Students sit working on laptops in Collins Hall at the Waubonsee Community College Sugar Grove Campus. On Thursday, Mar. 20, Trump signed an executive order to begin the process of dismantling the United States Department of Education.

By: AShley Vanderhoff, Editor-in-chief

Throughout his campaign and since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has made a series of promises about the future of the United States Department of Education. On Thursday, Mar. 20, Trump signed an executive order calling for the dismantling of the department, a longtime target of Republicans. Trump has argued that the department, which was created by Congress in 1979, has not improved student outcomes, and the money would be better spent if distributed to the states.  While dismantling a department would require action from Congress, the order caused further uncertainty for millions of college students about their future education. 

The order says that Linda McMahon, in her capacity as Secretary of Education, will, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.”

What does the Department of Education do?

According to AP News the department’s primary responsibility is financial, overseeing several critical areas, including student loans, financial aid, civil rights enforcement and funding for schools. It manages a student loan debt portfolio of approximately $1.6 trillion for 40 million borrowers. Through its Office for Civil Rights, the department investigates and provides guidance on the application of civil rights laws. The office also manages a large data collection project that tracks disparities in resources, course access and disciplinary actions among students from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. A large portion of the Education Department’s funding for K-12 schools is allocated through major federal programs, such as Title I, which supports low-income schools and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. 

Should students be concerned about loans or FAFSA?

With the current changes within the Department of Education, students are facing new doubts about the security of their federal financial aid. Hundreds of staff members have been fired and the administration has cut contracts dedicated to maintaining the Free Application for Student Aid, or FAFSA, website. Director of Student Financial Aid Services Mary Greenwood is responsible for managing and administering various financial programs and ensuring compliance with regulations for Waubonsee Community College.

“First, I want to emphasize that the executive orders, while calling for dismantling the Department of Education, have not changed the law as it exists today. The orders have not changed the Department of Education’s obligation to offer the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or the processing of financial aid,” Greenwood said. “These requirements remain in place. The programs for which those applications qualify students, such as the Pell Grant, federal student loans, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant and the Federal Work-Study programs, remain in place.”

Trump has said the Small Business Administration would take over the $1.6 trillion federal student loan portfolio. Debate over the ability of this office to handle such a large portfolio, along with staffing cuts, have created anxiety among some students and institutions who worry about future federal funding. Assistant Provost of Student Services Dr. Scott Peska at Waubonsee spoke on this concern.

“I don’t foresee students’ financial aid being directly impacted because of the [executive order]. I think if there are aspects of the department as they close or move units around it will go to other agencies. We have a large part of aid—[Monetary Award Program] funding—provided by the state. So, that will stay consistent,” Peska said. “So, there are still some structures in place where the state provides that funding. Depending on how things are shaked out I can see some shifting in who has the oversight of financial aid, but I think there will still be some financial aid available at a federal level.” 

Greenwood maintained that students should continue to apply for financial aid.

“I would encourage our students in this climate particularly, to not only continue to complete the FAFSA but to do it promptly,” Greenwood said. “I think it is more important than ever to do it as soon as possible, not only for Federal Student Aid consideration but also for State Student Aid consideration.”

Can an executive order really eliminate the department? What has changed under the Trump administration?

To eliminate a department entirely would require an act of congress. The process could be slowed down through lawsuits brought by States and other organizations. Still, it is likely that even Republicans would hear concerns from their constituents who’s schools rely on federal funding. Peska explained that the school will continue to monitor how changes in financial federal funds could affect students.

“We do take some forecasting. We try to look ahead on how this would impact us. For example, we had a change even at the state level with MAP funding this semester and the college was able to help absorb and address that so it didn’t have a negative impact on our students,” Peska said. “We try to look at all the options we could consider even before that decision comes to us so we are preparing ourselves if that decision goes a certain way and know how we will address it.”

If a student at Waubonsee were to lose access to their federal aid, the college could help offset some of the loss. Peska shared the various programs Waubonsee has in place.

“What we would look at, depending if that was cut for [students] individually, are we working with them to determine what their financial need is. Do they have access to financial aid? Have they applied for financial aid if they were receiving some of the other services? We have an emergency needs fund that’s in place to help students that may all of the sudden have something that comes up. So, if they were counting on funds from another agency or area and it gets taken away, they would be able to apply to the emergency needs fund to help cover the cost of books, cover the cost for their education,” Peska said. “Our emergency needs fund can actually be used for other things outside of education. So if someone needs a car repair and they can’t come to campus and they need that money to cover it – that’s what that’s for. So that would be an option for them for funding. We expanded our scholarships so it is open now twice a year to give people a little more flexibility to apply.”

Trump has set his sights on defunding certain universities and programs. Columbia University is hoping to regain $400 million in canceled grants after agreeing to meet the administration’s demands for policy changes. Many of the schools being targeted tend to be some of the wealthiest universities in the United States. According to an Associated Press analysis, some research universities receive close to half their total revenue from the federal government through grants and contracts. The administration has also been adamant about ending all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives within schools by threatening to withhold funding for those that do not comply. 

The order says that, “Consistent with the Department of Education’s authorities, 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.”

Should community colleges like Waubonsee be concerned? So far, similar colleges have not been targeted. Peska shared his thoughts. 

“It’s a hard question to answer because it’s such a hypothetical. I think it’s important to know how we protect students and ensure that students have their rights. We would ensure that we are following the law as best we could. We would make sure that students are aware of any changes that are required of us,” Peska said. “We are not on the front-end of making changes in anticipation, we’re not jumping too quickly to say, ‘We need to make all these changes to titles or courses.’ If we are mandated or required to by federal law or state law, we will. We want to make sure we’re following those but we would make sure we are talking with our students to provide listening sessions and hearing feedback from our community on the impact that that could have.”

The Office for Civil Rights under the Department of Education has also recently faced staffing cuts and was directed to prioritize complaints of anti-semitism.  Peska shared how students at Waubonsee can have access to ways to report if they feel their rights are being infringed. 

“We have different reporting mechanisms within the college. We have a student formal complaint process. So if a student says, ‘Hey something is taking place at the college which I feel was either a grievance against me or I felt wronged in the process whether it was in the classroom or a service they experienced. There is a formal complaint that they can fill out,” Peska said. “Part of that process is if they feel like there was not a proper resolution, then we can direct them to the Office for Civil Rights and show them how to make a complaint, and there are still opportunities to make complaints with the state if someone wants to make that complaint. I have always been an advocate of providing all the different areas to make a formal complaint to if that’s an area if you feel this needs to be elevated to. I also encourage people to try to start from the earliest level. So if you have a complaint with a faculty member, have you gone to the Dean? If you haven’t done that yet, then let’s start there.”

Greenwood explained that the financial aid office at Waubonsee can answer additional student questions. 

“My biggest piece of advice to students is to apply early and to continue to seek additional resources such as scholarships. The financial aid office is here to support students in all aspects of the financial aid process, whether for the FAFSA, external opportunities or even the Waubonsee Foundation scholarship opportunities,” Greenwood said. “If students just have general questions about the status of their FAFSA or about whether they should move forward with the application, we can help as well. We know that some students come from mixed-status families that might be concerned about that. We can help by listening to and answering those questions as best we can.”