DOGE Digging into Our Data

How do Saint Mary's College of California students and faculty feel about their sensitive student loan and financial aid information being accessed by Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency?

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By Savana Harper, Wyatt Butler, & Emma Shaughnessy 
Visiting Columnists

​42 million Americans have had their privacy violated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), sparking controversy because about 12.5% of the U.S population with federal loans have had their student data accessed by Elon Musk. Because of the recent election, this has become a controversial development between students, the Department of Education, and the government. According to NBC News, a lawsuit was filed in February of 2025 by the University of California against the Department of
Education and its secretary. It states that DOGE takes advantage by capturing and maintaining sensitive personal and financial information, including name, birth, social security number, student loan account information, contact information, driver’s license number, financial information, and even personal and financial information for the parents of dependent student-loan applicants.

This highlights new ways student data is exposed and raises concerns because there is little knowledge of what DOGE is doing with this information. Finances can be a concern for families, and since this privacy is now violated, it will be interesting to see the extent of surveillance on students. Students are increasingly utilizing online platforms for both education and recreational activities; this brings attention to the campus of Saint Mary's, with current and admitted students because all information about themselves is given to data collecting companies.

Finding out how much of a concern this is for Saint Mary’s will be important in determining what steps this campus will take next in handling information. Hearing from the financial aid department specifically will give a broader scope of this issue because the success of Saint Mary’s financial aid and admissions offices depends on the federal funding from the U.S. government. Karla Henriquez, Associate Director of
Financial Aid, talked about her reaction to the issue. She states, “I mean, obviously it does [raise concern]. Anything that the new government is doing is very concerning and alarming. I mean, they have us in their hands with all [of] our information. I applaud Berkeley for doing what they did”.

There seems to be enough awareness in the department of the threat of DOGE handling college student information, however, this becomes more alarming because it is so new to the community. Henriquez states, “It's very superficial because we don't know what to do, it's all so new. We're talking about the fact that the Department of Education might go away”.

Kevin Brand, director of operations and systems for financial aid at Saint Mary’s, discusses how DOGE poses a threat to life here at SMC via students filing the FAFSA and receiving federal funding from the state for financial aid. Seeing as DOGE holds access to the amount of money the government can give out to students, Elon’s company is in control of students’ lives across the globe. Furthermore, this raises questions of whether students who do not apply for the FAFSA because of DOGE’s access to sensitive information such as migrant status, household income, etc. will even apply to small liberal arts schools with such a large tuition number. This factors into the admissions process here at Saint Mary’s and overall affects the number of students who decide to enroll in this institution. With ongoing growth in students’ hesitation to fill out the FAFSA, many families are being denied access to the financial aid they desire to send their children to university.

Saint Mary’s students also shared their insight on DOGE posing a threat to both their academic and personal well-being. Hayden Johnson, a second-year student expresses his worries regarding the ethics of DOGE. “ I just don't think four young adults should have such power and access to such a wide network of information they don't need to see...Because then, if the US government gives us access to that type of stuff, then what else are they going to give access to DOGE?”

While his concerns center around privacy, we also see issues centering around ethics. Emma Butler, a second-year student, discusses her thoughts on the matter. “I don’t like that [DOGE] is using and accessing personal information, obviously because that is confidential and private. So I would say that is concerning.”

As distress continues to rise with DOGE handling student data, Saint Mary’s continues to discover that their students are increasingly vulnerable to the exploitation of data. The effects of using these online platforms for student data goes beyond just DOGE handling it because professor at Saint Marys, Dr. Nolan Higon, stated how “even if they [Saint Marys] feel comfortable giving their data to an education company, that education company is probably owned by an investment firm or an equity firm and those companies are just creating tech platforms for the purpose of collecting data, not improving education and that should be made very clear to our students."
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