The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it will task the U.S. Department of the Treasury with collecting on defaulted student loans.
Currently, the U.S. Department of Education oversees the country’s nearly $1.7 trillion federal education debt portfolio, held by roughly 42 million borrowers.
The joint announcement from the two agencies said that the Treasury Department would take on more duties related to federal student debt over time, eventually providing “operational support” on current loans.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he intends to dismantle the Education Department and to transfer education authority to the states. In a statement, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said the partnership with Treasury is a “historic step toward breaking up the Federal education bureaucracy.”
Some student loan borrowers may see more direct and immediate impacts from the change than others.
