Recent changes at the Department of Education have raised concerns about how public universities like UCLA could be affected.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order March 20 to close the Department of Education in an effort to increase state control over education one week after laying off nearly 50% of the department’s workforce. The White House announced that core functions of the agency, such as Pell Grants and Title I initiatives, will remain, while the future of federal student loans remains unclear. Restructuring the federal agency could affect funding and support services across the nation, including state education departments.
Joseph Bishop, co-founder and executive director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools, said the Department of Education was originally founded because states needed additional support.