ED: RIF Will 'Not Directly' Impact Students and Families
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
Update: The Department of Education (ED) has provided another email for institutions to submit operational concerns. That email is [email protected].
After last week’s announcement that the Department of Education (ED) plans to lay off nearly 50% of its staff across all divisions, ED sent a letter to stakeholders stressing that cuts to the department’s offices and programs “will not directly impact students and families.”
ED’s Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron, who authored the letter, wrote that under last week’s Reduction in Force (RIF) announcement, no employees “working on core functions” of the FAFSA or student loan servicing were laid off.
While multiple regional offices — including Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, and more — that handled institutional program reviews, changes in ownership, and program partnerships were cut as part of the RIF, Bergeron said that office functions would be transferred to other offices and experts within ED. According to the letter, Federal Student Aid (FSA) will provide more information to the higher education community this week.
Bergeron’s letter provided some information about which offices and employees were not impacted by the RIF. For example, employees within the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) and the Office of Higher Education Programs (HEP) – whose divisions oversee funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), community colleges, TRIO programs, and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) – were not impacted by the RIF.
Additionally, according to Bergeron, the Office of Policy, Planning, and Innovation (PPI) employees, whose division handles accreditation and negotiated rulemaking, along with the “critical functions” of the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) were not impacted by the RIF.
Bergeron added that management and operation roles within ED were “streamlined to reduce duplicative functions.” Institutions that have immediate concerns should email [email protected].
“These reforms are the first step in removing bureaucratic excesses from the Department,” Bergeron wrote. “Eliminating red tape and bureaucratic barriers imposed by the Department and decreasing spending on duplicative Department functions will provide more opportunities for state and institutional leaders to innovate and best serve their students.”
This letter comes shortly after 20 states sued ED and the Trump administration over the RIF, alleging that the layoffs are illegal and the Trump administration does not have the power to dismantle any agency. Late last week, U.S. District Judge James Bredar ordered that the thousands of federal probationary workers fired by the Trump administration across different agencies be temporarily reinstated – which includes probationary workers from ED and other federal agencies.
Congressional Democrats are also seeking answers on the RIF's impact.
On Monday, top Democratic appropriators sent a letter to ED Secretary Linda McMahon and Matthew Soldner, acting director of the Institute of Education Sciences, questioning how the department will maintain its statutory requirements with such a large RIF.
The letter – sent by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), ranking member of the Senate education spending subcommittee, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee – expressed concern about how the RIF will impact ED’s ability to operate federal student aid programs, and conduct oversight and enforcement of institutions.
The lawmakers noted that ED has several responsibilities – such as ensuring students can apply for Pell Grants and financial aid that institutions have the information and resources they need to disburse aid to students, and more. The lawmakers argue that the “vast” RIF across FSA, the Office of General Counsel, and more puts “all of this work in jeopardy.”
“The staff at the Department provide real services that impact the daily lives of students and their families from enforcing students’ civil rights and providing transparent information on how our schools are doing to processing critical aid such as Pell Grants to helping low-income students all over our nation attend college and further their careers,” the lawmakers wrote. “Firing the people that ensure states, school districts, and institutions of higher education live up to their legal obligations is neither efficient nor accountable.”
The lawmakers listed over a dozen questions for ED to answer, along with requests for information on how the department plans to reorganize its workforce. They requested written answers to these questions no later than March 21.
Publication Date: 3/18/2025
Bill S | 3/18/2025 10:14:06 AM
What a joke. Service was strained at best BEFORE the layoffs and it is going to get better. Consolidating all the regional offices into one email address???
Helen F | 3/18/2025 10:10:40 AM
I read the letter carefully on Friday night and noted significant factual misstatements. I am deeply concerned and frustrated. Students are absolutely being impacted as schools must now wait even longer for program additions to be reviewed and approved in the absence of the regional staff whose job it was to handle these. The FAFSA stopped functioning correctly less than 24 hours after the RIFs last week, though it did come back. In addition to the massive RIF losses, many critical and highly skilled and productive SFA staff voluntarily left beforehand and still more are actively seeking their next opportunities. These cuts are unequivocally devastating to the financial aid profession and our students and families will experience negative impacts.
Renee W | 3/18/2025 9:26:48 AM
It's nice to see something positive!
David S | 3/18/2025 9:10:46 AM
The RIF was not the only round of personnel cuts. Before we ever heard that acronym many ED staff had buyout packages dangled in front of them, with a warning that if they didn’t take it, there was no guarantee their jobs were safe.
No place of business can function at the same level with such massive workforce shortages.
Amanda B | 3/18/2025 8:21:17 AM
It absolutely will impact students and families because it impacts the institutions that serve students and families. The fact that ED decided to put that into print is a slap in the face.
Daniel D | 3/18/2025 8:17:33 AM
This is just like the press releases from FAFSA Complification - put a positive spin on it and hope no one calls you on the BS
James K | 3/18/2025 8:14:17 AM
I don't see how these cuts will NOT impact students and families.
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