U.S. Senator Mazie K. Hirono, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and eight other colleagues, have expressed concerns over recent actions by the Department of Education (ED) that impact the Federal Student Aid (FSA) system. The lawmakers sent a letter to Secretary of Education Linda McMahon addressing these issues.
On March 4, 2025, Politico reported that ED had dismissed over one-third of the staff handling complaints on FSA’s website. A week later, further cuts were made at the FSA office responsible for student aid complaints. The Department also plans to remove the "Submit a Complaint" button from its website.
The senators stated, “ED’s actions will hurt parents trying to understand how to submit the FAFSA correctly so that they can afford to send their child to college,” as well as affecting veterans and students dealing with loan repayment issues or withheld aid from predatory schools.
In Fiscal Year 2024, FSA received nearly 300,000 complaints online from parents, students, and borrowers. Each year FSA analyzes these complaints and provides policy recommendations. Lawmakers argue that reducing FSA's capacity to handle complaints will hinder ED's ability to identify problems in the federal student aid system and address scams targeting borrowers.
“Each year ED refers thousands of complaints related to student loan scams to state attorneys general,” continued the Senators. “Weakening FSA’s complaint system will impair the government’s ability to crack down on these scams.”
A senior ED employee described these changes as "an overall win," despite concerns about government efficiency and support for families navigating financial aid.
The lawmakers called on McMahon to reinstate all terminated employees involved in reviewing student aid complaints and avoid any measures that might deter complaint submissions. They requested detailed information regarding ED's decisions by April 2, 2025.
Besides Senators Hirono, Warren, and Sanders, others signing the letter include Richard Blumenthal, Dick Durbin, Tim Kaine, Amy Klobuchar, Jeff Merkley, Chris Van Hollen, Alex Padilla, and Ron Wyden.