.49
In the Zone
Provisionally certified, monitoring required
Below 1.0
Not Financially Responsible
Must post letter of credit or face sanctions
-1.0
Minimum score
Lowest possible composite score
Grant Type Codes (grants dataset)
Code
Grant Type
1
Federal Pell Grant
2
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
3
TEACH Grant
4
Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant
5
Children of Fallen Heroes Grant
Loan Type Codes (loans dataset)
Code
Loan Type
1
Subsidized Direct Loan - Undergraduate
2
Subsidized Direct Loan - Graduate
3
Subsidized Direct Loan - Total
4
Unsubsidized Direct Loan - Undergraduate
5
Unsubsidized Direct Loan - Graduate
6
Unsubsidized Direct Loan - Total
7
Direct Loan, Parent PLUS
8
Direct Loan, Grad PLUS
9
Direct Loan PLUS (sum of Parent PLUS and Grad PLUS)
10
Subsidized Federal Family Education Loans
11
Unsubsidized Federal Family Education Loans
12
Parent PLUS Federal Family Education Loans
13
Grad PLUS Federal Family Education Loans
14
PLUS Federal Family Education Loans
Award Type Codes (campus-based-volume dataset)
Code
Award Type
1
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
2
Federal Work-Study
3
Perkins Loans
Yes/No Codes (allocation_flag, combined_flag)
Code
Meaning
0
No
1
Yes
null
Not reported
Missing Data Codes
Code
Meaning
When Used
-1
Missing/not reported
Data not reported by institution
-2
Not applicable
Item doesn't apply to this entity
-3
Suppressed data
Data suppressed for privacy
null
Not available
Field not populated for this record
Data Access
All FSA datasets are fetched via the mirror system. Three reference files govern data access:
Naming mismatches (intentional): Financial Responsibility uses composite_scores in data path but financial_responsibility in codebook path. 90/10 Revenue uses underscores (90_10) in data path but hyphens (90-10) in codebook path.
Fetch Example
import polars as pl
# Using fetch_from_mirrors() from fetch-patterns.md
df_grants = fetch_from_mirrors("fsa/colleges_fsa_grants", years=[2019, 2020, 2021])
# Filter by grant type (1 = Federal Pell Grant)
df_pell = df_grants.filter(pl.col("grant_type") == 1)
# Filter by institution
df_inst = df_grants.filter(pl.col("unitid") == 110635)
# Filter by year range
df_recent = df_grants.filter(pl.col("year").is_between(2015, 2021))
Common Pitfalls
Pitfall
Issue
Solution
Using string codes
Portal encodes categoricals as integers; original FSA docs may reference string labels
Always use integer codes (e.g., grant_type == 1 not "Pell")
Ignoring missing data codes
-1, -2, -3 in numeric columns are sentinel values, not real amounts
Filter or handle missing codes before aggregation; exclude negative values from sums/means
Stale financial responsibility data
colleges_fsa_composite_scores only covers 2006-2016
Check year coverage before analysis; do not assume current availability
90/10 percentage is a proportion
rev_pct_90_10 is stored as 0-1 (e.g., 0.87), NOT 0-100
Multiply by 100 for display; compare to 0.90 threshold, not 90
Perkins Loan discontinuation
Perkins Loans ended after 2017; campus-based data still includes historical records
Filter by year or award_type to avoid mixing discontinued and active programs
Data lag
FSA data typically lags 1-2 years behind the current award year
Verify latest available year before planning analysis
Mixing aggregate and detail loan types
Loan type codes include both individual types (1-8, 10-13) and aggregate totals (3, 6, 9, 14)
Filter to specific types or aggregates, never sum both together
Pell recipient counts unavailable for 2020+
grant_recipients_unitid is 100% NULL for Pell grants (grant_type==1) in the 2020-2021 data year. Disbursement amounts also appear null
Use IPEDS SFA (sfa_grants_and_net_price) as a proxy for grant recipient counts. Note that SFA type_of_aid=9 captures all grant/scholarship aid, not Pell-specific (see IPEDS skill)
