Yesterday, multiple media outlets reported that the Trump administration is preparing an Executive Order (EO) to dismantle or greatly diminish the US Department of Education (ED). These reports also indicate that members of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have, “gained access to multiple sensitive internal systems…including a financial aid dataset that contains the personal information for millions of students enrolled in the federal student aid program.” While the details and purpose of this move are unclear, two things are certain: (1) unlawful access to individuals’ data, if it is occurring, must stop and 2) chaos is the enemy of a high-functioning federal financial aid system.
According to media reports, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Chairman Tim Wahlberg of the US Education and the Workforce Committee, agree that an act of Congress is required to eliminate ED. Instead, ED is likely working on an EO that would “de-power” the agency in the short run. That could mean moving departments within ED to different agencies, such as moving Federal Student Aid (FSA) to the Department of the Treasury, relocating offices to geographic locations outside of Washington, DC where ED is headquartered, laying off staff, including those still in a probationary period or for other reasons, and cutting funding for competitive grant programs.
These reports raise serious questions about the Trump administration’s plans. First, on what authority is DOGE potentially accessing personal student data, and what are they doing with it? While there are processes for sharing sensitive data between federal agencies, DOGE is not a Congressionally authorized federal agency and likely does not have the required agreements in place, which specify how and why data is being accessed and how it will be used. The Higher Education Act states that student data can only be used for the purpose for “the application of federal student aid” and identity verification. The Privacy Act allows for the disclosure of personal information to other federal agencies, but the request must come from the head of the requesting agency in writing and specify the records being requested and for what law enforcement activity. Have these rules been followed?
Second, is Congress’ role in the administration of education functions being respected? Congress has an important role to play in any redesign of the operation of federal education programs and should not be circumvented. Any changes the Trump administration wants to make to education policy or the administration of federal programs will be more durable if enacted via statute and with the input of Congressional authorizers.
The stability of the federal financial aid system is paramount if higher education – our country’s greatest engine of economic and social mobility – is going to function. Last year, we saw the impact of an unstable and unreliable federal financial aid system. Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) completion rates among high school seniors ended almost 10% below the prior year. What will happen if FSA’s customer service goes offline, data in StudentAid.gov accounts is compromised, or oversight of loan servicers is disrupted? Payments of Pell Grants, federal work study, and other federal financial aid that is sent to campuses could be compromised if key civil service staff are abruptly dismissed or payment processing systems are altered on a whim by people without deep knowledge of the systems they are changing.
Thanks to ED’s hard work, the FAFSA is close to functioning well again and should be on track to achieve a normal schedule for release and processing and release of aid offers for next year.
Threats to shut down ED and freeze funding, and reports of questionable and possible accessing of sensitive personal data by unauthorized personnel undermine students’ confidence in the system.
At this time, it’s imperative that college access and success programs help students and families understand that FAFSA is up and running and federal financial aid is operating smoothly. Last year, our community came together to encourage all students to complete the FAFSA, even when doing so was more challenging than anyone had forecast. This year, we must continue to relay this message while monitoring closely the operations of ED.