Federal Student Aid Is Hiring Again

Last year, the Department of Education cut the Office of Federal Student Aid's workforce roughly in half. Now it turns out that managing $1.7 trillion in student loans — for 43 million borrowers — requires more than 731 people.

According to internal documents obtained by NPR and reported on May 21, 2026, FSA is planning a hiring push of approximately 380 new workers.¹ The documents show FSA employees were told at an April 2026 all-staff meeting that the office currently has 731 full-time equivalent employees (FTEs) and "needs to hire an additional 334 FTEs to meet our target." FSA had already hired 52 new workers since September 2025 before this announcement.

How Deep the Cuts Were

Before the current administration began restructuring the Department of Education, FSA had approximately 1,440 full-time equivalent employees. That's the workforce responsible for:

• Processing FAFSA applications for millions of new students each year
• Overseeing the shift to new repayment plans taking effect July 1
• Communicating with 43 million federal student loan borrowers
• Overseeing federal vs. private loan servicers and borrower accounts
• Managing loan forgiveness programs including Public Service Loan Forgiveness

731

Why the Reversal?

The hiring push comes while the Trump administration is simultaneously moving FSA responsibilities toward the Treasury Department. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has signed 10 interagency agreements designed to offload work to other agencies — part of the broader plan to transfer the $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio out of the Education Department.²

Moving that portfolio requires people to manage the transition. And doing it with half your original staff, in the middle of the most significant overhaul to federal student lending in decades, appears to have created a staffing problem the administration is now acknowledging.

This kind of tension — eliminating a government office in policy while still needing its workers in practice — is playing out in real time for every borrower trying to navigate 2026.

What This Means for Students and Borrowers

If you're filing the FAFSA, managing a federal loan, or trying to switch repayment plans before July 1, you're working with an FSA that is understaffed and mid-reorganization.

Here's what to watch for:

FAFSA processing: FAFSA completions set a record this cycle, which means more applications flowing through a smaller team. If your FAFSA triggers a verification request, a data mismatch with the IRS, or any kind of manual review, resolution may take longer than in past years. File early and check your studentaid.gov dashboard regularly.

Repayment plan changes: The Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) replaces all other income-driven repayment options for new borrowers on July 1. Existing borrowers need to understand their options before that date. FSA guidance to loan servicers has reportedly slowed — which means borrowers calling servicers may get inconsistent information.

Loan default support: 3.6 million borrowers entered default since repayment reporting resumed. Each one needs to work through FSA systems for rehabilitation, consolidation, or discharge. A leaner team means longer wait times for people in the most urgent situations.

If you're managing any loan issue right now — a repayment plan change, a PSLF certification, a hardship request — document every interaction in writing and request email confirmations. During staffing transitions, written records protect you if something gets lost or reassigned to a new employee who has no context.

Loan forgiveness: PSLF certifications, employer verifications, and forgiveness decisions under the new employer rules taking effect July 1 all flow through FSA. Borrowers who are months from the 120-payment milestone should submit everything they need now, before the hiring ramp-up absorbs staff bandwidth.

What You Should Do Before July 1

You don't need to panic. But you should be proactive before the July 1 rule changes take effect.

1. Check your FAFSA status at studentaid.gov. If there's a verification hold, address it now.
2. Log into your servicer's account and confirm your current repayment plan. Understand whether it changes on July 1 and what your options are.
3. Use digital channels over phone when possible. Online requests create paper trails. Phone hold times are longer when staff levels are lower.
4. Know how much student debt is too much before taking on new loans this fall — the system managing your future debt is still rebuilding.
5. Walk through the FAFSA step by step if you're filing for the first time and want to avoid errors that trigger manual review.

The hiring announcement is ultimately a sign that FSA recognizes the gap. But 380 new hires don't arrive, get trained, and reach full capacity overnight. The practical effects of the 2025 workforce cuts are still playing out — and borrowers should plan around them.

Footnotes

1. NPR. (2026, May 21). The U.S. Education Department fired thousands of workers. Now, it's on a hiring spree. NPR Education. https://www.npr.org/2026/05/21/nx-s1-5820922/education-department-firings-now-hiring ↩

2. U.S. Department of Education & U.S. Department of the Treasury. (2026, March 19). U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of the Treasury Announce Historic Federal Student Assistance Partnership. U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-and-us-department-of-treasury-announce-historic-federal-student-assistance-partnership ↩