Today, President Trump is expected to sign an Executive Order (EO) directing Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education” (ED), the latest in a series of actions that have undermined the ability of students to access, afford, succeed, and feel secure in higher education.
The law is clear: neither the President nor the Secretary of Education has the authority to close the Department nor upend its fundamental mission, structure, and function. The true aim of this EO is to weaken many of the programs and rules upon which many students and families rely to ensure their well-being as part of a broader agenda to defund public higher education and strip away students’ civil rights protections.
Taken together, this order, along with the recent announcement of mass layoffs of ED employees, the shuttering of critical research programs, and decimation of many core oversight and accountability tools across the federal government, will erode educational access for our most marginalized students, diminish our current and future workforce, and sow chaos for the students who are simply trying to finance their degree programs.
Tens of millions of students, in every community in the U.S., rely on ED to deliver financial aid, administer student loans, fund programs that put higher education within reach, and protect their civil rights. The Department also administers billions of dollars in grant funding that address students’ basic needs and help replicate proven strategies at helping them overcome the many challenges they face in their educational pathways. It plays an irreplaceable role in fueling research designed to improve the lives of people in the U.S. and around the world. Put simply, it is impossible to maintain and run these programs effectively while decimating the Department’s core capacities.
Eliminating or deeply curtailing the ability of the Department to serve its mission will put higher education further out of reach for this and future generations, and erode the quality and experience of education for those who are enrolled. At a time of high prices, economic instability, and deep insecurity across the workforce, this exceedingly unpopular EO will do nothing to address families’ pain, nor will it address inequities across our higher education system or tackle the root causes of rising college prices. Rather, it will exacerbate basic needs insecurity at a time when 3-in-5 students struggle to afford basic necessities like food and housing, while making the system of financial aid, student supports, and public oversight less efficient and more confusing.
The Hope Center stands with our partners, Congressional leaders, and students across the country fighting to defend the mission and existence of the U.S. Department of Education and improve its ability to deliver vital services that help students meet their needs and follow their dreams.