Education policy of the second Donald Trump administration#Actions against universities
{{Short description|Policies of the United States government since 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Donald Trump series}}
Under the second presidency of Donald Trump, the federal government of the United States has sought to influence many aspects of education. President Donald Trump appointed Linda McMahon, a co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment, to be the United States Secretary of Education. McMahon was confirmed by the U.S. Senate by a vote of 51–45 on March 3, 2025. Trump and McMahon have sought to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education; on March 20, Trump signed an executive order directing the secretary of education to "facilitate the closure" of the department, and the Trump administration has sought to cut nearly all of its employees. Trump has said that the disbursement of student financial aid and student loans would be transferred to the Small Business Administration, while the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would assume responsibility for the education department's special needs and nutrition programs.
The Trump administration has also sought to crack down on universities that it accuses of antisemitism and that it perceives as having a left-wing bias that discriminates against conservative students. The administration paused over {{US$|400 million}} in federal funding for Columbia University in March 2025, causing Columbia's leaders to agree to the government's demands, including the suspension or expulsion of students who participated in Columbia's 2024 pro-Palestinian campus occupations, taking steps to combat antisemitism at the university, and enacting changes to its admissions policies. The Trump administration also paused funding to many other universities; in April 2025, Harvard University publicly refused and criticized similar demands made by the Trump administration, filing a lawsuit against them and saying that the demands were an illegal overreach of government authority. In response, the administration paused over $2 billion in funding for Harvard.
Simultaneously, the Trump administration's science policy resulted in the cutting or freezing of large amounts of funding used for research on topics such as climate change, vaccines, LGBTQ topics, and COVID-19. The administration's policies against initiatives for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) has resulted in the removal of thousands of online resources as well as the removal of around 400 books from the U.S. Naval Academy library. The Trump administration has also targeted many non-citizen activist students and academics for deportation, revoking over 300 student visas {{As of|2025|March|lc=y}} for those that it accuses of promoting antisemitism or of supporting U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations such as Hamas. Some efforts to deport activists have faced court challenges of their legality.
Background and campaign
{{Further|Donald Trump 2024 presidential campaign}}{{See also|Education policy of the Donald Trump administration|label 1=Education policy of the first Donald Trump administration}}
Donald Trump, previously the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021,{{Cite news |last=Baker |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Baker (journalist) |date=2025-01-20 |title=For Trump, a Vindication for the Man and His Movement |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/20/us/politics/trump-inauguration.html |access-date=2025-02-11 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} campaigned in 2024 largely with a promise to expand the U.S. federal government's power to manage education in the United States.{{cite news |last=Harris |first=Adam |date=November 28, 2023 |title=Trump Wants to Create a National University? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/trump-free-online-university-american-academy/676153/ |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009122337/https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/11/trump-free-online-university-american-academy/676153/ |archive-date=October 9, 2024 |access-date=January 21, 2024 |website=The Atlantic}} Additionally, he pledged to fulfill his first-term promise to dismantle the U.S. Department of Education, a federal executive department established in 1980,{{cite news |last1=Colvin |first1=Jill |date=November 12, 2023 |title=Trump's plans if he returns to the White House include deportation raids, tariffs and mass firings |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-policies-agenda-election-2024-second-term-d656d8f08629a8da14a65c4075545e0f |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231210193036/https://apnews.com/article/trump-policies-agenda-election-2024-second-term-d656d8f08629a8da14a65c4075545e0f |archive-date=December 10, 2023 |access-date=December 10, 2023 |work=Associated Press}}{{cite news |last1=McGraw |first1=Meredith |date=January 26, 2023 |title=Trump unveils new education policy loaded with culture war proposals |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/26/trump-unveils-education-policy-culture-war-00079784 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216050140/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/01/26/trump-unveils-education-policy-culture-war-00079784 |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |access-date=December 16, 2023 |work=Politico}} which Trump said had been infiltrated by "radicals, zealots and Marxists".{{cite news |last=Ma |first=Annie |date=November 20, 2024 |title=Trump has called for dismantling the Education Department. Here's what that would mean |url=https://apnews.com/article/trump-education-department-secretary-linda-mcmahon-a49af0778fa7c50163619d1764f93c91 |access-date=November 20, 2024 |work=Associated Press News}} Many in his Republican Party have also criticized the department, accusing it of pushing "woke" ideology onto children, including ideology relating to gender and race, and have said that individual U.S. states should have authority over education.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-20 |title=Trump picks Linda McMahon and Mehmet Oz to serve in top roles |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rl8knmg8eo |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=www.bbc.com |language=en-GB}} He said that he would limit federal funding to certain schools and universities, including those that imposed mask mandates or vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic,{{cite news |last1=Beyer |first1=Elizabeth |date=March 3, 2024 |title=Trump doubles down on familiar divisive rhetoric at Virginia campaign rally |url=https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/03/trump-supporters-identify-economic-woes-as-driving-factor-for-support-2024-election-virginia-biden/72825567007/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240926135500/https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/03/03/trump-supporters-identify-economic-woes-as-driving-factor-for-support-2024-election-virginia-biden/72825567007/ |archive-date=September 26, 2024 |access-date=March 5, 2024 |work=Staunton News Leader}} and those that he said teach curriculums that include "critical race theory, gender ideology, or other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content". Trump said he wished to establish a "patriotic education" in the United States that "teach[es] students to love their country", "defend[s] American tradition and Western civilization", and promotes the nuclear family.{{cite news |last1=Oliphant |first1=James |last2=Slattery |first2=Gram |date=April 24, 2024 |title=Trump's second-term agenda: deportations, trade wars, drug dealer death penalty |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/payback-time-trump-plans-mass-firings-deportations-second-term-2023-11-14/ |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231205184238/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/payback-time-trump-plans-mass-firings-deportations-second-term-2023-11-14/ |archive-date=December 5, 2023 |access-date=April 27, 2024 |work=Reuters}} His campaign also advocated universal school choice.{{Cite news |last=Smyth |first=Julie Carr |date=2024-07-11 |title=The GOP platform calls for 'universal school choice.' What would that mean for students? |url=https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-republican-platform-education-schools-172e27bbfb3402d22e5c2effb740654f |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241009034742/https://apnews.com/article/election-2024-republican-platform-education-schools-172e27bbfb3402d22e5c2effb740654f |archive-date=October 9, 2024 |access-date=2024-12-08 |work=Associated Press}} Regarding college accreditation, Trump promised to "fire the radical-left accreditors that have allowed our colleges to become dominated by Marxist maniacs and lunatics".{{cite news |last1=Anguiano |first1=Dani |date=April 23, 2025 |title=Trump signs orders cracking down on diversity and inclusion at US universities |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/23/trump-education-diversity-hcbu |access-date=April 23, 2025 |work=The Guardian}}
Personnel
File:Linda McMahon 2025 (cropped).jpg, the U.S. secretary of education]]
On November 19, 2024, two weeks after Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Trump announced that Linda McMahon would be nominated by him to be the United States Secretary of Education in his second term.{{Cite web |last=Towfighi |first=Kristen Holmes, Kaitlan Collins, John |date=November 19, 2024 |title=Linda McMahon expected to be named Education Secretary, sources say {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/19/politics/linda-mcmahon-education-secretary-trump/index.html |access-date=November 20, 2024 |website=CNN}} McMahon is the co-founder and former executive of World Wrestling Entertainment and was the administrator of the Small Business Administration during Trump's first term.{{Cite web |date=2024-11-20 |title=Trump names former wrestling executive Linda McMahon as his pick for education secretary |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-names-linda-mcmahon-pick-education-secretary-rcna180917 |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=NBC News |language=en}}{{Cite news |last1=Saul |first1=Stephanie |last2=Montague |first2=Zach |last3=Otterman |first3=Sharon |date=2024-11-28 |title=Her Wrestling Empire Was Said to Harm Children. Trump Chose Her for Education. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/28/us/linda-mcmahon-education-wrestling-wwe.html |access-date=2025-03-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Trump said that, during her tenure as the chair of the board at the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, McMahon had "been a fierce advocate for parents' rights" and that she would "spearhead" the effort to "send education back to the states" by closing the Department of Education.
On February 20, 2025, one month after Trump's inauguration, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee voted 12–11 in favor of advancing McMahon's nomination.{{Cite news |date=2025-02-20 |title=Committee advances Trump's education secretary nominee to full Senate vote |url=https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-administration-news-02-20-25/index.html |access-date=2025-02-20 |website=CNN}} On March 3, the full U.S. Senate voted 51–45 along party lines to confirm McMahon as secretary of education.{{Cite news |last=Gómez |first=Martín González |last2=Parlapiano |first2=Alicia |date=2025-03-03 |title=How Each Senator Voted to Confirm Linda McMahon as Education Secretary |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/03/us/politics/mcmahon-senate-confirmation-vote.html |access-date=2025-05-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} She was sworn in as secretary later that day.{{Cite web |last=Schermele |first=Zachary |title=Senate confirms Trump pick Linda McMahon to lead the Department of Education |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/03/03/linda-mcmahon-confirmed-as-trump-education-secretary/80513524007/ |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}}
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, current director of the Domestic Policy Council Vince Haley, senior policy strategist May Mailman and White House attorney Gene Hamilton have emerged as the leading officials behind Trump administration's policies toward universities.{{Cite news |last=Cook |first=Nancy |date=30 June 2025 |title=Stephen Miller Directs Trump’s Policies on Immigration, Ivy League |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-30/white-house-s-stephen-miller-directs-trump-s-culture-war-on-immigration-harvard |access-date=30 June 2025 |work=Bloomberg News}}
Education Department dismantling effort
{{Further|United States Department of Education#Efforts to close the department|label1=Efforts to close the United States Department of Education}}Trump said that McMahon's primary objective as education secretary would be to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education. He said of her role at the department that: "I want her to put herself out of a job."{{cite web |date=5 February 2025 |title=Trump's Education Secretary's job is to 'end the job' |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/us-news-trump-abolish-department-of-education-trumps-education-secretarys-linda-mcmahon-job-is-to-end-the-job/articleshow/117945561.cms |publisher=The Economic Times}} When asked if the Department of Education was necessary for the United States, McMahon said that it was not needed.{{Cite news |last=Bender |first=Michael C. |date=2025-03-07 |title=Asked if U.S. Needs Education Department, Its Head Says 'No' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/07/us/politics/education-department-mcmahon-trump.html?searchResultPosition=1 |access-date=2025-03-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} On March 20, 2025, Trump signed an executive order directing the secretary of education to "facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities".{{Cite news |last1=Leingang |first1=Rachel |last2=Lowell |first2=Hugo |date=2025-03-20 |title=Trump signs executive order to dismantle US Department of Education |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/20/trump-executive-order-education-department |access-date=2025-03-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{cite web |date=March 20, 2025 |title=Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/improving-education-outcomes-by-empowering-parents-states-and-communities/ |access-date=March 20, 2025 |website=The White House}}
The closure of a federal department such as the Department of Education requires an act of Congress, because Congress created the department.{{cite web |last=Bender |first=Michael C. |date=March 19, 2025 |title=Trump is said to sign an executive order on Thursday aimed at dismantling the Education Department |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/03/19/us/trump-news#trump-education-department |access-date=2025-03-19 |work=The New York Times}} However, the Republican Party's narrow majority in Congress makes an effort to officially close the department unlikely to succeed.{{Cite web |date=4 February 2025 |title=White House preparing executive order to abolish the Education Department |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/white-house-preparing-executive-order-abolish-department-education-rcna190205 |access-date=2025-02-04 |publisher=NBC News |language=en}} McMahon has said that congressionally appropriated funding for department services such as student financial aid will be unaffected by the plan to downsize or close the department.{{Cite web |last=Schermele |first=Zachary |date=March 13, 2025 |title=Education Dept. cuts are here. What happens now to student loans, FAFSA and IEPs? |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/03/12/education-department-cuts-student-loan-fafsa-iep-impact/82310137007/ |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}} Trump said in March 2025 that the Small Business Administration would assume responsibility for student loans, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services would take over the department's special needs and nutrition programs.{{Cite news |last=Turner |first=Cory |date=21 March 2025 |title=Trump says Education Department will no longer oversee student loans, 'special needs' |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/21/nx-s1-5336330/trump-education-department-student-loans-special-education-fsa |access-date=2025-03-21 |work=NPR |language=en}}{{Cite web |last1=Hunnicutt |first1=Trevor |last2=Mason |first2=Jeff |date=March 21, 2025 |title=Trump says Education Dept. to transfer student loan, nutrition programs to other agencies |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-small-business-administration-will-handle-federal-student-loan-2025-03-21/ |access-date=April 7, 2025 |website=Reuters}} On May 22, 2025, U.S. district judge Myong Joun in Boston blocked the mass layoff and the dismantle attempt.{{Cite web |last=Raymond |first=Nate |date=2025-05-22 |title=Judge Blocks Trump Administration Plan To Gut Education Department |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-education-department_n_682f3bbce4b09130a58588b4 |access-date=2025-05-22 |website=HuffPost |language=en}}
In February 2025, as a part of widespread layoffs across the federal government, the Department of Education offered all of its employees $25,000 if they agreed to resign or retire.{{cite web |last1=Schermele |first1=Zachary |title=Ahead of layoffs, Education Department offers employees $25K to quit or retire by Monday |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/education/2025/02/28/education-department-buyouts-25k/80903209007/ |access-date=2 March 2025 |website=www.usatoday.com |publisher=USA Today}} The next month, the department announced a plan that would reduce its workforce by half.{{cite web |last1=O'Donnell Adam Edelman and Tyler Kingkade |first1=Kelly |last2=Edelman |first2=Adam |last3=Kingkade |first3=Tyler |title=Education Department prepares to lay off roughly half its staff |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/education-department-lay-off-roughly-half-workforce-linda-mcmahon-rcna195038 |access-date=12 March 2025 |website=www.nbcnews.com |date=12 March 2025 |publisher=NBC News}} The majority of layoffs took place in the Federal Student Aid office that oversees the disbursement of financial aid and student loans, and the Office for Civil Rights that protects students and teachers from discrimination. In April 2025, the Trump administration announced that the Department of Education would resume collecting defaulted student loan debt on May 5, for the first time since March 2020.{{Cite news |last=Watkins |first=Ali |date=2025-04-22 |title=Education Department Will Resume Collections on Student Loan Debt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/business/education-department-student-loan-debt.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Actions against universities
File:Columbia reinstated Gaza Solidarity Encampment Palestinian flags.jpg at Columbia University, which the Trump administration has used as evidence of antisemitism at the university{{Cite news |last=Diaz |first=Jaclyn |date=2025-03-14 |title=Turmoil rocks Columbia University as Trump administration demands changes — or else |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/14/nx-s1-5328589/columbia-university-trump-letter-funding |access-date=2025-03-20 |work=NPR |language=en}}]]
Trump and many Republican officials have advocated for new laws and policies that crack down on campus curriculum and protests that they believe perpetuate a left-wing bias in universities and discriminate against conservative viewpoints.{{Cite news |last=Peters |first=Jeremy W. |date=March 20, 2025 |title=How the G.O.P. Went From Championing Campus Free Speech to Fighting It |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/20/us/politics/republicans-trump-free-speech-campuses.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 20, 2025 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} In March 2025, the Education Department's Office for Civil Rights contacted 60 colleges and universities across the United States to inform them that it had begun investigations of alleged violations of civil rights law "relating to antisemitic harassment and discrimination".{{Cite web |last1=Tsui |first1=Karina |last2=Wolfe |first2=Elizabeth |date=2025-03-11 |title=Department of Education investigating 60 colleges and universities over antisemitism claims |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/10/us/department-of-education-warning-universities-title-vi-antisemitism/index.html |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=CNN |language=en}} The Trump administration announced that month that it was cancelling $400 million in federal funding for Columbia University, "due to the school's continued inaction in the fact of persistent harassment of Jewish students" and "other alleged violations of Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964".{{Cite news |last=Moore |first=Elena |date=2025-03-07 |title=Trump administration cancels $400 million in federal dollars for Columbia University |url=https://www.npr.org/2025/03/07/nx-s1-5321326/trump-administration-columbia-university-400-million-cancelled |access-date=2025-03-20 |work=NPR |language=en}}
The Trump administration issued a demands to Columbia, saying that in order for it to begin negotiations on restoring the lost funding, it should place its Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies Department under academic receivership, suspend or expel students who had participated in Columbia's 2024 pro-Palestinian campus occupations, take steps to combat antisemitism at the university, change its admissions policies, ban face coverings meant to hide the wearer's identity "or intimidate others" (with an exception for religious and health reasons), and acquiesce to other demands. Several academic associations condemned the demands as an attack on academic freedom;{{Cite web |date=2025-03-17 |title=Letter to the leadership of Columbia University urging it to reject the Trump administration's ultimatum of 13 March 2025 and stand firm in defense of academic freedom & the university's independence |url=https://mesana.org/advocacy/committee-on-academic-freedom/2025/03/17/letter-to-the-leadership-of-columbia-university-urging-it-to-reject-the-trump-administrations-ultimatum-of-13-march-2025-and-stand-firm-in-defense-of-academic-freedom-and-the-universitys-independenc |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=Middle East Studies Association |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-03-20 |title=Joint Statement of AAUP Chapters Regarding the Ongoing Crisis at Columbia University |url=https://www.aaup.org/news/joint-statement-aaup-chapters-regarding-ongoing-crisis-columbia-university |access-date=2025-03-20 |website=AAUP |language=en}} however, the university agreed to the demands, and announced that it would "overhaul disciplinary processes, ban masks at protests, add 36 officers with the authority to make arrests and appoint a new senior vice provost to oversee academic programs focused on the Middle East".{{cite web |last=Moody |first=Josh |date=March 21, 2025 |title=Columbia Agrees to Trump's Demands |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/03/21/columbia-agrees-trumps-demands |accessdate=April 14, 2025 |work=Inside Higher Ed}} Despite Columbia's agreement, {{As of|2025|May|23|df=US|lc=y}}, the federal funding has not yet been restored.{{cite web |last=Moody |first=Josh |date=April 14, 2025 |title=Harvard Resists Trump's Demands |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/04/14/harvard-resists-trumps-demands |accessdate=April 14, 2025 |work=Inside Higher Ed}}
Subsequently in March and April 2025, the Trump administration paused $1 billion in funding for Cornell University, $790 million for Northwestern University,{{Cite news |last1=Bender |first1=Michael C. |last2=Stolberg |first2=Sheryl Gay |date=2025-04-08 |title=Trump Administration Freezes $1 Billion for Cornell and $790 Million for Northwestern, Officials Say |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/politics/cornell-northwestern-university-funds-trump.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250409225858/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/08/us/politics/cornell-northwestern-university-funds-trump.html |archive-date=9 April 2025 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} $175 million for the University of Pennsylvania,{{Cite news |last=Pengelly |first=Martin |date=2025-03-19 |title=Trump administration pauses $175m in funds to UPenn over trans athlete policy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/19/trump-administration-upenn-funding-trans-athletes |access-date=2025-04-11 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} threatened $9 billion for Harvard University, $510 million for Brown University,{{Cite news |last=Blinder |first=Alan |date=2025-04-11 |title=Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-university-college.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250409194006/https://www.nytimes.com/article/trump-university-college.html |archive-date=9 April 2025 |access-date= |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} and paused academic grants to Princeton University.{{cite news |last=Singh |first=Kanishka |date=April 1, 2025 |title=Princeton's US grants frozen, follows Trump actions against other schools |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/princeton-says-us-grants-frozen-follows-trump-administration-moves-against-other-2025-04-01/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250402002113/https://www.reuters.com/world/us/princeton-says-us-grants-frozen-follows-trump-administration-moves-against-other-2025-04-01/ |archive-date=April 2, 2025 |access-date=April 2, 2025 |work=Reuters |location=Washington, D.C.}}{{cite news |last1=Blinder |first1=Alan |last2=Hartocollis |first2=Anemona |date=April 1, 2025 |title=Trump Pauses Dozens of Federal Grants to Princeton |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/trump-federal-grants-princeton.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250402011658/https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/us/trump-federal-grants-princeton.html |archive-date=April 2, 2025 |access-date=April 2, 2025 |work=The New York Times}} The administration justified the funding pauses by saying that the universities had not done enough to comply with the government's priorities, such as the combatting of antisemitic discrimination.
File:Letter Sent to Harvard University by Trump government in 2025-04-11.pdf
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| quote = The administration's prescription [...] violates Harvard’s First Amendment rights and exceeds the statutory limits of the government's authority [...] And it threatens our values as a private institution devoted to the pursuit, production, and dissemination of knowledge. No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.
| author = Harvard University's response to the Trump administration
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Later in April 2025, the American Association of Colleges and Universities published a statement signed by more than 150 university and college presidents that condemned "unprecedented government overreach and political interference" in education from the Trump administration.{{cite news |last1=Speri |first1=Alice |date=April 22, 2025 |title=Over 150 US university presidents sign letter decrying Trump administration |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/21/us-university-presidents-trump-administration |access-date=April 22, 2025 |work=The Guardian}} Also in April, faculties at several universities in the collegiate Big Ten Conference voted to approve a "mutual-defense compact" against Trump administration actions.{{Cite web |title=Big Ten schools creating a 'mutual defense compact' against Trump actions |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5255943-big-10-universities-trump-rutgers-nebraska-michigan-state/ |website=The Hill|date=18 April 2025 |last1=Cochran |first1=Lexi Lonas }}
On April 23, 2025, Trump signed several executive orders related to college education. He directed the federal government to "enforce laws on the books" regarding the disclosure of large donations to universities as well as regarding college accreditation, which Trump had called his "secret weapon" to exert control over universities. Additionally, he signed an order that established a government initiative to promote "excellence and innovation" at historically black colleges and universities.
In April 2025, Harvard University negotiated with the Trump administration for two weeks in an attempt to reach an agreement, such as that made by Columbia, to avoid the loss of government funding.{{cite news |last1=Schmidt |first1=Michael S. |last2=Bender |first2=Michael C. |date=April 18, 2025 |title=Trump Officials Blame Mistake for Setting Off Confrontation With Harvard |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/18/business/trump-harvard-letter-mistake.html |work=The New York Times}} Afterwards, a government lawyer from the administration sent a letter to Harvard demanding changes in its curriculum, hiring, and admissions policies, including hiring a third party acceptable to the Trump administration to audit "viewpoint diversity".{{cite news |last=Saul |first=Stephanie |date=April 21, 2025 |title=Harvard Sues Trump Administration Over Threats to Cut Funding |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/21/us/harvard-lawsuit-trump-administration.html |access-date=April 22, 2025 |work=The New York Times}} Government officials later said that the letter had been sent in error.
Harvard publicly rejected the Trump administration's demands and called them an illegal overreach of government authority. In response, the administration announced that it had frozen $2.3 billion in federal research funding for the university.{{cite news |date=April 14, 2025 |title=Trump officials cut billions in Harvard funds after university defies demands |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/14/trump-harvard-funding-freeze |access-date=April 14, 2025 |work=The Guardian}} In addition, Trump asked the Internal Revenue Service to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status.{{cite news |last1=Bogage |first1=Jacob |last2=Stein |first2=Jeff |date=April 16, 2025 |title=Trump administration asks IRS to revoke Harvard's tax-exempt status |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/04/16/trump-harvard-tax-exempt-irs/ |access-date=April 22, 2025 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} The U.S. Department of Homeland Security also told the university that it needed to share with the government detailed records about its foreign students—including "relevant information" about students holding student visas that had been involved in "known illegal" or "dangerous" activity, and information about the coursework of all student visa holders—or else it would lose its ability to enroll international students.{{Cite news |last1=Aleaziz |first1=Hamed |last2=Broadwater |first2=Luke |last3=Saul |first3=Stephanie |date=2025-04-17 |title=Trump Threatens to Block Harvard From Enrolling International Students |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/17/us/politics/trump-harvard-international-students.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |last=Rose |first=Taylor Romine, Nouran Salahieh, Hanna Park, Andy |date=2025-04-17 |title=DHS threatens to revoke Harvard's eligibility to host foreign students amid broader battle over universities' autonomy |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/16/us/harvard-kristi-noem-international-students/index.html |access-date=2025-04-21 |website=CNN |language=en}} Harvard responded by filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration in the District Court of Massachusetts, arguing that the freezing of funds was unconstitutional.{{cite news |last1=Bhuiyan |first1=Johana |date=April 21, 2025 |title=Harvard sues Trump administration over efforts to 'gain control of academic decision-making' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/apr/21/harvard-sues-trump-administration |access-date=April 21, 2025 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |last1=Grumbach |first1=Gary |last2=Stelloh |first2=Tim |date=April 21, 2025 |title=Harvard sues federal government after Trump administration slashed billions in funding |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/harvard-sues-trump-administration-funding-rcna202276 |access-date=April 21, 2025 |work=NBC News}}
File:Exhibit 25. May 22, 2025 DHS Decertification Letter.pdf
On May 22, 2025, Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem informed Harvard that their Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification was revoked, and therefore they were now prohibited from hosting international students.{{cite news |last1=Yang |first1=Maya |title=Trump administration halts Harvard’s ability to enroll international students |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/22/trump-harvard-international-students |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=May 22, 2025}}{{cite web |title=Harvard University Loses Student and Exchange Visitor Program Certification for Pro-Terrorist Conduct |url=https://www.dhs.gov/news/2025/05/22/harvard-university-loses-student-and-exchange-visitor-program-certification-pro |website=U.S. Department of Homeland Security |access-date=May 22, 2025 |date=May 22, 2025}} Subsequently, US district court judge Jeffrey White issued an injunction, blocking the Trump administration from revoking the legal status of international students in US universities.{{cite news |last1=Yam |first1=Kimmy |last2=Atkins |first2=Chloe |title=Federal judge blocks Trump administration from revoking international students' legal status |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/judge-blocks-trump-revoking-international-students-legal-status-rcna208625 |access-date=May 22, 2025 |work=NBC News |date=May 22, 2025}}
On May 23, 2025, Harvard sued the Trump administration for banning them from enrolling international students.{{cite news |last1=Sainato |first1=Michael |last2=Campbell |first2=Lucy |title=Harvard University sues Trump administration over ban on enrolling foreign students |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/may/23/harvard-university-sues-trump-administration-ban-foreign-students |access-date=May 23, 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=May 23, 2025}} The same day, US district court judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the revocation of Harvard's certification.{{Cite news |last=Stempel |first=Jonathan |last2=Raymond |first2=Nate |date=2025-05-23 |title=Judge temporarily blocks Trump admin from revoking Harvard enrollment of foreign students |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/harvard-sues-trump-administration-blocking-enrollment-foreign-students-2025-05-23/ |access-date=2025-05-23 |work=Reuters |language=en}}
On May 27, 2025, the State Department ordered all US embassies to pause interviewing applicants for student visas, pending further guidance on "expanded social media vetting for all such applicants".{{cite news |last1=Gedeon |first1=Joseph |title=Trump administration orders US embassies to stop student visa interviews |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/27/international-student-visa-trump |access-date=May 27, 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=May 27, 2025}}
On May 30, 2025, the State Department ordered all US embassies and consulates to conduct "comprehensive and thorough vetting" of the online presence of anyone seeking to visit Harvard from abroad.{{cite news |last1=Gedeon |first1=Joseph |title=White House targets Harvard again with social media screening of all foreign visitors to school |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/harvard-social-media-screening-visitors-trump-administration |access-date=May 30, 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=May 30, 2025}}
Historian of academic freedom in the United States Ellen Schrecker has compared the Trump administration's actions unfavorably to McCarthyism, saying that Trump's actions against universities are more severe and far-reaching than the persecution of communists in academia during the Second Red Scare.{{Cite web |title=“Worse Than McCarthyism”: Historian Ellen Schrecker on Trump’s War Against Universities & Students |url=https://www.democracynow.org/2025/5/30/mccarthyism_universities |access-date=2025-05-30 |website=Democracy Now! |language=en}}
Cuts to research funding
{{Main|Science policy of the second Donald Trump administration}}
The Trump administration has also cut or frozen research funding, including research on climate change; vaccines; HIV/AIDS; COVID-19; LGBTQ topics; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); race and ethnicity; and other topics that the Trump administration has considered "woke".{{Cite web |last1=Kozlov |first1=Max |last2=Ryan |first2=Chris |title=How Trump is Slashing Health Research, in 4 Charts |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hiv-trans-health-and-covid-research-targeted-by-trump-cuts-to-nih/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Trump orders cause chaos at science agencies |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/trump-orders-cause-chaos-science-agencies |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=www.science.org |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Harvey |first=Chelsea |title=Government Agencies, Universities, Nonprofits Pause Critical Work Over Trump Administration Executive Orders |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trump-takes-a-giant-wrecking-ball-to-u-s-research/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Scientific American |language=en}} Some of the funding freezes have been used to apply pressure on universities regarding non-science related matters.{{Cite web |last=Timmer |first=John |date=2025-04-09 |title=Trump administration's attack on university research accelerates |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/04/trump-administrations-attack-on-university-research-accelerates/ |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=Ars Technica |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Cochran |first=Lexi Lonas |date=15 April 2025 |title=Trump's fight with higher education reaches a tipping point with Harvard defiance |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/education/5250071-trump-harvard-funding-fight-universities-antisemitism-dei/ |work=The Hill}} The Trump administration's DEI policy has also led to government organizations removing or modifying more than 8,000 webpages and around 3,000 datasets.{{cite web |last1=Singer |first1=Ethan |date=February 2, 2025 |title=Thousands of U.S. Government Web Pages Have Been Taken Down Since Friday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/upshot/trump-government-websites-missing-pages.html |website=The New York Times}}{{cite web |last=Calma |first=Justine |date=2025-01-31 |title=Donald Trump's data purge has begun |url=https://www.theverge.com/news/604484/donald-trumps-data-purge-has-begun |access-date=2025-02-01 |website=The Verge}} The policy resulted in the removal of around 400 books from the U.S. Naval Academy library,{{Cite web |last=Baldor |first=Lolita C. |date=2025-04-01 |title=Naval Academy removes nearly 400 books from library in new DEI purge ordered by Hegseth's office |url=https://apnews.com/article/military-academies-dei-hegseth-trump-ba9731f24b4eb4bd9c02b568209f97af |access-date=2025-04-05 |website=AP News |language=en}} including Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1970) and Janet Jacobs's Memorializing the Holocaust (2010), while retaining Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and the controversial book The Bell Curve (1994) that discusses purported connections between race and intelligence.{{Cite news |last=Ismay |first=John |date=2025-04-11 |title=Who's In and Who's Out at the Naval Academy's Library? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/us/politics/naval-academy-banned-books.html |access-date=2025-04-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Scientists have largely seen the funding cuts and Trump's efforts to affect university education, as dangerous to the state of research in the United States,{{Cite news |last=Glenza |first=Jessica |date=2025-03-31 |title=More than 1,900 scientists write letter in 'SOS' over Trump's attacks on science |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/31/scientists-letter-trump-administration |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} and many scientists have said they were considering leaving the United States as a result.{{Cite web |date=2025-03-30 |title=Three-quarters of US scientists are considering leaving thanks to DOGE cuts: poll |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/doge-cuts-science-america-nasa-b2722946.html |access-date=2025-04-16 |website=The Independent |language=en}}{{Cite news |title=Which countries would benefit most from an American brain drain? |url=https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/04/11/which-countries-would-benefit-most-from-an-american-brain-drain |access-date=2025-04-16 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}
Student deportations
{{Main|Activist deportations in the second Trump presidency|l1 = Activist deportations in the second Donald Trump administration}}
As a part of its efforts to conduct mass deportations against immigrants, the Trump administration has pursued a policy of targeting many non-citizen activist students and academics for deportation.{{Cite news |last=Tait |first=Robert |date=2025-03-25 |title=US academic groups sue White House over planned deportations of pro-Gaza students |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/25/pro-palestine-student-deportation-lawsuit |access-date=2025-03-26 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web |last=Souza |first=Andy Rose, Gloria Pazmino, Sabrina |date=2025-03-24 |title=Trump administration accuses pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil of hiding info on his green card application |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/24/us/mahmoud-khalil-green-card-trump-administration/index.html |access-date=2025-03-26 |website=CNN |language=en}}{{cite news |date=March 28, 2025 |title=A look at who has been detained or deported in a US crackdown on mostly pro-Palestinian protesters |url=https://apnews.com/article/immigration-detainees-students-ozturk-khalil-78f544fb2c8b593c88a0c1f0e0ad9c5f |access-date=March 28, 2025 |work=Associated Press}} Marco Rubio, Trump's secretary of state, estimated that the administration revoked over 300 student visas by March 27, 2025.{{Cite web |last=Linton |first=Caroline |date=2025-03-27 |title=Marco Rubio says 300 student visas have been revoked, including detentions at Tufts, Columbia and more |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marco-rubio-student-visas-revoked-ice-tufts-columbia-university/ |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=CBS News |language=en-US}}{{cite news |last1=Gedeon |first1=Joseph |date=March 27, 2025 |title=Rubio boasts of canceling more than 300 visas over pro-Palestine protests |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/27/state-department-visas-pro-palestine-protesters |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The Guardian}} The Trump administration developed a "catch and revoke" strategy to monitor international students' social media posts to identify those that it believes are "pro-Hamas"{{Cite web |last=Caputo |first=Marc |date=2025-03-06 |title=Scoop: State Dept. to use AI to revoke visas of foreign students who appear "pro-Hamas" |url=https://www.axios.com/2025/03/06/state-department-ai-revoke-foreign-student-visas-hamas |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=Axios |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2025-03-07 |title=US to revoke student visas over 'pro-Hamas' social media posts flagged by AI – report |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/06/foreign-student-visas-pro-palestinian-ai |access-date=2025-03-14 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} or "antisemitic".{{Cite web |date=April 9, 2025 |title=US to screen social media of immigrants, rights advocates raise concerns |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-screen-social-media-immigrants-rights-advocates-raise-concerns-2025-04-09/ |website=Reuters}}{{Cite web |date=April 9, 2025 |title=DHS to screen social media of visa applicants for 'antisemitic activity' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/dhs-screen-social-media-visa-applicants-antisemitic-activity/story?id=120642944 |website=ABC News}} In March 2025, the U.S. State Department said that student visa applicants would be ineligible if their social media activity indicated that they were "advocating for, sympathizing with, or persuading others to endorse or espouse terrorist activities or support a designated foreign terrorist organization".{{cite news |last1=Gedeon |first1=Joseph |date=March 28, 2025 |title=US issues broad order to consulates to vet student visas over 'terrorist activity' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/28/student-visa-applications-denials |access-date=March 28, 2025 |work=The Guardian}} The Trump administration has targeted some professors, such as Lebanese Brown University professor Rasha Alawieh, who was deported despite a court order.{{Cite news |last=Goldstein |first=Dana |date=March 16, 2025 |title=Brown University Professor Is Deported Despite a Judge's Order |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/16/us/brown-university-rasha-alawieh-professor-deported.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=March 20, 2025 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}} Students targeted for deportation include Mahmoud Khalil, a leader of the 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University and a U.S. lawful permanent resident.{{Cite news |last=Offenhartz |first=Jake |date=March 9, 2025 |title=Immigration agents arrest Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia University protests |url=https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-15014bcbb921f21a9f704d5acdcae7a8 |access-date=March 10, 2025 |work=Associated Press |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=March 10, 2025 |title=Pro-Palestinian student protester detained by US immigration officials, says lawyer |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q1pl1eldno |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250310081350/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q1pl1eldno |archive-date=March 10, 2025 |access-date=March 10, 2025 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |date=March 9, 2025 |title=ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia protests, lawyer says |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/09/ice-arrests-palestinian-activist-columbia-protests |access-date=March 10, 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} To overcome his lawful permanent residency, the Trump administration has cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows aliens in the U.S. to be deported if the secretary of state finds that their presence could negatively impact U.S. foreign policy.{{Cite web |last=Valdez |first=Jonah |date=2025-03-13 |title=The Legal Argument That Could Set Mahmoud Khalil Free |url=https://theintercept.com/2025/03/13/mahmoud-khalil-legal-free-speech-deport/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=The Intercept |language=en-US}}{{Cite magazine |last=Popli |first=Nik |date=2025-03-10 |title=What to Know About Mahmoud Khalil and His Green Card Status |url=https://time.com/7266683/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-green-card/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}
On May 28, 2025, Rubio announced that the US would "aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields" and "revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong."{{cite news |last1=Binkley |first1=Collin |last2=Ma |first2=Annie |title=Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the US will begin revoking the visas of Chinese students |url=https://apnews.com/article/international-students-visas-trump-guidance-social-media-a1f5180ce83560aff66dd65534906697 |access-date=30 May 2025 |website=Associated Press |date=28 May 2025}} China's ministry of foreign affairs formally objected to Rubio's announcement.{{cite news |last1=Davidson |first1=Helen |title=China condemns US decision to revoke student visas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/29/us-revoke-chinese-student-visas |access-date=May 29, 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=May 29, 2025}} Commenting on Rubio's announcement a day later, State department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said the United States "will not tolerate the CCP's exploitation of U.S. universities or theft of U.S. research intellectual property or technologies to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition."{{cite news |last1=Psaledakis |first1=Daphne |title=US will not tolerate Chinese 'exploitation' of universities, theft of research, says State Dept |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-will-not-tolerate-chinese-exploitation-universities-theft-research-says-state-2025-05-29 |access-date=30 May 2025 |website=Reuters |date=29 May 2025}} In response, Chinese students told media that they came to the U.S. for freedoms they felt they did not have back in China but that now the Trump administration is starting to resemble the strict regime they left behind.{{Cite web |date=2025-05-29 |title=After Rubio seeks to revoke their visas, Chinese students say U.S. resembles the country they left |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/rubio-revoke-student-visas-china-rcna209699 |access-date=2025-06-23 |website=NBC News |language=en}}
Academics leaving the US in response
In response to Trump's education policy, researchers, scientists, and post-docs are reportedly leaving or trying to leave the United States.{{Cite web |date=2025-04-09 |title=The US brain drain has begun |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/united-states-higher-education-brain-drain-academic-freedom-research-innovation-donald-trump/ |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}} A poll done by scientific journal Nature, 75% of US scientists are considering leaving. Of the 690 postgraduate researchers who responded, 548 were considering leaving; 255 of 340 PhD students said the same.{{Cite journal |last=Witze |first=Alexandra |date=2025-03-27 |title=75% of US scientists who answered Nature poll consider leaving |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00938-y |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=640 |issue=8058 |pages=298–299 |doi=10.1038/d41586-025-00938-y |issn=1476-4687|url-access=subscription }}
In May 2025, Marci Shore, Timothy Snyder and Jason Stanley, academics who specialize in studying authoritarianism across the globe, announced they are leaving the United States in response to Trump's crackdown of higher education. In an interview, Shore referred to Nazi Germany and said the “lesson of 1933 is you get out sooner rather than later.”{{Cite web |date=2025-05-15 |title=‘Get out sooner rather than later’: Yale professors flee U.S. over fascism concerns |url=https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/yale-professors-self-deport-trump-fascism-rcna207108 |access-date=2025-06-04 |website=MSNBC.com |language=en}}
Other reactions
In June 2025, hundreds of American CEOs criticized Trump's attacks on universities through an open letter organized by the Leadership Now Project, saying funding cuts and student visa restrictions impact America's economic competitiveness. The signatories to the letter included LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, former American Airlines CEO Robert Crandall, former Proctor & Gamble CEO John Pepper, Jeni Britton of Jeni’s Ice Cream, and Tom Florsheim of the Weyco Group.{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/fed-meeting-interest-rates-stock-market-06-18-2025/card/business-leaders-call-trump-attacks-on-universities-a-competitive-threat-hphDJbcZLTsaa6Bmeqwg|title=Business Leaders Call Trump Attacks on Universities a Competitive Threat|first=Chip|last=Cutter|work=The Wall Street Journal|url-access=subscription|date=19 June 2025|accessdate=9 July 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://www.leadershipnowproject.org/universities|title=Business Leaders Affirm Universities Are Critical to America’s Competitiveness|website=leadershipnowproject.org|date=18 June 2025|accessdate=9 July 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Second presidency of Donald Trump}}
{{United States policy}}
Category:Second presidency of Donald Trump
Category:Education policy in the United States
Category:Policies of Donald Trump