As the country prepares for Donald Trump’s second term as president of the United States, a looming question on many minds is what will happen to higher education when he takes office. During his 2024 campaign, Trump’s platform for higher education included promises to make “colleges and universities sane and affordable” and “to bring Education in the United States to the highest level, one that it has never attained before.” But what could that actually mean for current and future college students?
During his first term, Trump took many actions toward reshaping higher education. He rolled back key Obama-era regulations that protected students against predatory colleges, instituted policies that made it harder for international students to study in the U.S., signed a 1.4% tax on the income on university endowments, and targeted affirmative action with the release of his “1776 Report,” which compared progressivism to facism. (Affirmative action would later be ended by the Supreme Court in 2023). In a move that may have seemed to counter his aforementioned actions, he also signed legislation that provided increased funding to historically Black colleges.
It appears higher ed will be an even bigger focus for Trump in his second term — and many are concerned about this. For starters, to help set his plans for education in motion, Trump announced politician, business exec, and former professional wrestling performer Linda McMahon as his pick for education secretary, a choice that has been scrutinized by the National Education Association due to McMahon’s lack of experience in the field of education (among other concerns). Her primary career expertise is helping run the WWE and incorrectly saying that she had a bachelor’s degree in education.
And McMahon is just the tip of the iceberg. Below, check out Trump’s major plans for higher education, according to the 2024 GOP agenda, and the potential financial, social, and organizational impacts current and future college students should watch out for after he takes office on Jan. 20, 2025.
1. Close — or significantly defund — the Department of Education
The federal ED is in charge of maintaining curriculum standards and funding higher education financial aid, like Pell grants, FAFSA, and other student loans. This department is also responsible for the funding that is appropriated to the states to support public schools and students with disabilities under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
While cutting federal funding to schools might not initially appear to be a concern specific to higher education, there are several academies that the federal government funds, in addition to research grants provided to top universities like Johns Hopkins, MIT, Stanford, and more. Private colleges also receive federal funding indirectly through federal student aid programs. The current government funding for universities is estimated to be $243 billion, according to industry reports.
Trump’s call to abolish — or, at least, significantly defund — the ED is not a new point on the Republican agenda. According to Ed Week, it’s been a point of contention since the department’s inception back in 1979 and, to date, no president has come close to fulfilling their goal of shuttering it. During his first term, Trump previously tried to reduce the education department’s power by suggesting it merge with the Department of Labor, but this plan never came to fruition.
Furthermore, in order to eliminate any federal department, there must be a 60-person supermajority in the Senate. According to The Sentinel, this would require seven Democrats to vote with the Republicans (assuming all Republicans vote in favor of this measure). In 2023, the House attempted to abolish the ED but faced pushback from both parties. Ultimately, Trump following through on his plan to close the ED would be much easier said than done; it’s more likely that he’ll institute a figurehead (McMahon, perhaps) to essentially render the department useless in other ways during his next term.
2. Fire “radical left” accreditors
Trump said on the campaign trail that he would use accreditation as a “secret weapon” against colleges and has promised to fire so-called “radical left” accreditors and replace them with agencies that better suit his own agenda. But while Trump may want to change the way higher education accreditation is done, he’ll need Congress’s sign-off. According to Forbes, the simplest way to make this happen is for the GOP to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, but no president since George W. Bush has been able to successfully do that.
3. Cut federal funding for schools that teach “woke” ideology
According to the 2024 GOP agenda, Trump plans to cut federal funding for schools that teach critical race theory (CRT), “radical gender ideology,” and other “inappropriate” racial, sexual, or political content. The idea behind this point of his plan for higher education is to end “left wing indoctrination.” He also said on the campaign trail that he wouldn’t give “one penny” to schools with vaccine or mask requirements. The president-elect has said that he will make this part of his vision a reality through executive action, but according to PBS, he does not have the authority to make these changes. It should be noted that Trump also wants to defund institutions that engage in censorship, but his plans to target schools that teach “woke” ideology ultimately contradict this by censoring the education of students… so, TBD on what comes of this one.
4. Deport pro-Hamas “radicals” and defund institutions engaged in censorship
Since the increased conflict between Israel and Palestine in October 2023, there have been at least 3,700 demonstrations surrounding the war recorded on U.S. college campuses. So, how does Trump plan to respond to campus protests? Well, he said he will “deport pro-Hamas radicals” in order to “make our college campuses safe and patriotic again.” However, a majority of protestors are U.S. citizens, and most of the on-campus demonstrations aren’t remotely in support of Hamas to begin with, according to NBC News, so this one’s also quite murky.
In terms of what might happen to colleges where the protests — and, specifically, concerns about antisemitism — are the most visible, there are some possible repercussions. While the ED does not directly grant accreditation, it does, however, certify agencies like the New England Commission of Higher Education, which accredited Harvard, meaning there is a possibility that accreditation could be jeopardized for those schools that cross whatever Trump’s line ends up being.
5. Create an affordable alternative to a four-year college while rolling back student loan relief
The president-elect has proposed the creation of American Academy, an online higher education institution that bans “wokeness” and will apparently be free for U.S. citizens. How will it be funded, you ask? By “taxing, fining, and suing excessively large private university endowments.”
Trump also has the power to rescind President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan, SAVE (Saving on a Valuable Education), which is a vital repayment plan for low-income borrowers that also promises to cancel (or “forgive”) student loan debt after 10 years of payments. If this is struck down in court or rescinded by the president-elect, the 8 million people currently enrolled in the program would have to move to a different repayment plan that may include higher interest rates.
6. Reverse Biden’s rewrite of Title IX Education Regulations
With a promise to “keep men out of women’s sports” (which crudely references trans women participating in women’s sports), it’s no surprise that Trump has his sights set on Biden’s changes to the Title IX Education Regulations that protect trans students. In fact, Trump has vowed to reverse these protections “on day one” of his second term. Trump’s pick for Office for Civil Rights will be charged with overseeing the changes to this law, though no one has been appointed yet.
So, what impact will Trump’s plans have on higher education overall?
Ultimately, students can expect Trump’s next term to include some bumps, especially when it comes to inclusivity, accessibility, and affordability. The good news is that major policy changes, like the closure of ED or massive changes to accreditation, seem unlikely, as they would require a significant amount of support in Congress in order to pass.