Federal Student Aid head will step down. His office has been roiled by FAFSA problems

The head of the Federal Student Aid office, which has faced criticism for the botched rollout of this year’s college financial aid form, will be stepping down.

The head of the Federal Student Aid office, which has faced criticism for the botched rollout of this year’s college financial aid form, will be stepping down. According to a letter to staff obtained by CNN, Richard Cordray said Friday that he will not be continuing in his role for another three-year term. He has served as the chief operating officer of FSA in the Department of Education since May 4, 2021, and will stay on through June to help with the transition. The announcement of Cordray’s departure comes as his office has been under fire for problems with a new version of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, released late last year. Delays and technical glitches have kept millions of students waiting to hear how much college will cost them this fall and have raised concerns that some low-income students won’t enroll at all. Earlier this month, Cordray became a focus of a hearing held by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce about the FAFSA rollout. “If there was a financial aid director, or even a college president, that delayed financial aid on their campus for up to six months, the professional price that would be paid for that would be pretty steep,” Justin Draeger, president of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators, told lawmakers. The committee, led by Republican Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, later posted to X that “It’s time for Richard Cordray to go.”