and "I believe a man is happier, and happy in a richer way, if he has “the freeborn mind.” But I doubt whether he can have this without economic independence, which the new society is abolishing. For economic independence allows an education not controlled by the Government; and in adult life it is the man who needs, and asks, nothing of Government who can criticise its acts and snap his fingers at its ideology."
C.S. Lewis - Is Progress Possible? Willing Slaves of the Welfare State
Trump's victory for the presidency, along with his selection of Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to head a new outfit called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), could culminate in the U.S. Department of Education (ED) losing funding. Also, Trump's selection of Linda McMahon as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, should she be confirmed, could also have major consequences in altering the ED functions and all of the downstream results.
In reading about the future of the ED, conventional wisdom seems to say that it's unlikely that it will be eradicated, even with a Republican controlled congress. But conventional wisdom also told us that Roe v Wade would never be overturned.
The U.S. Department of Education went into business under President Carter in 1980. It's a new department as far as federal agencies go.
The Uncertain Future of the U.S. Department of Education
According to CBS News, Elon Musk said he wants to cut government wasteful spending by $500 billion.
How much the total spend was for 2024 by the federal government:
In 2024, federal spending reached $6.75 trillion, with a combined 45% of it going to health insurance programs, like Medicare, and Social Security.
Business Insider
55% of $6.75 trillion is $3.7125 trillion. This means that the government spends $10.17 billion dollars a day.
The Pentagon has failed the past seven audits in a row, and cannot account for what the $824 billion dollar budget was spent. This averages to $2,257,534,246.58 per day. They don't know what happens, exactly, or don't keep sufficient records, on spending $2.2 billion dollars a day. That amount of money could pay every man, woman, and child in the United States $2,460.44 per day.
A household of four would equal being paid $9,841.74 dollars a day at this level of spending. So to continue the math, a household of four, per year, would be $3,592,236.48. The individual person would amount to $898,059.12 per year. The amount unaccounted for at the Pentagon equals $898,059.12 per year for every individual man, woman, and child in the U.S.
But why might DOGE take on the Department of Education? Isn't Education a worthy cause that surely justifies itself? According to Epictetus, "Only the educated are free." And freedom looms most largely in the conservative ethos, right?
From the ED:
The fiscal year 2025 Budget Request continues to focus critical resources on high-quality education—from prekindergarten through postsecondary learning and from classroom through career—to ensure that all students thrive in school and in life. Secretary Cardona’s “Raise the Bar: Lead the World” agenda aims to lift up communities, unite people around student success, strengthen our democracy, grow our economy, and empower people everywhere to realize their dreams. In line with this agenda, this Budget focuses on transforming education and uniting around what truly works—based on decades of experience and
U.S. Department of Education
research—to advance educational equity and excellence. Raising the Bar means providing tools, resources, and assistance to states, districts, and schools to promote academic excellence and wellness for every learner and better prepare our nation for global competitiveness. Specifically, the fiscal year 2025 Budget would assist states and districts in achieving academic excellence by supporting the conditions to accelerate learning and achievement for every student; supporting improved learning conditions by working to eliminate the teacher shortage and investing in every student’s mental health and well-being; creating pathways for global competitiveness and engagement by reimagining college and career pathways and providing better opportunities for our students to become multilingual; and increasing college affordability, completion, and equity so more Americans can reach their dreams.
Here's a breakdown of the spending from ED over past few years.
Find more statistics at Statista
The U.S. ranks 12th in the world in education.
It's unclear what DOGE will do to the ED's funding, if anything. We will have to wait and see.
In a conversation with Elon Musk on X, Trump said:
"I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states."
Interview on X
Trump and would need congressional approval to "shut down" the ED.
Senator Mike Rounds from South Dakota has introduced a bill to shut down the ED. It's called the Returning Education To Our States Act. He wants to send the various functions of the ED to other existing bodies.
Linda McMahon and School Choice
Trump has chosen Linda McMahon to head the Department of Education. She's the wife of Vince McMahon, who is the chair of the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
McMahon may be able to expand school choice, using federal dollars per student even if they attend private schools for example, and if that doesn't gain ground, perhaps create a tax credit or a scholarship to offset the cost of sending students to private schools. Effectively, local public schools have a functional monopoly on education, and charter schools and private schools threaten that monopoly.
According to Thomas Sowell in his book Charter Schools and Their Enemies, charter schools like the Success Academy in Brooklyn prove that school choice, and schools with a different set of incentives (like charter schools have, without a functional monopoly or teacher's unions, and accountability to parents), works.
The Success Academy outperforms other districts across New York state, even affluent districts with average household incomes five times higher than the median household income of the students at the Success Academy. More money doesn't solve the problems in public school, as the kids at the Success Academy illustrate.
The ED's Office of Enforcement
According to this report by the American Principles Project, the ED's Office of Enforcement has been unfairly targeting Christian colleges, such as Grand Canyon University and Liberty University, as compared to their secular counterparts.
According to the report:
After a prolonged attack on career colleges, the Biden-Harris Department of
The Obscure Agency Leading A Crusade Against Christian Colleges And How New Data Proves The Bias (published Nov. 2024)
Education has turned its aggressive scrutinize-and-penalize campaign against Christian students and the colleges and universities that serve them.
The Department of Education’s assault on Christian colleges is being carried out by its Office of Enforcement—an obscure agency created under President Obama and resurrected by President Biden. This secretive office’s mission is to shut down colleges and universities that don’t align with the Administration’s woke agenda. Nearly 70 percent of penalties imposed by the Office of Enforcement have been against Christian institutions and career colleges, even though these schools represent less than 10 percent of college students. Within the last year the Biden-Harris Department of Education imposed record fines against two of the nation’s most prominent Christian universities—Grand Canyon University ($37.7 million) and Liberty University ($14 million). These fines total more than all other penalties assessed by the Department of Education over the past seven years. President Biden increased the Office of Enforcement’s budget by nearly 600 percent last year—and it has requested another almost 230 percent raise this year — signaling the Department of Education’s plans to escalate its attacks further.
New Education Opportunities
The Trump administration may create a new university. According to their website:
President Donald J. Trump will endow the American Academy with the billions we will collect by taxing the large endowments of private universities plagued by antisemitism.
Its mission will be to make a truly world-class education available to every American, free of charge, and do it without adding a single dime to the federal debt. This institution will gather an entire universe of the highest quality educational content, covering the full spectrum of human knowledge and skills, and make that material available to every American citizen online for free.
Most importantly, the American Academy will compete directly with the existing and very costly four-year university system by granting students degree credentials that the U.S. government and all federal contractors will henceforth recognize. The Academy will award the full and complete equivalent of a bachelor's degree.
Agenda47
Another option, that's not free but isn't nearly as expensive as traditional four year college, is the Peterson Academy. It remains to be seen if the Peterson Academy will be afforded accreditation by any of the existing accreditation bodies. But students may not care about accreditation, given that there are plenty of colleges that were accredited that have shut down, or remain open but have high tuition rates and low return on investment.
College Closings
Over 40 colleges have closed since the year 2020, and 20 of those were closed in 2024. More colleges will likely close in 2025. Keep in mind that since 2017 schools have been closing their doors, and enrollments have declined, all while the ED has been operating.
Many factors contribute to the closings. High school graduates' sentiment about college is that it's not justified given its high cost and low return on investment. The high cost and low return on investment, whether it's true or not, is believed more and more pervasively, and this creates a lack of faith in college, with many opting for skilled vocational training.
Is College Worth It? Tuition and Return on Investment
College tuition, whether at state schools or private schools has been on the rise for years. According to Education Data, the average increase over the last 20 years amounts to 141%, which equals about 7% per year.
There are notable exceptions, such as Southern New Hampshire University, Grand Canyon University, Liberty University, and others.
If wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of college, then the return on investment shrinks. And if students cannot find meaningful employment at all after graduating, then there is no return on their investment, only debt. The question of return on investment is a hard one to nail down, given that it's so context dependent. It depends on the subject that the student chooses to study, and whether there is any real expectation of employment after graduation. It also depends greatly on which college is chosen, given that there can be huge differences in tuition costs, which investments can vary greatly.
After studying the Bureau of Labor Statistics average median salary for the highest paying careers, and tracing those back to which online degree is necessary to attain jobs and careers in those fields, we developed The 20 Best Online Degrees for Careers, and most are technical subjects like Computer Science and Engineering/Engineering Management. Though there are some notable exceptions like Communication and Business Administration.
So there are degree programs and colleges that offer them that have a return on investment, and can provide long term employment. I think a college education, depending on the college and depending on the program, is worth it and worthwhile.
Decentralized Education
There is no constitutional role for the federal government in education, and all policies related to education should be made at the state and local levels. If voters here in Massachusetts (including me) want to eliminate high-stakes standardized testing in public schools, we should be able to do so without a peep from Washington, DC. Similarly, if the citizens of Oklahoma support Bible study in public schools, they should be able to grapple with that policy amongst themselves, without the federal government chiming in.
A decentralized education system is much better able to reflect and respond to the diverse needs and preferences of a pluralistic society than one controlled from the top.
CATO INSTITUTE
A local example of this is in the community college where I live not being able to form their own curricula, given that the state dictates community college programs. It doesn't matter the history of the local community, or the expertise teaching at the school, or in what subject they'd like to make their own classes, they can't, the state won't allow it. You'd think that a community college would, at least in part, serve at least one of the various interests of their community. Instead they're rubber stamp feeder schools to the four year institutions.
If you don't want top down educational dictates from the ED, you might want to think about the logic of dismantling the ED:
Trump has called for wide-ranging changes in American education, from promoting prayer in school to enacting mandatory patriotic education. Anyone worried about how the Trump administration could affect education policy should wholeheartedly support the elimination of the US Department of Education. Similarly, anyone worried about the education policies that the Biden administration touted, from college debt relief to DEI, should also support the elimination of this department. A weak federal role in education policy is not only what the Constitutional framers envisioned; it is also what will ensure that each state and school district can enact the policies that their people want—without DC bureaucrats getting in the way.
Kerry McDonald - CATO