Areas of Expertise Customer Profiling | Education | Healthcare Management Housing and Related Research | Real Estate and Relocation Veterans Education EconSys has conducted several studies for the Department of Education over the past ten years including financial aid modeling, educational forecasting, and Direct Loan program evaluation. Most recently, EconSys was awarded the Performance Based Multiple Award Task Order (MATO) contract by the Department of Education. Financial Aid Modeling EconSys is currently providing technical support to the Department of Education’s Cost Estimation and Analysis Division (CEAD) over ten years in developing, maintaining and enhancing the student financial aid program models. In this task-order type contract, EconSys developed automated, windows-based, enhanced student loan budget forecasting models. In other task orders, EconSys has developed models for predicting the participation levels for students eligible for Pell Grants. Logit, probit, and tobit techniques have been used in the prediction models. Educational Forecasting In efforts to test out alternative data and statistical forecasting methodologies, EconSys developed models for the National Center for Education Statistics to: •      Forecast higher education staff by type of institution and occupational        category •      Develop measures of annual earnings by occupational category        through the year 2010. EconSys delivered two alternative forecasting models for fulfilling this contract: a “dynamic” model, which builds on the principles of labor market processes, and a “static” model, which relies on estimating statistical relationships between academic employment and key drivers of employment trends. Direct Loan Program Evaluation EconSys was part of a multi-contractor team that evaluated the new Federal Direct Student Loan Program in comparison to the Federal Family Education Loan Program for the U.S. Department of Education. EconSys developed a student loan cost model for the program evaluation study. This model is a Windows-based, user-friendly policy analysis tool that analyzes the cost impact of DL and FFEL loans affected by various features and assumptions of the loan programs.