{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "deskKey": "GAO-19-347:recommendation-1",
  "title": "Student-loan income verification",
  "page": "https://america.co/oversight/student-loan-income-verification",
  "selectedAction": "Recommendation 1",
  "actorType": "agency",
  "owner": "Federal Student Aid Chief Operating Officer",
  "source": {
    "report": "GAO-19-347",
    "url": "https://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-19-347",
    "published": "2019-06-25",
    "publiclyReleased": "2019-07-25",
    "consulted": "2026-10-05",
    "statusInConsultedSource": "Open – Partially Addressed",
    "latestSelectedCommentAsOf": "2025-12"
  },
  "progressSummary": "GAO’s December 2025 comment describes IRS data exchange following the 2019 FUTURE Act, with borrower consent. It also describes a plan for September 2026. That planned date has passed, but the source consulted does not report verified completion; a calendar date alone establishes neither compliance nor misconduct.",
  "annualContext": {
    "report": "GAO-26-108505",
    "url": "https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-108505",
    "published": "2026-05-12",
    "benefitType": "historical-policy-estimate",
    "estimateAsReported": "More than $2 billion / 10 years",
    "timeHorizon": "Historical 2020–2029 estimate",
    "estimateAttribution": "CBO estimate associated with FUTURE Act, cited by GAO",
    "scope": "Topic-level; not a price tag solely on the selected action",
    "basis": "The annual report cites more than $2 billion over 10 years from CBO. The underlying GAO comment associates the historical estimate with the FUTURE Act and 2020–2029. It must not be treated as an entirely new, unrealized savings pool for the next ten years."
  },
  "boundary": "A zero-income report or a discrepancy is not proof of fraud. Borrower circumstances, consent, due process, errors, and correction routes matter. This page does not determine current repayment-plan eligibility; rules and litigation may change independently of this recommendation.",
  "evidenceToCloseSummary": "Evidence that Education uses data to verify self-certified zero-income information, satisfying GAO’s selected recommendation. A data-sharing agreement and a completed verification process are different milestones.",
  "proposedEvaluation": {
    "notOfficialProcedure": true,
    "test": "Assess verification accuracy and protections together. Include false positives, correction time, borrower notice, data minimization, consent or other lawful authority, and effects on people with genuinely zero income.",
    "questions": [
      "What evidence confirms implementation after the planned September 2026 date?",
      "How are discrepancies checked and corrected before adverse action?",
      "Which portion of the historical estimate has already occurred, if any?"
    ]
  },
  "cashAvailable": false,
  "actualSavingsAsserted": false,
  "coverage": "One selected action; not every recommendation in the report",
  "compiler": "America.co public-resource desk; AI-assisted; no expert review claimed"
}