NASFAA Mention: Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Wants to Spin Off Federal Student Aid Office Into New Agency
"Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Tuesday the Federal Student Aid office — an arm of the Education Department she called an 'untamed beast' in 'distress' — should operate as a stand-alone entity," The Washington Post reports.
"... Policy experts have questioned whether the office has the economic expertise to meet the challenge and have recommended changes, but they have stopped short of calling for anything on the scale of what DeVos is proposing.
Speaking at a Federal Student Aid conference in Reno, Nev., on Tuesday, DeVos said: 'A separate [Federal Student Aid office] would be better positioned to deliver world-class service to students and their families as they finance higher education. It would manage the student loan portfolio and work to secure its financial strength and sustainability.'
... The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators has long urged Congress to review whether the Federal Student Aid office is subject to enough supervision by the education secretary. DeVos referred to the trade group’s past critiques of the office in her speech Tuesday, but the group’s president, Justin Draeger, noted that spinning off the unit was never among its recommendations.
'We recommended an independent oversight board that would consist of various stakeholders that span the financial aid life cycle,' he said. 'I applaud [the Education Department] for taking a look at its overall structure if it leads to greater accountability and transparency.'"
NASFAA's "Notable Headlines" section highlights media coverage of financial aid to help members stay up to date with the latest news. Articles included under the notable headlines section are not written by NASFAA, but rather by external sources. Inclusion in Today's News does not imply endorsement of the material or guarantee the accuracy of information presented.
Publication Date: 12/4/2019
