Key student loan and aid programs may be eliminated or restructured if Trump follows through with cutting the Department of Education.

It’s hard to know how far the White House will go, but eliminating the agency could exacerbate student-loan chaos.

That description of the Education Department is "a red herring," said Mayotte. "If the Education Department was eliminated tomorrow, the loans would not go away, they would only be sent to a different agency. The department doesn't own the loans, the federal government and the U.S. taxpayer do," she said.