Amid President Donald Trump's threats to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and recent reports that Elon Musk's secretive government-slashing effort, the Department of Government Efficiency, had gained access to confidential student loan data, consumer advocates are issuing warnings to borrowers.
"Borrowers should immediately screenshot information, and download any and all data, from their dashboard at Studentaid.gov," said Persis Yu, deputy executive director and managing counsel at the Student Borrower Protection Center.
Here are the steps borrowers can take to protect themselves amid the uncertainty.
Gather student loan records ASAP
If the Trump administration is successful in dismantling key parts of the Education Department, the Treasury Department would be the next most logical agency to administer student debt, said Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, a nonprofit.
It's also possible that the Justice Department or the Department of Labor could carry out some of the Education Department's functions, according to a December blog post by The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
But the transfer of tens of millions of borrowers' account information between agencies would likely lead to errors, experts said. As a result, borrowers should gather the latest information on their student loan balance now, and keep an updated record of it, Yu said.
At Studentaid.gov, borrowers should be able to access data on their student loan balance and payment progress, Yu said. If you don't know which company services your student debt, you can find that information on that site, as well.
Borrowers should also request a complete payment history of their student loans if their debt has been transferred between companies in the past, Yu said. All this documentation will come in handy if your loan balance or payment history is reported inaccurately in the future.
Those who are pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness should certify their work history with the Education Department now, Yu said, "to ensure all eligible periods of employment count toward PSLF."(PSLF offers debt erasure for certain public servants after 10 years of payments, and borrowers have already long complained of inaccurate payment counts.)
Protecting your student loan data
Consumer and privacy advocates are also concerned by recent reports that Musk's DOGE had entered the Department of Education and gained access to federal student loan data on tens of millions of borrowers.
In a Feb. 6 letter signed by 16 Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chuck Schumer of New York, the lawmakers said that the Education Department's student loan database "contains millions of borrowers' highly sensitive information, including Social Security numbers, marital status, and income data."
That data "could be used to target financially vulnerable people for Musk's upcoming financial services company, could be easily breached, or abused in any number of ways," said Ben Winters, the director of artificial intelligence and privacy at the Consumer Federation of America.
A federal judge in Maryland on Monday granted a temporary restraining order barring DOGE staffers from accessing individuals' sensitive data at the Education Department until March 10 while a lawsuit unfolds.
Unfortunately, "it's nearly impossible to track a specific source of data, including how it's leaked or used or sold," Winters said. With that being said, people can check if certain information was included in a data breach on websites like, haveibeenpwned.com, he said.
Some services manage your online presence to try to limit where your data ends up, such as one offered by Discover, Winters said. Monitoring your credit score each month to ensure no unauthorized accounts have been opened in your name can also be useful, he added.
"Also carefully scan your card and account statements periodically," Winters said.
If you're worried about how your personal data with the Education Department may have been used, you can make a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau at consumerfinance.gov/complaint. You may also report it to your state's attorney general.
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