As problems with the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid persist into the spring, harsh words are being directed at the US Department of Education.
Former top student loan official Wayne Johnson accused the Education Department of “malicious negligence” in a March 7 letter written to US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and other senior officials and shared with CNBC.
“Continuing to whitewash this evolving calamity with ‘corporate style crises management PR’ is extraordinarily irresponsible,” wrote Johnson, who served as the chief operating officer of the Office of Federal Student Aid from 2017 until 2019 and is now running for Congress.
“Each of you is personally and collectively responsible for what is manifesting to be a level of incredible harm inflicted upon students and schools,” Johnson wrote.
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Johnson had a “brief” tenure as COO of FSA, a department spokesperson told CNBC of his correspondence, “during which time none of the changes he now talks about were successfully implemented.”
“We will also note that the FAFSA
