Understanding the Department of Education’s Role in Higher Education

The goal of President Donald Trump’s nominee for Education Secretary is reportedly to put herself out of a job. It’s widely expected that after Linda McMahon, whose confirmation hearing is scheduled this week, takes charge, Trump will issue an executive order to eliminate the Department of Education (Department). Already, representatives from the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), are digging through student data, institutional grant details, employee training records, and contracts in an effort to dramatically cut spending and programs, in an unprecedented attempt that could make education unobtainable to vast swaths of the country.

Trump’s calls to eliminate the Department have focused entirely on children in K–12 education by making false claims about the Department’s role, while missing one of its largest functions, which is to help students access and complete education after high school and to promote high-quality education among colleges of all kinds from community colleges to public research universities.

As efforts to eliminate the Department mount, here are the biggest roles the Department plays in students’ lives as they navigate college.

College is expensive. The Department provides hundreds of billions of dollars each year in the form of federal grants and loans to help over 9 million students and parents cover the cost of college. This includes the Federal Pell Grant program, which provided over $30 billion in funding last year to help more than 6 million low- and moderate-income undergraduate students cover costs. The Department provided another $83.3 billion in federal student loans to 6.8 million borrowers.

In addition to nearly $120 billion in Pell Grants and student loans, the Department directly helps students pay for college in other ways, including the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Program (FSEOG), which provides grant aid to low-income students; the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant Program (TEACH Grant), which helps students who are preparing to become teachers; and the Federal Work-Study Program, which allows students the opportunity to work on-campus while in college.

In addition to providing money directly to students to help them pay for college, the Department of Education also provides roughly $2 billion in funding each year directly to colleges and universities, through over 5,000 grants, that support student enrollment and completion. The Department’s Office of Postsecondary Education manages over 60 grant programs, created and funded by Congress covering Title III Aid, which supports institutional development programs at under-resourced colleges enrolling large proportions of disadvantaged students, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities, community colleges, and other minority-serving institutions; Title V Aid, which provides funding for colleges serving Hispanic and other low-income students; and the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), which supports innovative projects to help improve student outcomes to further inform the field of potential reforms. Programs under FIPSE include the Rural Postsecondary and Economic Development program, which seeks to improve enrollment, persistence, and completion for rural students by developing career pathways in their region, and a program that supports a National Center for Information and Technical Support for Postsecondary Students with Disabilities to provide information on best practices to support students with disabilities. These programs have historically had large bipartisan support.

The Office of Postsecondary Education also oversees other large grant programs created and funded by Congress. The Federal TRIO programs provide support for middle schools, organizations, and colleges to serve students from disadvantaged backgrounds to help them to and through college. The GEAR UP program grants money to states and other partnerships to increase the number of low-income students prepared to enter postsecondary education through services in middle and high schools and provides student scholarships. The International Foreign Language Education Office provides funds under Title VI and the Fulbright Hays grant and fellowship programs to support foreign language instruction, curriculum development, and professional development for teachers through a global understanding.

Without these programs, fewer students from disadvantaged backgrounds will have the opportunity to enroll and succeed in college.

The Department of Education provides critical oversight to ensure quality in higher education for the billions of dollars in annual federal grants and loans; protect students and taxpayers from fraud, waste, and abuse; and enforce students’ civil rights.

The Department has a critical obligation to provide oversight over higher education quality through the review and approval of college accrediting agencies. The Department is forbidden under the law that created the Department from having control over curriculum, instruction, or the administration of a program. Colleges cannot access federal grants and loans without securing accreditation from an Education Department-approved accreditor. The Department recognizes agencies that meet certain standards required under Federal law, which include criteria such as standards on student achievement, faculty, and finances. When an accrediting agency fails to meet those standards, the Department can revoke their recognition. For example, in 2021, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS), lost recognition after evidence that it failed to take action against schools that were under investigation by state or Federal governments, costing students and taxpayers billions.

The Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA), among other responsibilities, oversees the student loan safety net and holds colleges accountable for meeting requirements under Federal law and regulation.

FSA is responsible for ensuring the $1.6 trillion loan portfolio is working and for providing loan relief, where warranted. For example, under the Biden-Harris administration, nearly 2 million borrowers received over $34 billion in student loan relief after FSA found evidence that the schools they attended had engaged in misconduct related to their loans under a provision called Borrower Defense to Repayment. They also provided another $18.7 billion in loan relief to borrowers that have a total and permanent disability, making it unlikely they would ever be able to repay their loans, and over $78 billion to over 1 million borrowers that worked for a total of 10 years in public service, including as teachers, nurses, and military service members under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program.

FSA is also responsible for enforcing laws and regulations and taking action against colleges engaged in wrongdoing. Since 2021, FSA has issued 39 fines to colleges that engaged in misconduct, amounting to over $61 million saved, and it has removed eligibility for federal financial aid to 35 colleges. This includes a $37 million fine to Grand Canyon University, which was found to have misrepresented the costs of its doctoral degree programs. GCU told students the cost of its Doctoral programs was between $40,000 and $49,000, but a majority of the students were required to pay thousands in additional money in order to complete their programs.

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is responsible for enforcing civil rights laws for students, ensuring they are protected from discrimination while enrolled in college. OCR investigates complaints of discrimination occurring on campus, including discrimination due to age, disability, race, and sex, investigates the allegations, and resolves complaints through securing resolution agreements. For example, in 2022, OCR secured a resolution agreement with Appalachian State University in North Carolina, to ensure its programs, services, and activities conducted online are accessible to people with disabilities.

Without the Department’s oversight role in higher education, more students would be subjected to fraud, waste, abuse, and discrimination, and taxpayer dollars would be at greater risk.

The Department of Education collects data on student performance and provides transparency on how well colleges are performing and trends among students enrolled in postsecondary education. The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the Department’s research arm that evaluates federal programs, supports best practices based on rigorous evidence to inform policymaking, and collects and reports education-related statistics through the National Center on Education Statistics (NCES). The Department also manages the College Scorecard, which allows students and families to see and compare details on colleges and expected outcomes to inform their college decision-making and also provides data on trends over time such as average debt and earnings.

Without these functions, students, families, and policymakers will lack the information needed to make informed decisions and understand the state of higher education in the United States.

The Trump Administration cannot eliminate the Department of Education without an act of Congress. But so far, that hasn’t stopped Administration representatives from slashing Federal contracts, placing staff on leave, and questioning the value of Department grants to institutions, already undermining the agency’s work. As the future Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon will have to speak to each of these important roles the Department plays in higher education, and how she will ensure these vital functions will continue.