"When the U.S. Department of Education announced on Tuesday that it was eliminating nearly half of its staff, it said that it would 'continue to deliver on all statutory programs that fall under the agency’s purview,' including Pell Grants and student loans," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports.

... "As news of the job cuts circulated on Tuesday night and Wednesday, experts wondered how to square that assurance with their knowledge of the work it takes to get federal financial aid into students’ accounts."

"'Claiming that eliminating half the Department won’t affect its services — without any clear plan to redistribute the workload — is, at best, naive and, at worst, deliberately misleading,' said Beth Maglione, interim president and chief executive of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, in a public statement on Wednesday. 'It also raises serious concerns about how billions of dollars in federal student aid will continue to be disbursed to students without interruption.'"

“If there is a plan to reassign or redistribute the work of hundreds of federal employees to prevent disruptions for students and families,” the statement goes on to say, “we strongly urge the administration to share it without delay.”

"NASFAA is not alone in its lack of confidence that the administration has a plan, and in its alarm about the consequences of the department’s staff reduction."

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: 3/12/2025