According to the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of a year of college in the United States of America is $38,270. The same source provides that the average price of college in 1980 was about $6,041. The difference in these values showcases a 533.504% increase over time. On Monday, January 20th, 2025, President Trump was inaugurated and is preparing an order to dismantle the Department of Education.
As a senior in college today, I am in a state of fear. I pay for college myself and understand the sacrifices my family and I made to earn this education. My time in college holds some of the most valuable and pivotal moments in my life. I have lived away from home, created new friendships, been challenged by various circumstances, and had endless unexplainable experiences and opportunities. Attending college has allowed me to grow, learn, and shape into the person I now want to become to achieve my goals and aspirations for life.
While considering the impacts of dismantling the education department, an endless list formed in my head. As a student attending a public state-funded university, I know that my soon-to-be alma matter will be taking on a harder hit than private universities if this order goes through. The Department of Education emphasizes and stands for laws against discrimination in education to protect students applying to and in college who may be discriminated against based on race, gender, disability, and other differences that may alter their college experience. Without this office, there would no longer be a voice to protect my classmates and ensure their safety. Federal financial aid is another massive duty that the Department of Education has always been responsible for. This duty of theirs being moved or absorbed into another government power profoundly concerns me. As stated earlier, I pay for college, and the amount of outstanding loans would also send the average human into a deep state of nausea. I am supposed to start paying off my loans six months after graduation. If all of the student loan portfolios are moved to another agency, it is almost sure that possible disruptions will occur. The last massive impact that this dismantling will have that I want to discuss today is their funding distribution. Many low-income areas rely heavily on the Department of Education. Many families have children with disabilities where they cannot afford to send them to a tailored school, and they rely on public institutions. The funding these schools receive helps offer after-school programs, provides lunch for those who can not bring their own, and gives notebooks, textbooks, and other school necessities the student or their family cannot deliver on their own.
Additionally, the Department of Education averts the regulation and spending of all public institutions in the United States. Eliminating the department could reduce care, strategy, overspending, and abuse. By eliminating the department and its funds, their duties will likely be broken down and dispersed to other federal agencies, causing education chaos.
So, will dismantling the Department of Education help lower the 533.504% increase in college tuition, or will the growth continue? As a college student, I am scared for myself, my future kids, classmates, professors, government workers, and those who could be negatively affected.
ShoutOut! James Madison University 