In 2025, 86.7% of college students in the United States depend on financial aid. Even with that help, 52% of Texas students end up with a minimum student debt of $26,000. Both financial aid and debt managers are located in the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). Currently, Donald Trump has started actions to abolish the DOE.
The dismantling started back on January 20, when Trump signed Executive Order 14151, which officially ended all DEI programs, because he viewed them as “illegal and immoral discrimination programs,” — Section 1, lines 1-2. Although this ban was aimed for federal agencies only, many public companies have rolled back their programs, too.
According to CNN, a month after this executive order, the Trump administration started drafting another executive order, which would end the DOE completely. Trump signed this executive order on March 20. It now requires congressional approval.
The DOE, which was founded in 1979, is responsible for Title I, IDEA, FAFSA and the $1.6 trillion in student loan debt. In 2024 alone, the department routed $265.35 billion in funding toward students. Shutting down the department or even just minimizing it will impact many college students who depend on their aid. Trump has mentioned that he wants to move all management of student loan debt and financial aid distribution to the Department of Treasury.
Some programs, such as Title IV and the Higher Education Act, would not see a change, as they are funded and approved by Congress. In the past, there have been political attempts to shut down the DOE, like in 2023, but 60 Republicans sided with Democrats and opposed the dismantling of the department.
A major point of concern with this decision is the level of influence Elon Musk and DOGE seem to be wielding. The so-called Department of Government Efficiency has tried to close down the U.S. Agency for International Development in order to gain access to the Department of Treasury and, with the massive amount of budget slashing under Musk’s influence, it creates more concern for low-income families and college students.
According to the official White House website, DOGE found “wasteful” and “fraudulent” money being spent in the DOE. This presidential action will affect all students, especially for those who are studying or are planning to study out of state.
The DOE office in Dallas has already closed down, and more offices are in danger of closure. This could mean a longer wait-time for financial aid packages with lower amounts awarded for grants.
The official document for Executive Order 14242 states: “Unfortunately, the experiment of controlling American education through Federal programs and dollars — and the unaccountable bureaucracy those programs and dollars support — has plainly failed our children, our teachers and our families.”
This comes across as “ironic” since it seems the current administration is trying to erase history. They want to limit what is taught in schools, which includes the disagreements many citizens have against Trump.
COVID-19 is blamed for the proclaimed “Unnecessary spending.” Yet, the evidence shows differently: “Taxpayers spent around $200 billion at the Federal level on schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, on top of the more than $60 billion they spend annually on Federal school funding.” Funding was increased across every governmental department, as they were forced to implement new protocols when faced with the threat of a deadly, unknown and poorly understood virus.
The executive order also accuses the Department of “acting like a bank” due to its management of student debt. “The Department of Education currently manages a student loan debt portfolio of more than $1.6 trillion. This means the Federal Student Aid program is roughly the size of one of the nation’s largest banks, Wells Fargo. Although Wells Fargo has more than 200,000 employees, the Department of Education’s Office of Federal Student Aid has fewer than 1,500.“The Department of Education is not a bank, and it must return bank functions to an entity equipped to serve America’s students,” the administration said.
By the end of the document it mentions DEI, even though DEI was banned back in January by Executive Order 14151, stating, “The Secretary of Education shall ensure that the allocation of any Federal Department of Education funds is subject to rigorous compliance with Federal law and administration policy, including the requirement that any program or activity receiving Federal assistance terminate illegal discrimination obscured under the label ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ or similar terms and programs promoting gender ideology.”
Overall, the action of signing executive order 14242 alone, without congressional approval, is unconstitutional. Congress and the legislative branch cannot be overridden, and for this order to be passed in accordance with constitutional precedent, the explicit agreement of Congress is required.
We, as citizens, have to make noise, and let Congress know that students need the DOE intact. We are living in a time where billionaires with their greedy desires want to cut funding that helps the working class and, now, they are trying to do the same with the DOE.
At the end of the day, Donald J. Trump has declared war on education, and students must spread the message and make their voices heard. Leave the history books and our educations alone!
