Chaos has its costs, especially when chaos is a strategy. 

Unscrupulous businesses have made it a frequent practice. Make it hard to get information about bargains, refunds, whatever. Frustrated people will give up trying to get what is rightfully theirs. With Trump’s executive orders leaving hundreds of federal offices unstaffed, and with more federal agencies closing every day, citizens are finding it increasingly difficult to get answers to essential questions.

Let’s look at one frustrated group: former students enrolled in income-driven college loan repayment plans. These plans are based on deductions from a borrower’s income, and borrowers in this category have now been thrust into confusion. How much to pay? How to report changed financial situations?

The U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has not been officially closed because only Congress can do that. But Musk and DOGE have effectively put a stop to their services. Even before its virtual closure, the DOE had taken down online and paper applications for income-driven repayment plans, including those that existed before any Biden-era improvements. Whatever you think about the need for such improvements, it should go without saying that necessary payment information should be available to the nearly 43 million Americans who owe a total of $1.6 trillion in federal student loans as of the end of 2024, according to DOE data.

Student borrowers — and all citizens — have the right to contact their Congressional representatives and ask Congressional staff to open a casework file.

Borrowers enrolled in income-driven plans who lose their jobs would normally be entitled to a respite from repayment until they found other employment. Right now citizens have no way to document this change. Ironically, thousands of former government employees, many recent employees of the Department of Education itself, fall into this category as they confront life-changing circumstances.

Last week the DOE laid off nearly 50 percent of its staff nationwide: 1,300 fired plus approximately 600 who resigned voluntarily. The Philadelphia office, housed in the Wanamaker building, was entirely shuttered. Many laid-off employees undoubtedly hold student loans. How many? Ask Elon Musk, who has been digging into personnel files. (According to NBC10, more than 40 local DOE employees lost their jobs last week.)

I should point out that the DOE Philadelphia office was not a general information resource but an Office of Civil Rights (OCR), responsible for investigations into civil rights violations — about half of which involved students with disabilities. The department simultaneously closed the country’s six other OCR offices. The Trump administration last week announced threats to cut federal funding at 50 universities, including several Philadelphia area institutions — Temple, Drexel, Lafayette, Lehigh, Muhlenberg, Swarthmore and Rutgers — for alleged antisemitism. (Penn, although not singled out this time, has long been in the crosshairs.)

How will antisemitism be proven or disproven? How can legitimate investigations be conducted without experienced staff? Not only are student loans in chaos, civil rights protections are also in disarray. Antisemitism accusations are arbitrary.

Once again, chaos is the strategy.

What can student borrowers do?

While arbitrary accusations of antisemitism do irreparable harm to students, faculty, staff, and the Philadelphia community, universities singled out for investigation can call upon legal counsel to help distinguish actual areas that need improvement from false demagogic claims. But what can isolated student borrowers do to deal with phone numbers and email addresses no longer accessible at the Department of Education?

Under normal circumstances (and I do yearn for normal times!), I would suggest contacting university financial aid offices as a first line of help. But these offices cannot do any more than individuals can about disappearing websites and unanswered emails, texts and telephone calls. In addition, Trump’s threats to university funding have led to austerity staffing and hiring freezes that inevitably affect student and alumni services.

My suggestion: Call Congress!

Student borrowers — and all citizens — have the right to contact their Congressional representatives and ask Congressional staff to open a casework file. As reported by the Associated Press, Aissa Canchola Bañez, policy director at the Student Borrower Protection Center, suggests saying something like this: “I need your help to understand how to get into an affordable repayment option, which I’m entitled to under the law. Even though this federal department has taken down these applications, I need your help.”

Do not give up in frustration. Contact Congressional representatives and demand that they do their jobs.

And by the way, citizens who need answers on issues involving other silenced federal offices (Social Security, IRS, Library Services, and many more) should ask Congressional staff to pick up the slack. These actions will do more than possibly address individual problems. They will bring a sense of reality to U. S. representatives of both parties that citizens’ needs must be addressed. Maybe then members of Congress will go beyond constituent services to doing their jobs on a national scale.

Correction: A previous version of this post misstated the total amount of U.S. student loan debt. The correct amount is upwards of $1.6 trillion. 

Elaine Maimon, Ph.D., is an Advisor at the American Council on Education. She is the author of Leading Academic Change: Vision, Strategy, Transformation. Her long career in higher education has encompassed top executive positions at public universities as well as distinction as a scholar in rhetoric/composition. Her co-authored book, Writing In The Arts and Sciences, has been designated as a landmark text. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Association for Writing Across the Curriculum. Follow @epmaimon on X.

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