Biography headshot of Michael Cagle
Michael
Cagle
Acting Director, Policy Innovation and Dissemination Group

Michael began working for the U.S. Department of Education, Federal Student Aid in 1994. During that time, he has served as an Institutional Review Specialist, Institutional Improvement Specialist, Quality Assurance Program Management Analyst, Experimental Sites Management Analyst, and Program Specialist. He is the Acting Director of the Policy Innovation and Dissemination (PID) Group, which is responsible for the annual publication of the Federal Student Aid Handbook and oversees the Experimental Sites Initiative. Michael has been in the Seattle office for his entire government career.

Michael has worked on several projects while at FSA, including the FSA Assessments, the Quality Assurance Program, and the Experimental Sites Initiative almost since the program’s inception. Prior to assuming his current role, he worked as a Program Specialist in PID and was responsible for Volume 2 of the Federal Student Aid Handbook, the Foreign Schools Handbook, the New School Guide, and the FSA Assessments. He also worked as the policy subject matter expert in the areas of institutional eligibility, state authorization, and change in ownership. He currently works with other colleagues on the implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act, specifically the Pell for incarcerated student provisions, which allow otherwise eligible confined or incarcerated individuals to receive Federal Pell Grants while enrolled in eligible prison education programs.

Prior to joining FSA, Michael worked in the financial aid office at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA for more than 10 years, including his time as a work-study student in that office.

Michael grew up in Spokane. He enjoys running, working in the yard, traveling, and discovering the numerous wineries in Washington state and the west coast.