Trump Administration Continues Efforts to Dismantle the Education Department

November 20, 2025

HEADLINES

The Trump Agenda: Trump Administration Continues Efforts to Dismantle the Education Department (Chronicle of Higher Education. November 19, 2025) The arrangements, first reported by The Washington Post, include agreements with four other departments to “co-manage” work, including grant-making programs that support college access and student success.

A senior department official, speaking on background, explained that the Education Department would still set policy for the programs, but the other departments would carry out operations. Education Department staff who work on the programs would remain in their roles, according to the department official.

Education Department Outsources Program Management to Other Agencies (Higher Ed Dive, November 18, 2025) The shifting of responsibilities is a historic change for the 46-year-old agency that has been the central hub of federal grant-making, technical assistance and civil rights enforcement for schools and colleges.
The programs to transfer include:

  • The Office of Elementary and Secondary Education to the U.S. Department of Labor.
  • The Office of Postsecondary Education’s institution-based grants to the Labor Department.
  • Indian education programs to the U.S. Department of Interior.
  • On-campus child care support for parents enrolled in college to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
  • Foreign medical accreditation to HHS.

ED Announces Key Priorities Through Grant Fund (Inside Higher Ed, November 11, 2025) “Under the Trump Administration, we are witnessing a transformative shift in higher education, one that is setting a new course for a brighter future. From restoring freedom of speech and fostering viewpoint diversity, to reimagining an archaic accreditation system and prioritizing workforce-driven programs, there is a growing recognition that bold, seismic change is essential to restoring confidence in our Nation’s higher education system,”

10 Universities Seek Recognition by a New Accreditor (Inside Higher Ed, November 13, 2025) The initial group to submit a letter of intent seeking CPHE accreditation comes from four states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. All are currently accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

Accreditation of Colleges, Once Low Key, Has Gotten Political (Stateline, November 13, 2025) When six Southern public university systems this summer formed a new accreditation agency, the move shook the national evaluation model that higher education has relied on for decades.

The news wasn’t unexpected: It arrived a few months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order in April overhauling the nation’s accreditation system by, among other things, barring accreditors from using college diversity mandates. It also came after U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in May made it easier for universities to switch accreditors.

U.S. Department of Education Celebrates Senate Confirmations for Additional Education Leadership | U.S. Department of Education (ed.gov., November 13, 2025) On October 7, the United States Senate voted to confirm Kimberly Richey as Assistant Secretary for the Office for Civil Rights, Kirsten Baesler as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Dr. David Barker as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Postsecondary Education, and Mary Christina Riley as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs. The confirmed nominees will work alongside U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon and Under Secretary Nicholas Kent to implement President Trump’s historic mandate to strengthen the American education system.