The Illinois Student Assistance Commission has sent a letter to federal Education Secretary Linda McMahon, expressing alarm about potential delays to the timely delivery of critical student financial aid caused by the Trump Administration’s dismantling of the US Department of Education (ED).
The letter, the entirety of which can be read here, also conveys deep concerns about the potential risks to student loan borrowers if the $1.69 trillion student loan portfolio is moved to the US Small Business Administration.
ISAC opened its letter declaring, “We write to express our ongoing alarm about the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and the Department’s ability to deliver critical financial aid to students and supports for student loan borrowers. President Trump has announced that large portions of the work of the Department will be moved to other departments and agencies that, to the best of our knowledge, do not have the knowledge, experience, or systems to manage it.”
The Commission continued, “We are concerned that this will not only have immediate negative effects on students and student loan borrowers in Illinois and across the country, but may inflict real, lasting harm to the growth and development of our country’s future workforce and to the economy of Illinois and our nation.”
The letter shares worries about significant cuts in staffing at the department which ISAC fears will imperil not only students’ ability to access financial aid, but also the timely disbursement of that aid to students and institutions that rely on it.
On March 20, the White House issued a presidential action titled, “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” which after spending several paragraphs downplaying the Education Department’s history and insinuating the late President Jimmy Carter was bribed by teachers to create it, describes a plan to use executive authority to eliminate the department.
The Education Department, like other federal departments, is mandated by federal law; as a result, the government is now embroiled in a laundry list of lawsuits over the closure and related destaffing of agencies, as well as other highly controversial education policy decisions.
Despite the litigation, Republicans in the White House continue to press on with gutting the Education Department. Indeed, recent news reports indicate that calls and emails to ED are going unanswered and systems to disburse grants and loans are experiencing more frequent outages.
ISAC’s letter also flags risks to borrowers of the President’s plan to move the administration of the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio to the SBA, an agency wholly unfamiliar with the administration of federal student loans and one that is reducing its staffing by 43%. Finally, the letter also raises concerns over the privacy and security of student and borrower data residing within ED.
“The inability to access timely financial aid can change the trajectory of a student’s life—students who cannot get financial aid may forgo higher education or be forced to drop out without receiving their degree or credential,”said ISAC Executive Director Eric Zarnikow.
“Educational institutions that do not have large endowments or reserves will also have a difficult time remaining solvent if financial aid is delayed. While changes and uncertainty at the federal level can be overwhelming to navigate, ISAC will continue to support all students and families in Illinois to help them identify a postsecondary path that is right for them and access the financial aid for which they are eligible.”
ISAC has asked the White House to answer critical questions in writing that are in the interest of students, borrowers, and institutions, as well as to make the following guarantees:
1) Provide for the accurate processing of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and timely delivery of that aid that is critical for students and institutions,
2) Support America’s 43 million borrowers while transferring the responsibility of more than $1.6 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, and
3) Protect the data integrity and privacy of sensitive personal information for Americans throughout the nation.
This letter was sent on Wednesday. No response is known to have been issued by either Secretary McMahon or the White House.
Photo credit: REUTERS
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