The new federal administration led by President Donald Trump will shape a new era of post-secondary education. With the Department of Education (DOE) on the chopping block, federal research funding decreasing and internships being revoked, university education in America is on a dangerous decline.
Many of President Trump’s initiatives stem from his larger campaign to shrink the size of the federal government. This DOGE Plan, headed by tech billionaire Elon Musk, aims to reduce government spending and lower taxes for Americans. However, the burden of this plan falls on universities, which now face budget cuts, and their students, who will encounter difficulties securing internships and jobs.
One of Trump’s main initiatives is to dismantle the DOE. To achieve this, Trump appointed Linda McMahon as Secretary of Education, claiming he wants McMahon “to put herself out of a job.” His administration, in cooperation with the DOGE team, has already cut hundreds of millions of dollars worth of funding from the DOE. Most of these cuts targeted the department’s research wing within the Institute of Education Sciences, which is responsible for researching education trends and statistics on a national level.
Getting rid of the DOE may disproportionately affect schools in underserved communities. According to the National Education Association, Title 1, which gives money to K-12 schools in poverty-stricken areas, may be at risk. Additionally, 30% of college students rely on Pell Grants, which may also be at risk if the DOE is gutted. These cuts would be devastating to students of all education levels, especially in lower-income communities.
According to National Education Association President Becky Pringle, “Trump’s power grab would steal resources for our most vulnerable students, explode class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle class families, take away special education services for students with disabilities, and gut student civil rights protections.”
While the full impact remains unclear until legislation takes effect, the consensus is that education will receive less support in the future.
Furthermore, the Trump administration has implemented significant cuts in federal research funding for universities. His administration capped the indirect cost rate coming from the National Institute of Health at 15% for all universities, a significant decrease from the previous average of around 28%. Indirect costs are costs that do not directly relate to a scientific project, such as laboratory space, equipment and faculty. This change removes around $4 billion from university funding nationwide.
Adam Unikowsky, a lawyer representing the Association of American Universities, claimed that this sudden change would have “cataclysmic effects on university budgets.” Representatives of multiple universities suing these funding cuts stated that thousands of research institutions would be harmed, labs would go dark, layoffs would occur and some clinical trials may be shut down.
The American Council on Education, one of the plaintiffs suing in an effort to halt the proposed cuts, stated that not only will these cuts diminish life-saving medical research, but “undermine universities’ essential training of the next generation of biomedical and health science researchers.”
To make matters worse, shortly after President Trump assumed office, he signed an executive order declaring a temporary hiring freeze on all vacant federal positions. By doing so, the Department of Justice and other federal agencies had to revoke internships and permanent job offers to students. The Internal Revenue Service and National Park Service, among other government agencies, have reportedly rescinded job offers in light of the hiring freeze.
The impact of the hiring freeze can be felt at UM, as students struggle to land internships. For example, Addie Murphy, a sophomore majoring in health science, was offered a highly-coveted research position at the Miami Veterans Association Medical Center. After already securing the job, she was notified that her offer had been revoked due to the hiring freeze. Fortunately, she was still allowed to volunteer, but she is “not allowed to interact with any patient or become a paid employee,” and is not officially employed by the Miami VA.
President Donald Trump and DOGE are pushing a nearly 250-year-old checks-and-balances system to its max. Many organizations have already brought suit in the courts to stop these new changes. Federal judges nationwide need to step in and stop the executive takeover of the rest of government. University students around the country need to educate themselves on how this new administration will affect their future endeavors, and band together to create change. Otherwise, education in this country will face a steep decline.