Musk’s student data access ‘latest front in education attacks’

Whether or not Elon Musk’s efficiency task force should retain its controversial access to federal student loan data is the latest front line in the Trump administration’s attacks on higher education, scholars have warned.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by the billionaire tech entrepreneur, has been temporarily blocked from accessing federal systems until 17 February following a lawsuit which alleges that sensitive student data was provided to DOGE in violation of the Privacy Act.

DOGE, which is also in the process of scrapping federal contracts as part of efforts to abolish the Department of Education (DfE), was previously able to see the personal information of tens of millions of Americans, including potentially social security numbers, dates of birth and contact information.

Brendan Cantwell, a Michigan State University professor of higher, adult and lifelong education, said there were concerns about whether the DOGE teams – which reportedly include staffers as young as 19 years old – have proper security clearance for accessing such sensitive information.

Their access could intentionally or accidentally disrupt the flow of federal financial aid, he warned, which would be “catastrophic for both students and institutions”.

“The upshot is that this is very bad news for American education. The best-case scenario is chaos, disruption, and eventually courts that restrain the illegal activity. The worst-case scenario is profound and lasting denigration of the country’s education system.”

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has described the accessing of 45 million people’s private student loan data by the world’s richest man and his “minions” as one of the biggest data hacks in US history.

But Professor Cantwell warned that DOGE’s activities extend beyond accessing data, and are part of wider efforts to shutter the entire department.

DOGE has bragged on X of its success in terminating 89 contracts worth $881 million (£700 million), and a further $101 million in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training grants – with much of the focus being on the Institute of Education Sciences (IES).

Andrew Rudalevige, professor of government at Bowdoin College, said the IES was created to make research into education outcomes more scientific – and was traditionally the part of the department of which conservatives approved.

He warned that Mr Musk wants to damage the entrenched bureaucracy, without realising he is impacting one of the US’ most competitive global industries.

“All this is worrying in general because it is yet another iteration of the Musk/DOGE team acting without any substantive knowledge about what they are doing...It is worrying specifically for those in higher education because it is another front in the Trump attack on the sector, especially as DOGE gains access to data on student loans and financial aid.”

Elizabeth Akers, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and an economist in the administration of George W. Bush, said it was unfair to characterise these efforts as being part of a campaign against higher education.

She said it was hard to imagine how this data could be used maliciously and saw the benefits of “disruption in delivering reform”.

“Musk has made crystal clear that he believes that there is a tremendous opportunity to make cuts within the federal workforce and agency operations that would enhance the function of government while also saving dollars for taxpayers.

“The current attention being paid to the DfE is motivated by these same principles.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com