WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� If is confirmed as education secretary, President has said he wants her to 鈥減ut herself out of a job.鈥�
A plan being considered by the White House would direct the education secretary to dismantle the department as much as legally possible while asking Congress to . At her confirmation hearing Thursday, indicated she would seek 鈥渁 better functioning Department of Education," with more efficient programs that might be better implemented by different federal agencies.
Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task; McMahon said she believed that would require action from Congress. Already, the department has cut for its office that tracks progress of students in schools across America.
The agency's main role is financial. Annually, it distributes billions in federal money to colleges and schools and manages the federal student loan portfolio. Closing the department would mean redistributing each of those duties to another agency. The Education Department also plays an important regulatory role in services for students, ranging from those with to low-income and homeless kids.
Indeed, federal education money is central to Trump's plans for colleges and schools. Trump has vowed to for schools and colleges that push "critical race theory, transgender insanity, and other inappropriate racial, sexual or political content" and to reward states and schools that end teacher tenure and support universal .
Federal funding makes up a relatively small portion of public school budgets 鈥� roughly 14%. Colleges and universities are more reliant on it, through research grants along with federal financial aid that helps students pay their tuition.
Here is a look at some of the department's key functions, and how Trump has said he might approach them.
Student loans and financial aid
The Education Department manages approximately $1.5 trillion in student loan debt for over 40 million borrowers. It also oversees the Pell Grant, which provides aid to students below a certain income threshold, and administers the Free Application for Federal Student Aid ( ), which universities use to allocate financial aid.
President Joe Biden's administration made cancellation of student loans a signature effort of the department's work. Even though Biden鈥檚 initial attempt to cancel student loans was , the administration over $175 billion for more than 4.8 million borrowers through a range of changes to programs it administers, such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness.
The loan forgiveness efforts have faced Republican pushback, including litigation from several GOP-led states.
Trump has Biden's efforts to cancel debt as illegal and unfair, calling it a 鈥渢otal catastrophe鈥� that 鈥渢aunted young people.鈥� Trump's plan for student debt is uncertain: He has not put out detailed plans.
Civil rights enforcement
Through its Office for Civil Rights, the Education Department conducts investigations and issues guidance on how civil rights laws should be applied, such as for LGBTQ+ students and students of color. The office also oversees a large data collection project that tracks disparities in resources, course access and for students of different racial and socioeconomic groups.
Trump has suggested a different interpretation of the office's civil rights role. Under his administration, the department has instructed the office to prioritize complaints of above all else and has opened investigations into colleges and school sports leagues for allowing transgender athletes to .
In his campaign platform, Trump said he would pursue civil rights cases to 鈥渟top schools from discriminating on the basis of race.鈥� He has described diversity and equity policies in education as 鈥渆xplicit unlawful discrimination鈥� and said colleges that use them will pay fines and have their endowments taxed.
Trump also has pledged to exclude from Title IX protections, which affect school policies on students鈥� use of pronouns, bathrooms and locker rooms. Originally passed in 1972, Title IX was first used as a women鈥檚 rights law. Last year, Biden鈥檚 administration said the law forbids discrimination based on , but a federal judge undid those protections.
College accreditation
While the Education Department does not directly accredit colleges and universities, it oversees the system by reviewing all federally recognized accrediting agencies. Institutions of higher education must be accredited to gain access to federal money for student financial aid.
Accreditation came under scrutiny from conservatives in 2022, when the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools questioned political interference at and universities. Trump has said he would fire 鈥渞adical left accreditors鈥� and take applications for new accreditors that would uphold standards including 鈥渄efending the American tradition鈥� and removing 鈥淢arxist鈥� diversity administrators.
Although the education secretary has the authority to terminate its relationship with individual accrediting agencies, it is an arduous process that has rarely been pursued. Under President Barack Obama, the department took steps to cancel accreditors for a now-defunct for-profit college chain, but the Trump administration blocked the move. The group, the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools, was terminated by the Biden administration in 2022.
Money for schools
Much of the Education Department's money for K-12 schools goes through large federal programs, such as Title I for low-income schools and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Those programs support services for students with disabilities, lower class sizes with additional teaching positions, and pay for social workers and other non-teaching roles in schools.
During his campaign, Trump called for shifting those functions to the states. He has not offered details on how the agency's core functions of sending federal money to local districts and schools would be handled.
The Heritage Foundation's , a sweeping proposal outlining a far-right vision for the country, offered a blueprint. It suggested sending oversight of programs for kids with disabilities and low-income children first to the Department of Health and Human Services, before eventually phasing out the funding and converting it to no-strings-attached grants to states.
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Associated Press education writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press鈥� education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP鈥檚 for working with philanthropies, a of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Annie Ma, The Associated Press
