The U.S. Department of Education is facing plans to close or dismantle functions, even as the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) is hiring for its student-loan operations. Internal documents obtained by NPR show FSA is adding roughly 380 workers, even after the department lost about half its staff in a reduction-in-force. FSA oversees communications with about 43 million borrowers and manages key processes tied to FAFSA and repayment plans. The staffing move highlights a tension between workforce reductions in parts of the department and the operational need to keep the nation’s large federal student loan portfolio running. The hiring while the department is being dismantled raises governance questions for colleges and servicers who rely on stable federal processing, borrower communications, and system reliability during a period when federal leadership and capacity are in flux.