Head of the Department of Government Efficiency, Elon Musk, was in the Department of Education to audit spending. Students with federal loans are fearful that their personal information has been breached. But did Musk violate the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and if so, can students do anything about it?
What happened?
Controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk went into the Department of Education to perform an audit on their spending to raise efficiency. Following his audit, Musk decided to slash almost $1 billion of the DOE budget, $900 million of that going to research initiatives. Trump and Musk claim that this is because they wanted to cut overspending and make sure the DOE is following their Anti-DEI policies.
“What we are really trying to do is restore the will of the people through the president,” Musk said in an interview with Sean Hannity.
After this was announced, citizens with federal student loans began to worry that the contract that they had signed with the government for their loans was breached. They were worried that during this audit, Musk, who is not an elected official, was able to access their private information.
Breach of contract?
The first instance of talk of the breach started on the app TikTok. In a video by user scholarshipcollegemama, Laverne (the user) claimed that Musk and the government are breaking Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
“Elon Musk being around our sensitive private information is a definite breach of data and a violation of FERPA,” the user said.
This movement uses FERPA as a way to show that the government has been breaking the law. FERPA is a law that protects the educational data of every student in the U.S. It protects a student's financial information, grades, disciplinary actions and other important information. According to this movement, by Musk being able to access the DOE Financial information, DOGE has infringed upon their FERPA rights.
“When I signed my contract, I did not give Elon Musk permission to go and look at my financial information,” Elizabeth Lovelace, a student from Wittenberg University, said.
This has led to a large number of people putting in FERPA claims to DOE to try and get their student loans forgiven. Democratic Congress people have written a letter to the acting Secretary of the DOE asking for clarification of whether a FERPA claim really works here. It has 18 signatures on it. They are concerned not only with a FERPA risk, but also due to Trump's previous talks of abolishing the DOE.
“The Department may also violate the Privacy Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552a, which, absent permission from the affected individuals, generally prohibits the disclosure of such information and requires agencies to follow rules of conduct and maintain systems with appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards,” the letter said.
“We are especially troubled by this reporting given President Trump’s stated pledge to abolish the Department. Efforts to abolish the Department have sparked fear and uncertainty for students, families, and teachers across the country who rely on the agency for critical financial aid, loans, grants and other assistance.”
The big question remains: can your student loans be forgiven if you file a FERPA complaint?
Is the FERPA complaint effective?
In short, probably not. A spokesperson for the DOE claimed that there was no wrongdoing in a statement on X.
“FSA has not engaged in any activities that would expose your data through unauthorized or unlawful means. We are subject to all Federal Government and U.S. Department of Education record retention laws and standards, including the Privacy Act of 1974. FSA is committed to safeguarding your personal information by adhering to all applicable laws around the management of customer data,” the spokesperson said.
So it is very unlikely that anything will actually come from this entire scandal. While it is currently unclear if DOGE truly falls under the privacy act, there is a low chance that any of the people who filed claims will have their loans forgiven.
“It sucks,” Lovelace said about the DOE’s statement. “We are at the mercy of our government that can just make up rules whenever they feel like it."
