Warren Calls on Government Watchdog to Investigate How Trump’s ED Dismantling Will Lead to More For-Profit College Fraud

Skip to primary navigation Skip to content × Close Mobile Nav About About Elizabeth Committee Assignments About Massachusetts Voting Record Contact Share Your Opinion Help with a Federal Agency Office Locations Send me Updates Share Your CFPB Story Save Our Schools Services Help with a Federal Agency Return to Repayment Guide Visiting DC/Tours Flag Request Internships Meeting Requests Academy Nominations Special Recognitions Grants Small Businesses Veterans, Servicemembers and Military Families FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act Requests FY 2027 Appropriations Requests Oversight Reports Letters Social Security War Room Save Our Schools Campaign Legislation Newsroom News Coverage Press Releases Op-Eds Videos × Close Site Search search Elizabeth Warren Senator Elizabeth Warren's Facebook Page (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's BlueSky (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Twitter (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Youtube (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Instagram (This link opens in new window or tab.) About About Elizabeth Committee Assignments About Massachusetts Voting Record Contact Share Your Opinion Help with a Federal Agency Office Locations Send me Updates Share Your CFPB Story Save Our Schools Services Help with a Federal Agency Return to Repayment Guide Visiting DC/Tours Flag Request Internships Meeting Requests Academy Nominations Special Recognitions Grants Small Businesses Veterans, Servicemembers and Military Families FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act Requests FY 2027 Appropriations Requests Oversight Reports Letters Social Security War Room Save Our Schools Campaign Legislation Newsroom News Coverage Press Releases Op-Eds Videos Español Close Search Open Search Popup Popup Search Close Search Popup MENU Senator Elizabeth Warren's Facebook Page (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's BlueSky (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Twitter (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Youtube (This link opens in new window or tab.) Senator Elizabeth Warren's Instagram (This link opens in new window or tab.) Home Newsroom Press Releases May 21, 2026 Warren Calls on Government Watchdog to Investigate How Trump’s ED Dismantling Will Lead to More For-Profit College Fraud Text of Letter (PDF) Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to open a new investigation into whether the Trump administration's dismantling of the Department of Education (ED) is harming ED’s ability to root out waste, fraud, and abuse of Title IV financial aid funds. “[These] antifraud efforts are needed to safeguard taxpayer dollars: they ensure students receive the financial aid they are entitled to, combat deceptive practices that steer students towards predatory programs, and deter bad actors from compromising the affordability and accessibility of higher education,” wrote Senator Warren . In January 2025, the Trump administration fired or forced out roughly half of ED staff as part of its efforts to illegally dismantle the agency. ED’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) alone lost about 46 percent of its employees, including workers who were responsible for overseeing colleges that received Title IV funding — federal financial aid for higher education, such as Pell Grants and Direct Loans — to combat the abuse of those funds. Prior to the staffing cuts, ED’s monitoring of colleges receiving Title IV funds included independent compliance audits, program reviews for schools at risk of noncompliance, and investigations of potential misconduct. This allowed ED to penalize colleges for violations such as failing to return credit balances they owe to students, miscalculating students’ Pell grant amounts, or lying to students about their degree programs’ employment outcomes or costs. Under the Biden administration, for-profit colleges — which have a long record of disproportionately engaging in fraudulent activities — were the subject of the majority of FSA’s enforcement. “[T]he prospect of a reduction in FSA’s enforcement activity is especially concerning in light of recent Trump administration policies that are poised to boost the growth of for-profit colleges,” said Senator Warren . “To better understand the extent to which the Trump administration’s cuts to FSA will enable waste, fraud, and abuse of financial aid funds and harm students, I ask GAO to [investigate],” concluded the senator . She asked the watchdog to investigate whether the staffing cuts at ED have led to more financial aid fraud, how much that fraud has cost taxpayers, and how that fraud has affected students. Senator Warren has led the fight to make our higher education system more affordable, cancel student loan debt, and hold student loan servicers accountable for incompetence an