November 6, 2024
Higher education wasn’t a big issue during the presidential election, but one thing is certain now that Donald Trump is president-elect: Change is coming to colleges and universities across the country.
Exactly what kind of change remains to be seen. But expect colleges and universities to be under much more scrutiny than are now, which will embolden Trump advocates to attack “woke” higher education institutions and take aim at campus issues that have spilled over into the so-called “culture wars”—such as campus protests and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to a Nov. 6 report on Inside Higher Ed.com.
A strong shift to the right under Trump, particularly as higher ed deals with decreasing enrollments, public pushback over the increasing cost of college and negative press over campus protests and laudable but hamstrung attempts by the Biden administration to forgive student debt, could spur sweeping reforms.
While he didn’t make higher ed a pillar of his 2024 campaign, Trump has had little more than scorn and contempt for colleges and universities, especially those that have embraced DEI and where pro-Palestinian protests broke out earlier this year. Trump has repeatedly said that American universities are run by “Marxist maniacs” and he’s promised to remove what he’s called left-wing threats to free speech on campus.
He’s also been a harsh critic of student loan forgiveness, attacking Biden’s loan forgiveness initiatives as a waste of taxpayer dollars. Inside Higher Ed said it is “almost certain” that Trump will reverse some of President Joe Biden’s signature higher ed policies, like his income-driven student loan repayment plan and civil rights protections for transgender students.
It’s very likely that the long-standing Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which allows those working in public service jobs to have their federal student loans forgiven after paying on them for 10 years, will also be abolished. UUP’s PSLF Forgiveness Program has helped hundreds of UUP members get more than $13 million in student loans forgiven.
Whether or not Trump will enact some or all of Project 2025, the controversial, 900-page proposal concocted by the staunchly conservative Heritage Foundation, is also unknown. But Trump, who has strong ties to the Heritage Foundation and to many of the document’s authors and editors, recently called for the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education and hand authority over education to the states—a major proposal in Project 2025.
“To say I’m disappointed is an understatement,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a Nov. 6 post on X. “Regardless of my personal journey, I believed strongly in what was possible if she won ... While I am sad for Vice President Harris, I am more sad for what I know could have been for my children and for children across the country.”
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