I’m deeply concerned about the evisceration of the Department of Education. This is personal for me.
I’m the first one in my family to get a bachelors degree, more less a Masters or PhD and it all started when I filed my FAFSA (Federal Application For Student Aid) after graduation from high school.
I was able to go to UT because I received Federal Pell grants to help pay for tuition and got federally backed loans to pay for living expenses. After undergrad, I applied to 5 graduate programs in 5 different states – instead of dealing with different requirements and forms from each state, I simply applied for and received funding through the FAFSA program.
After I graduated from Stony Brook in NY, I had a hefty tab but through the Income Based Repayment plan (DoE) my payments were around 10-12% of my pay (still $500-600 a month). After 15 years of payments, I was granted loan forgiveness – through the DoE.
Over the last 2 decades, I’ve help train thousands of doctors (and PAs, PTs, dentists, nurses etc) – and it’s almost certain it would not have happened without the nationally structured financial programs that paid for my education.
This is just one of several important functions of the Department of Education. It has also been crucial for protecting students rights and preventing sexual harassment (Title IX), and through Title I, low income schools receive funding that is currently employing over 180,000 teachers and assistants in K-12 schools across the country.
This is not going to be good for our education system and the impacts are already being felt. I personally know educators who’s student loan payments just tripled and others who are losing funding in the classroom. This is straight from the pages of Project 2025 and Trumps executive order yesterday proves he lied about not knowing anything about it.
My entire education and career have been shaped and enhanced because of programs provided by the Department of Education. Unfortunately, most of those opportunities are being cut or are no longer available for kids today trying to climb out of poverty through higher education as I did.
