One of the top higher-education officials in the Bush administration, Jeffrey R. Andrade, has resigned, little more than a year after he became the Education Department's deputy assistant secretary for postsecondary education.

In an interview on Friday, Mr. Andrade said that he had decided to leave after William D. Hansen,
the department's deputy secretary, announced in June that he would step down (The Chronicle, June 20). Mr. Andrade had served as a special adviser to Mr. Hansen before becoming deputy assistant secretary.

Mr. Andrade's last day on the job was Friday. He declined to say whether he had another job lined up.

"I have a lot of respect for Sally Stroup and Wilbert Bryant and the staff that worked for me," Mr. Andrade said. "I enjoyed working with them and look forward to doing so in the future." Ms. Stroup is the assistant secretary for postsecondary education, and Mr. Bryant is the deputy assistant secretary for higher-education programs.

Mr. Andrade had previously worked at the Education Department from 1987 to 1998, when he became a professional staff member for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce. Before returning to the department, he headed his own consulting firm, which focused primarily on postsecondary and education-finance issues. Among his most prominent clients was the Career College Association, a national advocacy group for for-profit colleges.

The news of Mr. Andrade's departure surprised higher-education lobbyists but did not induce many tears. Relations between them and Mr. Andrade were often chilly, and many of them often referred to him as a bully.

For example, at a meeting last year between department officials and higher-education advocates, Mr. Andrade reportedly lost his temper and got into a heated confrontation with Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president for government and public affairs at the American Council on Education, over the issue of college quality (The Chronicle, September 20, 2002).

Department officials acknowledged Friday that they had received a letter of resignation from Mr. Andrade, but they said they "do not comment on personnel matters."