Listener supported WNYC Studios.

It's the Brian Laird Show on WNYC.

Good morning again, everyone.

You've been hearing the news of the Trump executive order to begin dismantling the U.S. Department of Education.

It would take an act of Congress to abolish it officially,

but Trump and his education secretary, Linda McMahon, are downsizing to the extent that they say is allowed by law that involves

telling half the staff to stop doing their work and much more.

And it has many potential implications for American students at various levels.

We will focus primarily now on the implications for people with student loans with Annie Nova, CNBC personal finance reporter focusing on education,

who's been reporting on this.

Annie, thanks for coming on. Welcome to WNYC.

Thanks for having me.

And listeners, we're inviting your questions about student loan programs as the Federal Department of Education gets dismantled.

212-433, WNYC, or your stories that might help others.

212, 433-9-692, stories or questions for Annie Nova from CNBC, 212, 433-9-6-992, about student loans in the era of shutting down the

education department.

You quote consumer advocates who say this couldn't come at a worse time for student borrowers.

Why is that?

Yeah, exactly.

So to take a step back for a minute, President Joe Biden forgave more student debt than any other president in history.

And yet, believe it or not, outstanding federal education loans still grew while he was in office.

So Americans owe more today on student debt than they did four years ago despite that historic forgiveness.

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