Wealthy Cordray will step down because the chief working officer of the U.S. Division of Training’s Federal Scholar Help workplace on the finish of June, in accordance with a Friday announcement from the company.
Cordray has been beneath mounting strain to depart as head of the FSA workplace amid its bumpy rollout of the brand new Free Software for Federal Scholar Help, or FAFSA.
The revamped kind’s debut has been marred by a number of delays and technical glitches, resulting in issues that fewer college students will full the FAFSA and doubtlessly forgo faculty altogether. Many faculties have additionally pushed again their conventional scholar dedication deadlines of Might 1 amid the delays.
Some Republicans criticized Cordray throughout a listening to earlier this month over the FAFSA rollout. Lawmakers from each main events panned the revamped kind’s debut.
Through the listening to, Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Republican from Wisconsin, requested one of many monetary support consultants referred to as to testify if anybody on the Training Division ought to lose their jobs over the rollout.
“If there was a monetary support director or perhaps a faculty president that delayed monetary support on their campus for as much as six months, the skilled worth that may be paid for that may be fairly steep,” replied Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the Nationwide Affiliation of Scholar Monetary Help Directors.
Through the listening to, Republicans additionally accused the Training Division of specializing in scholar mortgage cancellation to the detriment of the FAFSA rollout. The FSA workplace oversees the Training Division’s $1.6 trillion scholar mortgage portfolio together with its monetary support packages. The Republican-led committee referred to as for Cordray’s outster in a social media publish on X, previously often called Twitter.
The editorial board of The Wall Road Journal equally criticized Cordray for the bumpy FAFSA debut and the way the division dealt with the restart of scholar mortgage funds after a pandemic-era freeze.
“He has but to apologize for any of this,” the board wrote. “If Mr. Cordray have been a CEO, he’d have been sacked way back, however in authorities nobody is ever held accountable.”
U.S. Training Secretary Miguel Cardona sang a distinct tune in a Friday assertion, praising Cordray for his work.
Cardona referred to as out Cordray’s efforts to determine debtors eligible for scholar debt aid and implement the division’s new income-driven compensation plan. He additionally pointed to Cordray’s revitalization of FSA’s enforcement unit, which investigates faculties for potential federal monetary support violations.
“It’s no exaggeration to say that Wealthy helped change thousands and thousands of lives for the higher,” Cardona stated.
Cordray stepped into the position in 2021. Beforehand, Cordray labored as the primary director of the Shopper Monetary Safety Bureau and because the legal professional common of Ohio.
