The top Biden official overseeing federal college financial aid has resigned, the Education Department announced Friday, capping a tumultuous year for students and colleges.
Federal Student Aid Chief Operating Officer Richard Cordray will resign at the end of June, officials said. Mr. Cordray, who previously served as director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, faced growing criticism from Republicans in Congress for leaving his post amid disastrous delays in the college financial aid process.
Cordray did not comment on the FAFSA issue in a statement to USA TODAY. He said his office had achieved significant milestones during his three-year term. He has agreed to stay on during the interim transition period.
“During my tenure, we provided student loan forgiveness to more than 4 million borrowers and their families, made it easier for people to apply for and manage federal student aid, and held schools accountable for student fraud. We have taken strong action to do so,” Cordray said.
Mr. Cordray's resignation comes as many high school seniors across the country are waiting for offers of aid that they would normally have received by now. Repeated glitches and errors in the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) have shortened decision-making timelines for hundreds of thousands of students. University officials are rushing to gather aid offers and sometimes using inaccurate information to make critical calculations about how much families will pay for college in the fall.
“This is the worst possible time to see a change in management or leadership,” said Brittani Williams, a former financial aid counselor and assistance coordinator in Louisiana. Williams, who oversees advocacy, policy and research for an organization called Generation Hope, said the changes could exacerbate confusion and student distrust of the financial aid system. “This crisis will deter students from enrolling.”
FAFSA MistakesI haven't given up. The Department of Education currently has a credibility problem.
At a Congressional hearing this month, a panel of experts said problems with the FAFSA have reached crisis levels and could cause a decline in college enrollment.
“If you had a financial aid officer, or even a university president, who delayed on-campus financial aid for up to six months, the professional price to pay for that would be pretty high,” said National University's Justin.・Chairman Draeger stated. The Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators said at the hearing.
The bipartisan effort agreed upon by Republicans and Democrats was long overdue, as Congress mandated the format be simplified. However, the Department of Education's implementation of the new FAFSA this year has been fraught with problems, undermining trust between the federal government, higher education institutions, students and their families.
Cordray was at the forefront. His most recent published performance contract indicated that his top priority in the job was completing the new FAFSA. Republicans and some former Education Department officials say he lost sight of that goal and instead focused too much on student loan relief efforts.
Officials in positions like Mr. Cordray are appointed for fixed terms, and his term was set to expire soon if not renewed. Arthur Wayne Johnson, who served as a lawmaker during the Trump administration and is now running for Congress, said he was glad to see a change at the top given the recent turmoil.
“They have serious leadership issues right now,” he said.
Michelle Dimino, education director at moderate think tank Third Way, said the Department of Education is under intense scrutiny from Congress. “Congress has made no secret of the fact that it is furious and the department needs Congress to fully fund it,” she said. “Major personnel changes like this can be a natural step to resetting that dynamic.”
Claire McCann, director of higher education at research charity Arnold Ventures and a former adviser to the Department of Education, said the institution was struggling with turnover. She is concerned about the impact of a new transition, and while the administration searches for a successor with “the skills and background to do an incredibly complex job,” she said Mr. Cordray I am grateful to remain in post.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona praised Cordray in a statement Friday for “fixing our broken student loan system.” He did not specifically address Mr. Cordray's role in the FAFSA rollout.
“It's no exaggeration to say that Rich helped change millions of lives for the better,” Cardona said.
Laura Perna, a college access and tuition expert at the University of Pennsylvania, said Cordray's departure shows how problematic FAFSA delays have become. “This is clearly a huge failure, and from the perspective of individual students, counselors, parents, college access organizations…the system is broken,” she said.
But Perna isn't sure the new COO will rectify the situation.
“I don't know if a change in leadership means anything to individual students,” she says. “People need results. They need to receive offers of financial assistance. They need to have the information to make one of the most important decisions they will ever make.”
Contributor: Swapna Venugopal, USA TODAY
