Michael Ruggless, Ph.D.

Headshot Michael Ruggless
Michael
Ruggless, Ph.D.
Program Specialist & Data Policy Lead, Policy Implementation and Oversight

Michael has been with the Department since 2019, where he developed Federal Student Aid’s (FSAs) training program for new financial aid administrators for the annual FSA Training Conference and worked to support the policy administration and implementation of Campus-Based Programs. Before joining FSA, Michael began his career in higher education as a graduate assistant and financial aid administrator at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE). Since then, he spent nearly a decade as a financial aid administrator at Saint Louis University and Johns Hopkins University. Michael is currently a program specialist and data policy lead in FSA’s Policy Implementation and Oversight group, where his policy portfolio and research largely focus on the use of FAFSA® data and federal tax information (FTI) under the Internal Revenue Code, Higher Education Act, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, and the Privacy Act. He is also a subject matter expert on approval and consent for purposes of the FAFSA and income-driven repayment forms as well as other Title IV, HEA program policy areas of student consumer information, cybersecurity, FSA ID, SAIG Agreements, and the execution of matching programs and system of record notices under the Privacy Act. The scope of his work broadens to include policy and implementation activities under the FUTURE Act, FAFSA Simplification Act, and the STOP Act. Michael earned his B.S. in social science and secondary education and M.S. in curriculum and instruction at SIUE. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Saint Louis University in 2023. His doctoral research focused on institutional development of cost of attendance at American colleges and universities. His research interests include policy implementation of student financial aid programs, FAFSA and FTI data use, the development of cost of attendance, and college pricing.