WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Federal Student Aid is adding around 380 new workers, according to internal documents, after the office lost roughly half its staff in last year's reduction-in-force. The office manages the nation's $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio, communications with the nation's 43 million borrowers, repayment plans, and the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

At an internal all-staff meeting in April, employees were told the office has 731 full-time equivalent staff and needs to hire an additional 334 to meet its target. The office had 1,440 full-time equivalent staff before the current administration, and has hired 52 new workers since September. None of the new hires are former employees returning to their old jobs.

"What these job postings confirm is what we've known all along: Our jobs matter. And [our jobs] are needed in order for our federal student loan system to function adequately for borrowers," said Rachel Gittleman, president of AFGE Local 252.

Gittleman said the postings correspond to previously eliminated roles. "All of the jobs that we have seen postings for since September of last year can be traced to a job that was terminated or, in a certain few scenarios, a job that was subject to a deferred resignation or retirement program," she said.

A Government Accountability Office investigation found that, right before last year's cuts, the office stopped reviewing the accuracy of loan servicers' records and recordings of borrower calls. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has also initiated ten new interagency agreements to offload the department's work to other federal agencies, including moving Federal Student Aid responsibilities to the Treasury Department.

"Sometimes you cut into the muscle and you cut a little too deep. Not a lot, but we did find that we cut a little bit deep," McMahon said. In a March letter, she wrote, "For too long, Americans have shouldered the consequences of poor leadership and persistent mismanagement of our federal student aid portfolio. Today's actions reclaim integrity and accountability for you, the American people."

At a Senate hearing, McMahon said department personnel were continuing their work from other agencies. "It is the same people from the Department of Education that are at the Department of Labor. … It's dealing with the same people that you've known at the Department of Education that are located somewhere else," she said. Sen. Tammy Baldwin responded: "You are sending Department of Education employees to work at other agencies to administer the same programs from different buildings."

A former Federal Student Aid staffer said the new application process includes questions about an applicant's commitment to the Constitution, improving government efficiency, and advancing the President's agenda, citing one prompt: "How would you help advance the President's Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role?" The former staffer said, "I feel as though they want you to show loyalty to this administration," adding, "We just want our jobs. We took an oath to serve the public, and that's what we want to do."