Trump Education Department Changes Key Updates And Impacts On Schools

On the Tuesday, December 2, 2025 episode of The Excerpt podcast: Trump’s latest Education Department moves target some of the agency's most important programs. From Title I to special education to student aid, we break down what’s moving, what’s staying and what the changes mean for millions of students. Zach Schermele joins USA TODAY's The Excerpt to unpack it all. Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here President Donald Trump's quest to dismantle the Department of Education went into high gear late last month, with six interagency agreements that redistributed longstanding functional areas of the department. Well, Congress finally caved in and let Trump abolish the ED. Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025.

Here to help me dig into all of the changes at the Education Department, now joined by USA Today Congress reporter, Zach Schermele. Thanks so much for coming back, Zach. While only Congress can completely act as a federal agency, the Supreme Court has allowed the White House to move forward for now with mass education department layoffs. Walk me through the latest changes. In 2025, the Trump administration began extensive changes to the U.S. Department of Education, representing a new direction for federal education policy.

The proposed reforms entail reorganizing key offices, reducing staff, and changing the direction and purpose of funding, all while espousing local control of schools. The administration also issued new ideological guidelines about K-12 curricula, guidelines about higher education, and changes to student loans and federal grants. Proponents argue that these revisions streamline operations and give states greater control, while critics fear that they will ultimately reduce federal involvement in the education system, lead to more inadequate funding for schools, and... As schools across the country adjust to these changes, educators, policymakers, and families are left to navigate a transformational moment that may ultimately reshape educational access, equity, and accountability in American education. Check Out: U.S. Education Under Donald Trump: Major Changes and Key Initiatives in 2025

Here are some of the major trump education department changes along with statistics and numbers: Reduction in Staff: The Education Department has significantly cut back on staff, laying off almost half of its employees. The staff total has decreased from almost 4,100 to nearly 2,100, which has had an enormous impact on the department’s capacity to function. Sign up for Chalkbeat’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with how education is changing across the U.S. The U.S. Education Department is moving management of K-12 and higher education to the Department of Labor and parceling out other job duties to other federal agencies in the most sweeping effort so far to dismantle...

The Education Department announced the changes Tuesday, describing them as fulfilling President Donald Trump’s promise to “return education to the states.” Management of both the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Postsecondary Education will be moved to the Department of Labor, which oversees workforce development programs and protects workers’ rights, among... The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education oversees major federal funding streams such as Title I, which provides $18 billion a year for high-poverty schools, as well as teacher training programs, support for English... The U.S. Department of Education building is photographed in Washington, Dec. 3, 2024.

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — The Education Department is breaking off several of its main offices and giving their responsibilities to other federal agencies, an early look at how President Donald Trump could fulfill his campaign... Offices that serve the nation’s schools and colleges would go to departments ranging from Labor to Interior. Education officials say the moves won’t affect the money Congress gives states, schools and colleges. They didn’t say whether current department staff would keep their jobs. Since he took office, Trump has called for the dismantling of the Education Department, saying it has been overrun by liberal thinking.

Agency leaders have been making plans to parcel out its operations to other departments, and in July the Supreme Court upheld mass layoffs that halved the department’s staff. In recent days, Education Secretary Linda McMahon has started a public campaign for the end of her department, making the case on social media that Education’s grantmaking and question-answering functions could be better handled... A sign marks the location of the U.S. Department of Education headquarters building on June 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. J. David Ake/Getty Images hide caption

A sign marks the location of the U.S. Department of Education headquarters building on June 20, 2025, in Washington, DC. Federal education policy has seen a lot of changes since President Trump's inauguration. For example, the Department of Education itself, which Trump has vowed to close.But that hasn't stopped the Trump administration from also wielding the Department's power. Most recently, by withholding billions of dollars for K-12 schools.The Trump administration has drastically changed the federal government's role in education. What does that mean for American classrooms?

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at considerthis@npr.org. This episode was produced by Kathryn Fink. It was edited by Nicole Cohen and Courtney Dorning. Our executive producer is Sami Yenigun. The Trump administration has hit the ground running with significant changes to education policy since the January 20 inauguration. Just seven weeks into the new term, the Department of Education recently confirmed Secretary Linda McMahon.

The U.S. Department of Education has embarked on a sweeping overhaul of federal education policy. From budget cuts to campus accountability measures, the administration's actions have sparked intense debate among educators, students, and policymakers. As the dust settles on these changes, one thing is clear: the landscape of American education is undergoing a significant shift in priorities, sending ripples through America's education landscape. Here's a breakdown of what's happening—and what it means for the future of learning in the United States. One of the most immediate changes has been the Department of Education's scrutiny of test-optional admissions policies.

In a controversial February memorandum, the Department suggested that test-optional policies might constitute "illegal" diversity, equity, and inclusion practices, mainly when implemented to increase campus diversity. This stance has drawn sharp criticism from educators and advocates who argue that test-optional policies have been instrumental in leveling the playing field for underrepresented students. The Trump administration has made no secret of its intention to reduce federal spending on higher education. Programs like the Research Experience for Undergraduates have slashed budgets, which provides critical research opportunities for college students. According to Inside Higher Ed, these cuts threaten to dismantle a key pipeline for future scientists and researchers, particularly at historically underfunded institutions. Graduate programs have also been hit hard, with the administration arguing that many fail to deliver a clear return on investment.

Critics, however, warn that these cuts will disproportionately affect low-income and first-generation students, further widening the gap in educational access. The Office for Civil Rights at the Education Department has launched investigations into 60 colleges and universities over allegations of antisemitism, including several Ivy League institutions, citing concerns about the safety and well-being of... The administration canceled $400 million in grants to Columbia University, citing the school’s alleged inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students. While some applaud the administration for taking a stand against hate speech, others worry that the investigations could have a chilling effect on free speech and academic freedom. The line between antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israeli policies is often blurred, raising concerns about overreach. This story was originally published by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit news outlet focused on education.

President Donald Trump has unleashed a flurry of orders and actions designed to reshape the federal government’s role in education since taking office for the second time. He directed Education Secretary Linda McMahon to shrink the agency she oversees, while other cuts have been initiated by Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. Shuttering the Education Department entirely would take an act of Congress, but the administration laid off about half of its workers, floated plans to shift its work to other departments, and cut millions of... At the same time, Trump is calling for a larger federal role in certain areas of education. His administration is redefining what the federal government considers discrimination in schools and on college campuses, eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion policies among others that it describes as “woke” and punishing academic institutions it... The administration is also aggressively investigating colleges over alleged antisemitism and policies that are inclusive of transgender students, and in some cases canceling colleges’ federal funding.

It has threatened the visa status of international students over minor legal infractions. Many of the administration’s actions have been challenged in court but are already influencing how schools and colleges operate. President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday revealed the full details of his administration’s sweeping proposal to slash federal education spending, eliminate grant programs worth billions of dollars, and rewrite special education law in unprecedented... The annual White House budget proposal, released with little fanfare just minutes before 5 p.m. on May 30, fleshes out the “skinny budget” documents the administration published earlier in May. These documents are merely proposals and do not have the force of law, and will likely look different from the budget Congress eventually approves for the fiscal year starting this October.

The administration’s core priorities were already clear from the shorter document: $60 million in new annual funding for charter school grants; a sharp overall reduction in federal agency staffing and funding support for K-12... Overall, the proposal would reduce the U.S. Department of Education’s budget by 15 percent, to $66.7 billion from $79.6 billion. As Trump and Education Secretary Linda McMahon have promised repeatedly in recent months, the administration is proposing to cut the overall bottom line for the Education Department while maintaining level funding for two core...

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