What鈥檚 the role of the U.S. Department of Education? If the department were to be dismantled鈥攁s proposed by the Trump administration鈥攈ow would students, families and universities be affected?
Those are a few of the questions examined by a multidisciplinary panel of Maxwell School faculty experts during a recent 鈥淲hat鈥檚 at Stake鈥� panel discussion hosted by the Center for Policy Research (CPR).
More than 250 people joined the virtual event held four days before the swearing in of Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. The same day, she sent her staff an email titled 鈥淥ur Department’s Final Mission鈥� fueling speculation that an executive order to abolish the Department of Education would soon follow. On March 11, the department announced it would cut its workforce nearly in half, to about 2,183 workers.
Sean Drake
Robert Bifulco, professor of public administration and international affairs, moderated the conversation with colleagues Elizabeth Martin, assistant professor of sociology; Michah Rothbart, associate professor of public administration and international affairs; and Sean Drake, assistant professor of sociology. All four panelists are senior research associates at CPR.
Robert Bifulco
To open the session, Bifulco provided some factual context about the Department of Education. In its 2024 fiscal year budget, he pointed out, the department administered programs totaling $268 billion鈥攁bout 4 percent of the federal budget, a far smaller piece than agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services or the Department of Defense. About 60 percent of the Department of Education budget is spent on Pell grants and federal student loan programs; 17 percent on Title I grants to high poverty schools; and 14 percent to support the education of students with disabilities. 鈥淓ach of these programs, which together account for over 90 percent of the department鈥檚 budget, was established prior to 1979, when the department itself was established,鈥� said Bifulco, who serves as director of CPR鈥檚 Program on Educational Equity and Policy.
鈥淧resident Trump claims the department has been overtaken by radicals, zealots and Marxists, that it promotes liberal ideologies in schools, and that it wastes taxpayers鈥� money,鈥� Bifulco said. 鈥淏ut when you look at the overwhelming bulk of what the department focuses on and what its budget allocations go for, it鈥檚 not clear what most people would want to see cut.鈥�
Martin, whose own research focuses on economic insecurity, credit and debt burdens and financial shocks, spoke to the broad impact of the Department of Education鈥檚 programs for students pursuing higher education.
Elizabeth Martin
鈥淭his is everything from Pell grants that help lower income students, to work study to student loans, both subsidized and unsubsidized,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o dismantling the Department of Education, moving the federal aid functions either to states or to the Department of Treasury, which is one proposal I鈥檝e seen, would affect a lot of people. Something like 20 percent of all U.S. households have student loan debt; 30 to 40 percent of students who are currently enrolled are taking on loans every semester.鈥�
One potential consequence of shifting student aid programs out of the federal government, she added, would be to increase gaps between states in higher education opportunities, particularly at public institutions.
鈥淲e see huge inequalities in appropriations per student, credit hour and tuition costs and merit- and need-based scholarships,鈥� Martin said. 鈥淚f federal aid or student loans are moved down to the state level, I imagine that we would see even more widening inequality between states.鈥�
Shifting educational loans away from the federal government may also result in greater reliance on private loans鈥攁nd the loss of key protections, pointed out Rothbart, who studies public finance and financial management particularly in education.
Michah Rothbart
鈥淔ederal student loans provide protections against inability to pay in some circumstances,鈥� Rothbart said. 鈥淚 could imagine a world where there would be a large increase in the use of private borrowing to pay for higher education, and then students would not have those protections as they move out in their careers.鈥�
In the area of public school funding, Rothbart noted that cutting the Department of Education鈥檚 programs, or shifting them outside the federal government, could have unintended consequences on the department鈥檚 influence over policy.
鈥淭he federal government only provides a small portion of public school funding, but it leverages that to nudge educational priorities,鈥� Rothbart said. 鈥淭hat approach has been in place for years, even predating the formation of the Department of Education. I think it’s important to note that the use of this funding to shape policies can be effective. It actually presents a catch-22 for conservative administrations like the one that鈥檚 currently in the office of the presidency, because if the federal government makes cuts to these programs, they could lose some of that leverage to incentivize their other priorities.鈥�
Bifulco said the elimination of Department of Education programs that account for more than 90 percent of its spending would require congressional action. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 very unlikely,鈥� he said. More likely, he said, is a shift of functions to other federal departments, for instance, moving the Office of Civil Rights out of the Department of Education into the Department of Justice. 鈥淭hat could have big effects on how civil rights are enforced, and what data is collected on civil rights,鈥� he said.
Rothbart said the reshuffling of programs under federal departments 鈥渋s actually a pretty fruitful discussion.鈥� He pointed out several programs that fall under the purview of education yet are not overseen by the Department of Education. For instance, Head Start is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services, national school meals programs are run by the Department of Agriculture, and the GI Bill is overseen by the Department of Veterans Administration. 鈥淵ou could imagine moving programs from other agencies into the Department of Education if it were a different administration,鈥� he said, later adding, 鈥淭here hasn鈥檛 been a major reshuffling of the federal government across agencies in a long, long time.鈥�
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Story by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
