Former Ohio governor candidate leaving Biden administration

NBC4’s Colleen Marshall interviews Richard Cordray in 2022 in the video player above.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A former Ohio attorney general announced this week that he will be stepping down from his position in the Biden administration.

Richard Cordray wrote in a letter Friday that he would not return for another three-year term as the chief operating officer for Federal Student Aid (FSA), part of the U.S. Department of Education overseeing the government’s student loan program.

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A one-time gubernatorial candidate (he lost to Mike DeWine in 2018), Cordray assumed his role with FSA in May 2021, with his time in the position coming to an official end next week. He did state in the letter that he would stay on through June to help with the department’s transition.

During his time with FSA, Cordray led the department in giving more than 4 million Americans $153 billion in student loan forgiveness and helped set up the department’s repayment plan after a 3 1/2-year layoff due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the last few months, changes to how FSA allowed students to apply for financial aid have been plagued with delays and technical glitches, causing frustration for students looking to afford college and schools looking to settle their enrollment for the coming school year.

The department averages about $1.6 trillion a year in federal student loans.

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Before joining the FSA, Cordray served as the first director of the newly-created United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, appointed by President Barack Obama in 2012 and serving until 2017.

Cordray was a five-time Jeopardy! champion in 1987 and appeared on the show again during the Tournament of Champions and Battle of the Decades Tournament.

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