Student group sues Education Department over reported DOGE access to financial aid databases

University of California students on Friday sued the federal Education Department to stop members of Elon Musk’s government technology team from accessing federal student financial aid databases, which house sensitive information belonging to more than 42 million Americans.

The Musk group, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has reportedly deployed about 20 workers to the Education Department, where they are said to have accessed multiple sensitive systems, including one storing data belonging to students participating in the federal government’s student financial aid program. 

About 13% of the U.S. population holds a federal student loan, the lawsuit says. 

The plaintiffs, the University of California Student Association — which serves all of the system’s campuses statewide — argue that the access granted to DOGE by acting Secretary of Education Denise Carter violates the federal Privacy Act and the Internal Revenue Code.

The Department of Education stores highly sensitive data belonging not only to student loan borrowers but also to their parents and spouses, the lawsuit says. 

The data stored includes Social Security number (SSN), date of birth, student loan account information, contact information and driver’s license number, according to the lawsuit. The Department of Education also captures and retains demographic information such as veteran, marital and citizenship status as well as information on borrowers’ assets and income.

“In seeking federal financial assistance to further their dreams of higher education,

students are not asked to agree, and do not agree, that ED [the Education Department] can share their sensitive information for purposes other than loan processing and servicing,” the lawsuit says. 

A spokesperson for the Education Department said the agency does not comment on pending litigation. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The department tells students their data is protected, says the lawsuit, which was brought on the students behalf by Public Citizen Litigation Group and National Student Legal Defense Network. 

The lawsuit highlights the lack of public disclosure about what DOGE is doing, emphasizing that the Education Department has given DOGE access to the sensitive data without any public announcement. 

Given the secrecy surrounding DOGE’s efforts, borrowers whose information and whose family members' information is stored have no way of knowing whether their data is being shared outside of the department and how it is being used, the lawsuit says.

“The scale of the intrusion into individuals’ privacy is enormous and unprecedented,” the lawsuit says. “People who take out federal student loans to afford higher education should not be

forced to share their sensitive information with ‘DOGE.’ And federal law says they do not have to.”