Oversight of the Trump Administration’s Use of AI In Federal Student Aid Programs
Student Defense formally launched a widespread investigation into the Trump administration’s use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across federal programs serving students and student loan borrowers on March 5, 2026.
The investigation’s foundation is Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation. Student Defense is requesting information from the federal government to confirm whether federal processes such as student assistance, oversight, rulemaking, and benefits administration are being secretly outsourced to AI without safeguards.
The goal is to ensure the government is fulfilling its legal responsibilities to more than 42 million federal student loan borrowers. This includes providing proper resources for borrowers to navigate the complexities of the system, and guaranteeing that their sensitive information is not being shared with external AI companies. It also aims to ensure staff using AI to outsource responsibilities in the federal government are properly trained.
The full list of FOIA requests is listed below, by date of submission:
August 5, 2025: The use of DOGE’s AI Tool at the Department of Education
August 5, 2025: The use of DOGE’s AI Tool at the Department of Education ctd.
August 5, 2025: The use of DOGE’s AI Tool at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
September 16, 2025: The use of AI in Public Service Loan Forgiveness rulemaking
October 2, 2025: The use of AI in the rulemaking more broadly
January 21, 2026: The extent to which AI companies are providing tools to ED to analyze student data
February 12, 2026: The extent to which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is using AI, including the impact on veterans’ education benefits.
February 24, 2026: The use of AI in Title IV rulemaking
February 24, 2026: The use of AI in Title IV rulemaking ctd.
March 2, 2026: The scope and extent of AI systems and tools employed by the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman’s Office
March 2, 2026: The policies and procedures governing the use of AI systems by the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman’s Office
March 2, 2026: The records to gain insight into the implementation of AI tools by the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman’s Office
For more information about this investigation, click here.
Read the press release about the investigation here.
Federal employees and contractors are encouraged to submit information about how AI tools are being used across agencies through our contact page.
