What Trump’s 2024 Electoral Win Means For Higher Education

Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024 has many significant implications for higher education, including upending many decades of education policy spending sought by Democrats.

First, Trump will likely reverse Biden’s student loan forgiveness efforts. His campaign indicated that a second Trump Administration would aim to eliminate current attempts from the Biden administration at blanket loan forgiveness such as through the SAVE program. Once rescinded by executive orders on Day 1, state attorneys general will likely drop their lawsuits against the federal government.

Going forward, the new administration will almost certainly move away from broad-based loan forgiveness. Instead, it is likely to focus on reforms such as promoting accountability at universities and alternatives to four-year degrees such as vocational training and apprenticeship programs, as it did during the first Trump Administration.

Legislation like the College Cost Reduction Act, sponsored by Representative Virginia Foxx (R-NC), would be a first step. The Act would shift toward more income-based repayment; increase transparency around college costs through requiring disclosures about tuition, fees, and financial aid; end regional accreditation monopolies; and make sure colleges have skin in the game by adjusting subsidies based on student outcomes. In addition, broadly cracking down on federal subsidies for negative return on investment (ROI) degree programs would be a welcome development.

The Trump Justice Department and other federal agencies are also likely to start investigations and bring lawsuits over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies toward universities, as they argue that many of those practices violate anti-discrimination laws.

Several education spending reforms may be proposed during the second Trump administration that would require Congressional approval.

The first Trump administration proposed the elimination of Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), a program signed into law in 2007 by George W. Bush, which cancels debt for federal student loan borrowers working in a qualifying public-service job after 10 years. Eliminating PSLF would require both an act of Congress and the political will to do it from the President. Also, when ending PSLF was proposed, there was an exception carved out to grandfather in those who had already entered the program.

The elimination of the entire Department of Education has also been proposed, sending education policy back to the states, and idea that has also been championed by Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) co-leads Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk. People might forget that the Department of Education is a relatively new federal department, created in 1980 by President Jimmy Carter to fulfill a campaign promise to the teachers union. During his Presidential campaigns, Ronald Reagan supported abolishing the department. Abolishing the agency does face political uncertainty as it would require congressional approval.

The second Trump Administration is poised to make significant reforms to education policy. The timing will likely heavily depend on what priority it gets.

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