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U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 21, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
President Donald Trump said Friday that the Small Business Administration, instead of the U.S. Department of Education, would handle the country's federal student loan portfolio.
"We have a portfolio that is very large, lots of loans, tens of thousands of loans, pretty complicated deal,"
Trump said, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office. "That's coming out of the Department of Education immediately."
"They're all set for it," the president said of the SBA. "They're waiting for it."
Outstanding federal education debt exceeds $1.6 trillion, with more than 40 million Americans holding student loans.
Trump's announcement comes a day after he signed an executive order aimed at dismantling the Education Department. Only Congress can unilaterally eliminate the agency.
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