Donald Trump will serve a second term, and with both houses of Congress likely to be under Republican leadership – although the House of Representatives has not yet decided – the future of education in the United States could starkly change.
Trump has pledged to dismantle the Department of Education, cut federal funding for schools that teach critical race theory, and ban transgender athletes from participating in school sports.
“The American people re-elected President Trump by a landslide, giving him a mandate to follow through on the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver,” Carolyn Levitt, spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, told TIME in a statement.
Trump’s transition team did not respond to specific questions about which of his policies would be a priority next January.
Here’s what you should know.
Dismantling the Ministry of Education
During the campaign, the president-elect pledged to abolish the Department of Education, which has been a Cabinet-level agency since 1980. The department has several functions: Setting federal aid through Title I, which awards state and local funding to schools. Serve low-income families, distribute Pell Grants, and organize student loan relief through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program or income-based repayment plans.
Experts tell TIME that dismantling the Department of Education is likely unlikely. “It’s entirely possible to close the Department of Education, but the functions of the Department of Education must continue,” says Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, an organization that brings together higher education associations to discuss student issues.
This is because the Department of Education has many moving parts. It houses the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces federal civil rights laws across schools to protect students from discrimination. Regulations set by the Department of Education also affect college sports, which Republicans likely don’t want to see impact, says Josh Quinn, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University and author of The Privateers, How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers.
Grants or funds appropriated by Congress would also need a new federal headquarters. “They will also have to take the federal programs and funding sources that they want to continue to reauthorize, and find new institutional foundations for that,” Quinn adds.
Reducing DEI Funds and Critical Race Theory
On his campaign website, Trump promised to “cut federal funding to any school or program that pushes critical race theory or gender ideology to our children.” (Critical race theory refers to academic frameworks that teach that systemic racism is rooted in American society.) Trump has also spoken out against diversity, equity and inclusion measures at colleges and universities across the country.
Campaigns against DEI have proven popular in Republican strongholds, where about 10 states have already passed restrictions on DEI that have led to the closing of offices at public universities — including Kentucky and North Carolina.
“It is completely accurate and fair to say that the Trump administration will seek to penalize any institution, whether K-12 or higher education, for running DEI programs,” Quinn says. “How much money they can withdraw, how difficult it is to make life bureaucratic, these are still a bit open questions, but they will definitely try it.”
The Trump administration could target funding for such programs through avenues like the Higher Education Act or Congress, says Amy Lloyd, CEO of the nonprofit All4Ed. “[The Trump Administration] “We can work with Congress to reauthorize any of the foundational funding sources for education,” she says.
Erosion of the rights of LGBTQ+ students
Experts expect the rights of LGBTQ+ students to be affected under the Trump administration due to changes likely to be made to Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex in education. The Biden administration attempted to expand Title IX protections to include the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender students, in April. But the expansion faced legal challenges from Republican-led states, preventing the protections from being implemented in 26 states.
Trump would not need congressional authority to make changes to Title IX guidance.
Trump has also said on numerous occasions that he would ban transgender female athletes, whom he refers to as “men,” from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. “We will of course keep men out of women’s sports,” he said during a Nov. 2 speech in Virginia.
Impact on victims of campus sexual assault
During Trump’s first term, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced regulations that would better protect people accused of sexual harassment and assault on college campuses under Title IX. Biden reversed parts of that guidance — in particular, the Trump-era definition of sexual harassment, which critics said made victims less likely to report crimes — this spring, but some experts like Mitchell expect sexual assault victims to become vulnerable again under Trump. .
Expand “Parental Rights”
To understand what might change regarding education under a Trump administration, experts say people can also learn about what’s happening in Republican states through the parental rights movement. The campaign was behind book bans — which are expected to nearly triple from the previous school year — and “Don’t Say Gay” laws in states like Florida and Texas.
Trump pledged to “adopt the Parental Rights Charter and implement direct election of school superintendents by parents” on his campaign website.
While Trump has distanced himself from Project 2025, the policy agenda outlines plans to use federal education funding for private schools. State lawmakers have been unsuccessful in passing bills that would do that. “Three states put this exact thing on the ballot Tuesday, and voters rejected it in all three states, including the two states, Nebraska and Kentucky, that went for Donald Trump,” Quinn says. A similar measure has not passed in Colorado.
Censorship and freedom of expression
Discussions about freedom of expression gained momentum across campus amid pro-Palestinian camps and protests earlier this year in the United States. Trump has previously called himself a “law and order president” and has pledged to restore freedom of speech, end censorship, and ban federal funding for academic and non-profit programs that engage in censorship. But in 2020, Trump threatened to use federal force to end protests after the killing of George Floyd. He praised police crackdowns on student protesters and told wealthy donors that he would drive student protesters out of the country, if elected, according to the Washington Post.
