The Department of Education Cut Its Workforce In Half. How That Will Affect Your Student Loans? | Global News Avenue

As part of the White House’s plan to rule the Department of Education, the agency cut half of its workforce this week, which could impact the way it manages its student loan program.

The department said Tuesday it reduced its 4,133 workforce to about 2,183. The decrease is almost 30% due to employees taking the acquisition option. The reduction affected all departments, but the Ministry of Education did not say exactly how many people there were in each department.

But hundreds of workers in the federal student aid office were fired, NPR Report Wednesday. Katharine Meyer, a researcher at the Brookings Institute, a nonpartisan research organization, said the number of workers in the sector managing financial aid programs has decreased, which can make student loan programs more difficult.

“I think one of the biggest threats to the department’s service is having enough staff to manage these programs to manage their oversight agencies,” Meyer said. “It is directly able to ask questions for students, whether it’s applying for financial aid or figuring out the loan plan that best suits their situation.”

Is this the latest step to eliminate the department?

This effective reduction may be the latest move aimed at dominating the Ministry of Education, bringing it closer to the point President Donald Trump’s goal Eliminate the department completely. Although there is no way to eliminate the department without a Congressional bill, the Trump administration can still reduce the workforce.

Congress teaches in the Federal Student Aid Office, which is in charge of more than 42.7 million borrowers, over $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. It also distributes Pell grants and manages public service loan forgiveness, all the programs created by Congress.

Elimination of the Ministry of Education does not mean canceling all loans. Instead, the federal government can try to transfer the entire federal office of student aid or specific programs to other institutions, said Megan Walter, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. Moving any plan or office to another agency will require Congressional action, with Republicans having a slim majority.

Trump has said he hopes to provide the Treasury Department, the Business or Small Business Administration with the administration that manages student loans.

“Generally, this means more confusion and more processing delays for borrowers,” Walter said.