On the campaign trail, President Trump promised to do away with the U.S. Department of Education, leaning on a Republican mantra that the federal government meddles too much in decisions that are better left to state officials. But a very different philosophy prevailed in Washington during the presidency of Joe Biden, who embraced student-debt relief as a key priority and leaned on the education department to execute a bold — if not always successful — agenda. In an exit interview with The Chronicle, the Biden administration’s under secretary of education, James Kvaal, reflects on the department’s work, its failures, and the future of Democratic higher-ed policy.

• Closing the Department of Education? (4:16 - 7:25) 
• Biden and student-debt relief (7:25 - 11:14)
• Is debt relief dead? (11:17 - 14:20) 
• FAFSA failure (14:55 - 22:45)
• Public confidence in higher ed (22:46 - 23:56)
• Abandoning college for all? (23:56 - 26:07)
• Culture wars, discrimination, critiques of higher ed (26:08 - 31:32)  

Related Reading:

• Biden’s Debt-Cancellation Plan Draws Praise and Skepticism
• $189 Billion in Student-Loan Forgiveness (The Washington Post)
• What the FAFSA Just Happened? (College Matters from The Chronicle) 

Guest: James Kvaal, former under secretary of education

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.