IF THE Trump administration can claim to have done anything in its early months, it is making shifts in executive policy on issues from health care to climate change to immigration. One that deserves more attention, considering the influence it will have on Americans’ lives, is a change in student loan policy at the Education Department, under the leadership of Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The department is in a crucial stage of a years-long effort to change the way millions of student borrowers interact with their lender, the federal government. Though the funding is public, the Education Department uses private companies as its loan servicers, asking a handful of firms to help collect payments, keep borrowers on track and inform them of opportunities to enroll in favorable repayment programs. These servicers used to play a larger role, benefiting from a sweetheart arrangement that allowed them to serve as middlemen in the subsidized-loan system. The Obama administration cleaned up the previous, irrational system, but kept the companies on as servicers to quiet complaints.

By many accounts, they have not done a great job, even in their diminished role. “Borrowers assigned to the largest student loan servicers may encounter widespread problems, whether these borrowers are trying to get ahead or struggling to keep up with their student debt,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s student loan ombudsman wrote in October, citing complaints of poor communication, botched payment handling, inadequate enrollment in income-driven repayment plans and other basic shortcomings. The CFPB has even joined two state attorneys general in suing Navient, a massive player in the student loan servicing business.

Yet it is too easy simply to blame the companies. Without government oversight or market forces compelling them to provide good service, they have every incentive to skimp. The Obama administration decided the answer was to standardize major parts of the loan servicing process, creating a single online portal for borrowers and pressing companies to meet common standards.

But Ms. DeVos last week stepped into this effort, revoking several guidances that the Education Department issued late in President Barack Obama’s second term. Among the accountability measures she cut, for example, was a declaration that servicers’ past performance must be a primary factor in awarding a massive government contract to build the new federal loans portal. This recision was widely taken as a favor to Navient, which seeks that contract.

It is still unclear whether Ms. DeVos’s moves were the prelude to a bigger shift toward a more functional, yet-to-be-announced system or the ominous sign many critics took it to be. Students should be able to choose among loan servicers — rather than simply being forced to accept one — which would pressure companies to address borrowers’ needs. Real accountability measures should be key parts of the contracts the government signs with servicers. Borrowers should also be able to enroll easily in income-based repayment programs and sign up for automatic payroll deductions that remove uncertainty and worry about what they owe and when. We hope Ms. DeVos plans to push for more ambitious reform, not less.