Five Key Education Reforms Under Trump in 2025

By Ginika Igboke

President Donald Trump made education reform a central pillar of his 2024 campaign and moved swiftly after taking office to reshape federal education policy.

A wave of executive orders and administrative actions targeting long-standing practices in K–12 and higher education—moves the administration says could save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars—sparked resistance from Democratic governors and national teachers’ unions. Several legal challenges are expected to continue into 2026.

“These are reforms that conservatives have championed for decades,” the Department of Education said in a year-end statement. “And in one year, we’ve made them a reality.”

Here are five major developments in Trump’s education agenda during 2025:

1. Dismantling the Department of Education

Trump appointed Education Secretary Linda McMahon with a mandate to return education policy to the states and redistribute federal education functions across other agencies. While both have acknowledged that formally abolishing the Department of Education would require congressional approval, McMahon quickly cut the department’s staff in half and closed satellite offices outside Washington.

She announced plans to move most functions—excluding special education, student loans and financial aid, civil rights enforcement, and data services—to other federal departments. McMahon said eliminating federal bureaucracy would direct more money into classrooms, citing authority under the Economy Act to shift responsibilities among agencies.

In the coming months, the department plans to replace existing federal grant systems with state block grants, while McMahon continues nationwide school visits to gather input and promote best practices aimed at improving K–12 outcomes. The National Education Association has denounced the changes as unlawful and harmful.

2. Civil Rights and DEI Rollbacks

Trump signed executive orders banning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices in federally funded education, including race-based hiring, admissions preferences, mandatory diversity training, and race- or ethnicity-based affinity groups. Additional orders targeted campus anti-Semitism and reinforced protections for women’s sports under Title IX.

The Education and Justice departments began enforcing the policies by launching investigations and withholding billions in federal funds from institutions found to have civil rights violations or linked to disruptive or violent protests. Several universities reached settlements, agreeing to fines and corrective measures.

Among them, Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million to the federal government and $21 million to Jewish employees who faced harassment. Cornell University agreed to pay a $30 million penalty and invest an additional $30 million in agricultural research. The University of Pennsylvania was required to revoke awards from a transgender swimmer who competed in women’s events and issue apologies to affected athletes.

Legal battles continue with other institutions, including Harvard. While many universities challenged the policies, most complied by removing DEI-related references from their websites and programs.

Trump has taken fewer actions against K–12 schools, though he has threatened to withhold federal funds from states that allow males to compete in girls’ sports or permit schools to withhold information about students’ gender identity from parents.

3. Higher Education Compact

After the 2025–2026 academic year began, the administration proposed a Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education to nine universities. Participating schools would receive preferred consideration for federal grants and research flexibility in exchange for policy changes, including ending race-based preferences, reinstating SAT requirements, capping foreign undergraduate enrollment at 15 percent, freezing tuition for five years, maintaining political neutrality, and accepting all transfer credits from military members and veterans.

Seven universities rejected the proposal, citing concerns over institutional independence. Vanderbilt University and the University of Texas have yet to announce decisions. The Education Department has not indicated whether the compact will be offered more broadly.

4. Expanding Universal School Choice

Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in 2025, establishing a federal scholarship tax credit program to support private school vouchers. Set to begin in 2027, the program allows donors to receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits for contributions to scholarship organizations or for expenses such as transportation and supplies, with income limits designed to prioritize low-income families.

Participation is optional for states. Trump and McMahon have argued that school choice is essential to reversing declining test scores tied to ZIP code–based school assignments.

At the state level, Texas lawmakers passed a measure providing $1 billion for private school vouchers in the program’s first year, along with support for homeschooling and special education alternatives. Federally, McMahon increased funding for charter schools by $60 million, bringing annual support to $500 million.

5. Student Loans and Transparency

The administration reversed Biden-era student loan policies that sought to forgive large amounts of outstanding debt and allowed unlimited borrowing. New rules cap borrowing levels and emphasize repayment obligations.

The Education Department plans to resume wage garnishment for borrowers in default and has denied hundreds of thousands of requests for reduced monthly payments. Teachers’ unions have filed lawsuits challenging the changes.

Borrowers applying for federal student aid are now shown projected post-graduation earnings based on institutional data. Looking ahead to 2026, Trump is expected to support the bipartisan College Transparency Act, which would expand federal tracking of college costs, financial aid, enrollment patterns, completion rates, and graduates’ employment outcomes.