Perla Cortez EDINBURG – President Donald Trump recently signed an executive order mid-March that forces the Department of Education to dismantle itself and transfer its duties to other organizations or agencies.
In a White House news release, Trump’s reasons for dismantling the department are to give authority over education to the states, abolish any Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs and remove gender ideology.
Federal Student Aid and Pell grants are two of many programs that are funded by the department. With the dismantling, both will still be funded by the U.S. government through a different organization.
However, Clyde Barrow a political science professor, said that the shift of responsibilities could cause bigger issues for funding.
“What has happened is that their proposal is to move the grants and loan program to the Small Business Association. So, theoretically it will continue, but you’re moving it to an agency that has no experience with student loans or with higher education,” Barrow said.
Barrow said that because the government wants to devolve education to the states it will create inconsistencies because each state has different values and policies.
Bex Herrera, an anthropology senior, commented on the decision of the executive order and how she worries for schools and the community.
“The Department of Education just holds a lot of importance in our education system. It just takes away from one of our biggest resources that we have as students here,” Herrera said.
On the contrast, Jacob Jaramillo [Add] said he agreed with the decision of Trump’s reasoning to have the states have power over education.
KVAQ-TV contacted three UTRGV programs that are funded by the Department of Education that assist students at the university.
The programs, GEAR UP, Upward Bound and Camp, responded that they were monitoring the situation in Washington D.C. and there are no current changes that will affect the programs and will continue to provide support toward students.
Patrick Gonzales, UTRGV’s vice president of marketing and communications, also responded stating, “We have not been informed of any plans to eliminate Pell Grants. If anything changes in the future, we will communicate directly to keep students informed.”
To comply with the executive order of Trump, the Department of Education reduced employment up to 50% and left many on administrative leave.
Although the department will be dismantled, funding toward students in higher education, public schools and special needs will still receive financial aid through a different organization or agency.
