WARREN PRESSES FOR GAO PROBE

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is asking the Government Accountability Office to investigate how staffing cuts at the Education Department will impact its ability to investigate fraud, Rebecca writes in.

Beginning in January 2025, the Federal Student Aid office lost about 46 percent of its employees, according to a GAO report released in March. Warren raised concerns in a letter Wednesday to the government watchdog about how well equipped that leaves the office to monitor colleges through routine audits and investigations into schools suspected of misconduct.

“Such antifraud efforts are needed to safeguard taxpayer dollars: they ensure students receive the financial aid they are entitled to, combat deceptive practices that steer students toward predatory programs, and deter bad actors from compromising the affordability and accessibility of higher education,” Warren wrote.

The Federal Student Aid office has launched a major hiring effort, aiming to bring on 334 full-time employees by 2027, but it’s unclear how many of those employees may be working on fraud prevention efforts.

…

Read the full story here.

• Print
• Email
• Tweet