The risk of the Department of Education being abolished
Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons
The Department of Education is crucial to our success as students. This decision has the ability to affect everyone in academia.
Donald Trump celebrated his victory in the 2024 US presidential election and graced the American people with his ultimate goals for the next four years in a lengthy video. In this video, Trump expressed that his primary goal is mass deportation, altering the role of the Department of Justice, ending inflation, abolishing gender-affirming care, and eliminating the Department of Education (DE).
On Sept. 13, 2023, Trump released a video explaining his plan to shut down the DE and, ultimately, send all education needs back to the states. On his platform, Trump further enunciates this plan as he aims to “cut federal funding for any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.” Trump and other Republicans have claimed that the DE has pushed a woke ideology in K-12 schools, specifically targeting pressing topics like race, sex, and gender. Trump has criticized President Joe Biden’s administration for protecting the teaching of sexual orientation and sexual identity in schools and has advocated for universal school choice.
The Department of Education was founded in 1979. Its mission is to ensure that every student gets the education they deserve regardless of their background. The federal agency oversees school funding, administers student loans and federal student aid programs, and establishes programs that help low-income students succeed. This heavily affects K-12 schools and higher education programs. The abolishment of the DE would be catastrophic.
The DE also awards millions of student grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans. Without the Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), one of the largest providers of student financial aid, students' chances of receiving Pell Grants, federal student loans, and work-study programs would significantly decrease. We must consider the number of families this will affect and the number of students who may be unable to afford a college education because their federal funding has suddenly been cut.
If the DE is abolished, the future of FAFSA will also suffer. Higher education students will not only have reduced access to federal funding but may also rely more on private loans to get them through college, putting them at risk of falling into larger degrees of debt. This will make college unaffordable for millions of students, especially those from a low-income background. This may add to the already existing gap in who can gain college access.
The good thing is that Trump may not be able to put his plan into full effect. There is no need to hold your breath just yet. This is not the first time a politician has threatened the DE and put millions of families and students in danger. During Ronald Reagan's campaign, he also challenged the DE with hopes of dismantling the agency. He only backed down due to opposition from Congress. Trump would need congressional approval, and 60 out of 100 senators would also need to approve this vote.
The chances of this result happening are slim, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that this idea has been pushed by Trump and other Republicans who continue to follow his lead gleefully.