It’s been about two months since the U.S. Department of Education announced it was reducing its workforce by nearly half. Education Secretary Linda McMahon said that it was to ensure resources are directed “where they matter most: to students, parents and teachers.”
In practice, it means there are close to 2,000 fewer workers in the agency now than there were at the start of the year. And the absence of those workers is being felt. A survey out Wednesday from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators found since the massive layoffs, colleges and students are dealing with delays in getting answers around financial aid.
Before noon on Wednesday, Robin Thompson had already had three phone calls with different people at the Department of Education. She works in financial aid at Harvey Mudd College in Southern California and is in the process of getting the school recertified — showing that it’s on the up and up to participate in federal financial aid programs. She wanted a checklist of all the paperwork she needed to submit.
“It seemed like a pretty simple ask,” she said
But Thompson said even after multiple phone calls, no one could give her that information. She said this takes time away from her helping students understand the beast that is financial aid.
This is a big difference from what it was like to deal with the agency prior to the job cuts.
“I'm finding more and more, I'm not actually talking to folks that are experts,” she said. “But they are folks that can search the website and search the resources. And I'm like, ‘I can do that.’”
According to the new survey, about a third of colleges report students are also frustrated about not getting quick answers from the agency about their financial aid situations.
The Department of Education said in a statement that they have streamlined operations after the Biden administration “botched” the revised FAFSA rollout that began in 2023. (That was when students had trouble accessing the website and submitting the application.)
“Luckily, none of that is happening this year,” said Jill Desjean with the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
But, according to their new survey, nearly a third of colleges have dealt with delays in getting FAFSA information from the agency since the layoffs.
It’s a requirement for colleges to provide students with answers about how much it’ll cost for them to go to college. Most use the FAFSA to determine how much aid, loans or grant money each student is entitled to.
“What we’re hearing is longer processing time for that application to make its way to schools,” Desjean said.
Some people who’ve already taken on student loan debt are also feeling frustrated with the agency, said Betsy Mayotte, president of the Institute of Student Loan Advisors.
She said since the layoffs, it’s taken a lot longer for borrowers to get errors on their accounts fixed.
“Borrowers and schools need more help, not less help,” Mayotte said.
And she says the workforce reduction got rid of a lot of people she considered to be helpers.
