This evaluative report by the General Accounting Office (gao) summarizes Department of Education actions made through April 1996 in response to 205 recommendations to improve the management of federal student financial aid programs. The report concludes that the Department had completed actions or had actions in progress or planned for 186 of the recommendations, most with the potential to remedy underlying problems. Actions for about 10 percent of the 186 recommendations are seen as failing to remedy underlying problems. The report notes that, for the remaining 19 recommendations, the Department took no action, principally because the Department disagreed with the recommendation, because a previous action addressed the recommendation, or because the Department did not have authority to implement the recommendation. It was also found that some corrective actions resulted in major improvements. Appendixes, which form the bulk of the document, detail the specific recommendations made by the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the Department's Office of the Inspector General, and the Health, Education, and Human Services Division of the gao, the Department's actions, and the conclusions of the gao about the completion and effectiveness of the actions taken, and the Department of Education's response. (Mse).