Trump Signs Executive Order Seeking to Dismantle ED
By Maria Carrasco, NASFAA Staff Reporter
President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that seeks to dissolve the Department of Education (ED) and “return authority” over education to states and local communities.
The executive order specifically stated that Secretary of Education Linda McMahon — who was confirmed by the Senate earlier this month — will work to close the department “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law” while “ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”
The executive order did not specifically define those services, programs, and benefits, nor did it mention how ED’s programs—including federal student aid programs and statutory responsibilities — would be handled or possibly moved to other federal agencies.
The executive order stated that closing ED would “drastically” improve program implementation in higher education. Specifically, the order noted that ED manages a student loan debt portfolio of more than $1.6 trillion, roughly the same size as Wells Fargo, a large national bank. The order goes on to explain that while Wells Fargo employs over 200,000 employees, ED has fewer than 1,500 employees in the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA). That total within FSA is likely to be significantly fewer since earlier this month, ED announced its plan to lay off nearly 50% of its staff across all divisions as part of a reduction in force (RIF).
“The Department of Education is not a bank, and it must return bank functions to an entity equipped to serve America’s students,” the executive order reads.
During Thursday’s signing ceremony, Trump said his administration will take “all the lawful steps” to shut down ED, and that the federal Pell Grant program would be “preserved in full” and “redistributed to various other agencies and departments” within the federal government. That language was not explicitly included in the executive order.
Beth Maglione, NASFAA’s Interim President and CEO, said in a statement that dissolving ED cannot happen instantly and would require congressional action and a roadmap for transferring the oversight of various programs to other federal agencies.
“American families and college students need financial aid that is accessible, predictable, and reliable. Creating chaos and uncertainty in the agency that oversees the administration of those funds is not the way to achieve that,” Maglione said. “If there is a plan to reassign or redistribute this critical work performed by the Department and prevent disruptions for students, families, and the nation’s institutions of higher education, we ask the administration to share it immediately.”
Furthermore, Maglione stressed that certain federal student aid programs – including Pell Grants and campus-based aid programs — are enshrined in statute. These programs will still need to be administered, along with federal student loans, which must be serviced, and the FAFSA must be updated and managed each year.
In a statement on Thursday, McMahon said that the executive order will “free future generations of American students and forge opportunities for their success.”
“Closing the Department does not mean cutting off funds from those who depend on them—we will continue to support K-12 students, students with special needs, college student borrowers, and others who rely on essential programs,” McMahon said. “We’re going to follow the law and eliminate the bureaucracy responsibly by working with Congress and state leaders to ensure a lawful and orderly transition.”
While the executive order did not directly reference higher education programs, the department has attempted to target institutions’ use of “racial preferences” in admissions, financial aid, hiring, and other areas or risk losing federal funding.
The executive order does state that McMahon will ensure that any allocation of ED funds is “subject to rigorous compliance” with federal law and the Trump administration’s policies. Furthermore, Trump ordered that any ED program or initiative receiving federal aid must terminate what his administration calls “illegal discrimination obscured” under diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) or “programs promoting gender ideology.”
Last week, ED announced that its Office of Civil Rights opened investigations into over 50 institutions under Title VI. Specifically, ED is investigating 45 institutions for allegedly “engaging in race-exclusionary practices” in their graduate programs, six institutions for allegedly awarding race-based scholarships, and one institution for allegedly administering a program that segregates students on the basis of race.
Reaction From Congress
Republican lawmakers praised Trump’s executive order while also noting that shuttering the department still requires congressional approval.
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, praised the executive order and pledged to work on legislation to shut down the agency.
“I agree with President Trump that the Department of Education has failed its mission,” Cassidy said. “Since the Department can only be shut down with congressional approval, I will support the President’s goals by submitting legislation to accomplish this as soon as possible.”
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education and Workforce Committee, also said the Trump administration provided Congress with a plan to formally “dismantle” the department.
“The key to improving education is empowering parents and students and reducing the role of Washington bureaucrats,” Walberg said. “The Biden-Harris administration discouraged the reopening of schools, encouraged the adoption of discriminatory and divisive curriculum, oversaw the collapse of student performance across the country, repeatedly pushed the student loan obligations of the wealthy onto middle class taxpayers, and pushed a radical gender ideology that has been repeatedly slapped down by courts as unconstitutional.”
However, several Democrats expressed severe concern over how this move will impact students and families across the United States, including students' ability to apply for and receive financial aid.
“Trump and Musk are taking a wrecking ball to the Department of Education and firing half its staff—we’re talking about the people who make sure federal funds get to our kids and schools, help students fill out the FAFSA and get Pell Grants and financial aid, protect students from predatory for-profit colleges, enforce our civil rights laws, and so much more,” said Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “What’s the end goal here? Destroying public education in America — and robbing our students and families of critical funding while Trump and Musk enrich themselves.”
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), ranking member of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, said this executive order will exacerbate existing disparities among low-income students, students of color, and others.
“I believe this executive order will be used to distract Americans from the fact that Republicans are not working to address the real problems facing students and families: widening academic achievement gaps, school shootings, and the burden of student loans,” Scott said in a statement. “President Trump’s executive order has little regard for the irreparable harm it will cause to students, educators, our future workforce, and parents, who are already struggling.”
Many questions remain about how Trump’s executive order could impact federal student aid, and NASFAA has significant concerns over how the action could affect the department’s operations.
“Dismantling the Department in haste could cripple the government's ability to accurately distribute billions in federal student aid, putting millions of students at risk,” Maglione said, “ – especially low-income students who lack a financial safety net.”
Stay tuned to Today’s News for updates on the executive order and see our previous coverage outlining what an effort to “abolish” the department could entail.
Publication Date: 3/21/2025
David S | 3/24/2025 3:6:11 PM
Thanks for adding all of the "can" and "may" statements, Lee Ann. Thing is, when you have to use words like those in that context, it means there's no proof that these things happened. Don't forget, you are quoting the man whose claims are often preceded by a statement such as "many people are saying...," supported by no evidence, and then quickly and easily debunked.
His intention was clear; to weaken support for loan forgiveness and the borrowers who qualify for it by drawing a completely fabricated parallel to horrific crimes and abhorrent behavior. This shows how little Trump cares about the work we do and the students we serve.
Lee Ann T | 3/24/2025 8:54:42 AM
David S. left an important part out of his comment. Please if you are going to quote the President please do not pick and choose which sentences you use to back up your feelings towards him. Here is the rest of the context, 'mistakenly' left out. Trump said the Biden administration “abused” the program's implementation and “misdirected” tax dollars to activist organizations.
One of the Biden administration’s key efforts was overhauling the PSLF program – including its high denial rate and streamlining the application process. In total, the Biden administration granted PSLF to 1,069,000 borrowers, totaling $78.5 billion.
“The PSLF Program also creates perverse incentives that can increase the cost of tuition, can load students in low-need majors with unsustainable debt, and may push students into organizations that hide under the umbrella of a non-profit designation and degrade our national interest, thus requiring additional Federal funding to correct the negative societal effects caused by these organizations’ federally subsidized wrongdoing,” the order states.
According to the order, “substantial illegal purposes” would include: illegal immigration, human smuggling, child trafficking, pervasive damage to public property, and disruption of the public order.
Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), chair of the House Education & Workforce Committee, said that the order “is in line with House Republicans’ goal of delivering the reforms to PSLF that are sorely needed.”
Michelle H | 3/21/2025 12:4:54 PM
Will the Pell Grant be increased with the tremendous savings from the plan to dissolve the Department of Education? I don't see any mention of that...
David S | 3/21/2025 12:2:13 PM
As far as any references to what the president has promised, I suppose we are then hoping that the man who founded Trump University and who recently, in the complete absence of any evidence, equated PSLF with human trafficking, child endangerment, terrorism, destruction of public property and illegal immigration, is telling the truth.
This of course is on top of his belief that he alone can withhold funding appropriated by Congress to colleges for purely ideological reasons, can arrest and/or deport students for exercising free speech that he doesn't like, whose VP has unapologetically called colleges and professors "the enemy" (after benefiting significantly from the education that enemy provided to him), whose previous Secretary of Education said point blank to our community "the 2/3 of Americans who don't attend college shouldn't have to pay for the 1/3 who do," and who is on an anti-1st Amendment mission to rewrite all history and curriculum to remove all contributions to society made by women, persons of color, and the LGBTQ community. To put it very mildly, his higher education record isn't great. So I think those of us who are pessimistic about how the ED extermination impacts students and the work of financial aid professionals are with good reason.
Erica R | 3/21/2025 11:20:52 AM
Hi Lee Ann, your talking point was mentioned in the first part of the article (6th and 11th paragraphs). Hope this helps!
Thaddeus P | 3/21/2025 10:17:20 AM
Saying its going back to the states... it's already there. ED.gov even says it https://www.ed.gov/about/ed-overview/federal-role-in-education
"Education is primarily a State and local responsibility in the United States. It is States and communities, as well as public and private organizations of all kinds, that establish schools and colleges, develop curricula, and determine requirements for enrollment and graduation."
Compliance is gutted. Ombudsman office is gutted. There is not going to be national oversight. When someone has an issue with a student loan, who do they call now? The CFPB? Oh, wait that is gone as well.
And dumping things on other agencies? How would we feel if our registrars offices were all eliminated and they told Aid offices "just do all the reg work, its basically what you do" because that is what is going to happen.
This is ripping wires out of a flying plane saying you don't need them because you're already in the air, never mind landing, we'll deal with that later.
Jeff A | 3/21/2025 10:6:33 AM
FSA actually had the lowest percentage of cuts. And not to persons managing the FAFSA and delivery of Title IV.
Think of the transition like this: Move everything having to do with Title IV intact, including personnel, and rebrand it under a different federal agency. It really could be as simple as that.
And of course, they woi't do it if the law does not allow.
Let's not alarm our students and dissuade propspects from enrolling out of fear they will have no federal financial support to attend college. There are plenty of alarmists out there to try and upset the apple cart, but as FA professionals, we should remain confident that our students will continue to be supported with their journey to new careers uninterrupted.
Bonnie C | 3/21/2025 9:11:24 AM
FSA, the biggest division within ED, saw the biggest cuts - more than 320 staff members which will make it much more challenging, to say the least, to effectively manage FAFSA, grants and collect student loans etc. And there are no facts to back up a reason to move everything and expect it to work efficiently. It's very agressive, not carefully studied or thought out. It feels very impulsive. There are no plans on how to implement something workable and what will happen. It will be a huge impact to "blow it up" and then try to rebuild.
Lee Ann T | 3/21/2025 8:27:29 AM
Here is the rest of the story that NASFAA failed to mention:
President Trump announces that the Department of Education's useful functions such as Pell Grants, Title 1 funding, and resources for children with disabilities will be FULLY preserved and moved to other agencies and departments.
"But the department's useful functions, such as they’re in charge of them, Pell Grants, Title 1 funding, resources for children with disabilities and special needs, will be preserved, fully preserved. They're all going to be. So if you look at the Pell Grants, it’s supposed to be a very good program, Title 1 funding, and resources for children with special disabilities and special needs, they’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them, and that's very important to Linda, I know, and it's very important to all of us.
But beyond these core necessities, my administration will take all lawful steps to shut down the department. We're going to shut it down and shut it down as quickly as possible. It's doing us no good. We want to return our students to the states where just some of the governors here are so happy about this. They want education to come back to them, to come back to the states, and they're going to do a phenomenal job."
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