Trump Shifts Federal Student Loan Management From Education Department

The Trump administration is transferring management of the $1.7 trillion federal student loan portfolio from the Department of Education to the Department of the Treasury, the most significant step yet in the White House’s efforts to dismantle a cabinet-level agency.

The departments signed an interagency agreement that gives the Treasury power to collect payments from borrowers in default, and will ultimately put the entire student loan portfolio under the Treasury’s purview. Eventually, the Treasury will take on most of the office of Federal Student Aid’s operations, including administering the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, and a bevy of student aid programs like the Pell grant.