Erroneous Pell Grant Payments in 2011 Total $1 Billion

The federal government paid out $1 billion in improper Pell Grant payments in 2011, but the proportion of all payments that were erroneous fell to 2.7 percent -- below the government's target of 3.3 percent and the lowest level since at least 2005, the White House announced Tuesday. The Obama administration credits the drop to new measures that linked the Free Application for Federal Student Aid to Internal Revenue Service data, making it less likely that information about students' family income would be entered improperly. Improper payments in 2010 also totaled about $1 billion, but the rate that year was 3.1 percent because overall grant volume was lower.