As Bob Kuttner reported for the Prospect last week, former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau director Rich Cordray has been appointed chief operating officer of the office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), which manages the government’s $1.56 trillion student loan portfolio. This position was a major priority of the progressive left, and getting Cordray selected over the alternative candidates has to be seen as a victory.
For months, activists have been frustrated with a relatively slow pace of change at the Education Department. As Kuttner writes, with Cordray at FSA, a lot of initiatives can be accelerated, including fixing the appallingly dysfunctional Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, allowing more victims of for-profit colleges to cancel their loans, and ensuring that “totally and permanently disabled” students get loan forgiveness.
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