Richard Cordray has announced that he plans to resign as FSA’s Chief Operating Officer. Cordray’s announcement comes during a wave of intense public scrutiny over the numerous issues plaguing the 2024-25 FAFSA rollout and mounting pressure from congressional members who voiced their concerns during hearing a House Committee meeting earlier this month.
Though Cordray’s contract with the Department of Education was set to expire at the end of April, Secretary Cardona confirmed that the Cordray will continue in his role until the end of June. No further details about who will head Federal Student Aid is available at this time.
Statement from U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona:
“We are grateful for Rich Cordray’s three years of service, in which he accomplished more transformational changes to the student aid system than any of his predecessors. He undertook the work of fixing the broken student loan system programs like Public Service Loan Forgiveness and Income Driven Repayment, identifying 4 million borrowers who were eligible for loan forgiveness. He oversaw the development and implementation of the SAVE Plan, the most affordable way to repay your loans ever. He revitalized the FSA Enforcement Unit to hold schools accountable for cheating students and combated student loan scams. It’s no exaggeration to say that Rich helped change millions of lives for the better.
Rich will conclude his tenure at FSA at the end of June and will serve as Chief Operating Officer until then, in order to oversee the completion of key priorities within the organization. As his consequential tenure comes to an end, we thank Rich for his tireless work and commitment to provide the service that our students, families, and institutions deserve.”
In sharp contrast to Secretary Cardona’s statement, one of Cordray’s biggest critics, Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx, issued the following statement in response to Richard Cordray’s planned departure as the head of the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid:
“Finally, we have some good news from the Department of Education: Richard Cordray is leaving. Cordray will be remembered for his ineffective leadership, blatant partisanship, and his failures regarding FAFSA rollout and return to repayment. The Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid needs a leader that students, families, and institutions can rely on to put politics aside and faithfully administer the law. Mr. Cordray, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”