On March 14, Acting Under Secretary of Education James Bergeron sent a letter to higher education stakeholders, providing important updates on the Trump administration’s reduction in force (RIF) order. The letter outlines unaffected offices and programs, the targeted reductions, the anticipated changes moving forward, and encourages institutions to forward their questions to FSA’s new CaseTeams@ed.gov address.
Here are the key takeaways:
Reduction in Force Overview
- President Trump initiated this RIF as part of his commitment to return education to individual states
- The RIF will streamline duplicative functions and eliminating bureaucratic barriers
- Each reduction is specifically targeted at offices or programs that do not directly impact students and families
- The workforce reduction will cut the overall number of employees from 4,133 to approximately 2,183
- Of the impacted employees, 259 accepted the Deferred Resignation Program and 313 chose to accept the Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment
- The reduction goes into goes into effect on March 21, 2025
Offices Unaffected by the RIF
- Federal Student Aid (FSA)
- Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)
- Office of Higher Education Programs (HEP)
- Office of Policy, Planning, and Innovation (PPI)
- Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE)
- Division of Academic and Technical Administration (DATE)
Programs and Services Continuing Without Disruption
- Federal Student Aid: Employees overseeing core FAFSA and student loan servicing functions will not be affected by the reduction
- Office of Higher Education Programs: Funding will continue as planned for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs), Community colleges, TRIO programs, and Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP)
Impacted Offices and Programs
- Certain regional offices and staff that administered program reviews, changes in ownership, and program participation agreements. These responsibilities will eventually be transferred to other offices and experts
- International and Foreign Language Education functions will be overseen by qualified HEP staff
Important FAFSA Reminders
- In a separate press release, FSA provided important updates for the application:
- FSA has received 8 million 2025-26 FAFSA applications as of March 17th
- October 1, 2025 is still the expected release date for the 2026-27 FAFSA form.
- The 60-day comment period for public input on the upcoming FAFSA ends on April 7, 2025
- For any questions, stakeholders can email FSA at their new address: CaseTeams@ed.gov
Access the full letter here: Acting Under Secretary James Bergeron Letter to Education Stakeholders
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