FSA Data Source Reference

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:

• •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
• •Primary Identifier: unitid (6-digit IPEDS institution ID)
• •Years Available: 1999-2021 depending on dataset

Reference File Structure

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 → ./references/data-quality.md

Which FSA dataset do I need?

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)

Quick Reference: FSA Datasets and Codes

Datasets

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

Title IV Programs

Financial Responsibility Scores

Grant Type Codes (grants dataset)

Loan Type Codes (loans dataset)

Award Type Codes (campus-based-volume dataset)

Yes/No Codes (allocation_flag, combined_flag)

Missing Data Codes

Data Access

All FSA datasets are fetched via the mirror system. Three reference files govern data access:

Key datasets (all single-file, all years in one file):

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

Joining FSA Data with Other Sources

Common Research Applications

Data Update Schedule

• •FSA data typically lags 1-2 years behind the current award year
• •Financial responsibility scores published annually
• •90/10 percentages updated after institutional fiscal year audits
• •Campus-based data tied to FISAP reporting cycle

Related Data Sources

Topic Index