President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly discussed the idea of closing down the United States Department of Education. Vice President-elect JD Vance has labeled universities as the “enemy” and “hostile institutions.”
While Trump’s choice for education secretary, Linda McMahon, lacks experience in the education field, many advocates fear an impending clash between the incoming administration and universities.
Although shutting down the federal Department of Education has been threatened before, it is unlikely that the Trump administration will succeed in doing so without congressional approval, including a supermajority in the Senate, which Republicans do not have.
Nevertheless, Trump still holds power to impact the education sector. He has threatened to remove accreditation and federal funding from schools promoting certain ideologies and has promised to keep schools free from political influence.
Conservative groups are gearing up to overhaul the higher education system under Trump’s second term, aiming to limit universities’ autonomy in various aspects, from student admissions to curriculum content.
Trump is expected to target “diversity and inclusion” initiatives, which conservatives criticize as part of a liberal agenda that discriminates against white Americans.
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Overhauling liberal education
Trump and his supporters have proposed various measures to reshape higher education, including abolishing diversity offices, repealing reporting requirements on diversity, and eliminating terms like “privilege” and “oppression” from policies and materials.
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An ‘anti-woke’ agenda
Trump’s anticipated attacks on universities are part of a concerted effort by conservative groups to reform US higher education. The push extends beyond monitoring faculty speech to fundamentally changing how institutions operate.
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