Federal Audit Urges Steps to Avoid Redundancy in Low-Income Programs

The U.S. Department of Education is not doing enough to make sure that the programs it runs for low-income students do not end up providing duplicative services, according to areport released this week by the agency’s inspector general. Inside Higher Ed reports.

The audit looked at how the department runs Talent Search, Upward Bound, and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness For Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP).

The report notes that 86 of the 304 grantees between 2009 and 2011 used funds from all three grant programs.  Although the audit did not find any specific evidence that students were being provided redundant services, the inspector general said that the department needed to boost its internal processes to make sure it doesn’t happen.