WASHINGTON
Trump administration moves student loans, special education programs
President Donald Trump announced Friday that his administration is moving federal student loans from the Department of Education to Small Business Administration and programs for students with disabilities and nutrition programs to Health and Human Services.
“It’ll be serviced much better than it has been in the past,” Trump said of the student loan program. “It’s been a mess.”
The announcement comes a day after the president signed an executive order calling to eliminate the Department of Education. By law, the department would need to be eliminated by an act of Congress.
The American Federation of Teachers announced Wednesday the union is suing the Trump administration over changes to student loan applications and processing.
“By effectively freezing the nation’s student loan system, the new administration seems intent on making life harder for working people, including for millions of borrowers who have taken on student debt so they can go to college,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten in a press release.
—Zaidee Stavely, EdSource
SACRAMENTO
California college students would attend today, pay tomorrow under pay-it-forward proposal
A California lawmaker is pitching an alternative to traditional college loans in which students would attend college at no immediate cost in exchange for a share of their future earnings.
Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo’s Pay-It-Forward Financial Aid Program calls for California State University and the University of California to allow students to enroll without paying tuition or other costs upfront. Participating students would instead sign contracts agreeing to pay for their education via a percentage of their income “upon graduation or disenrollment from a campus and employment.”
Students would not be allowed to pay more than they received through the program, according to the text of AB 1241, which was last amended on March 12. The bill envisions that students could use the money to supplement other forms of financial aid they receive, including grants, scholarships and loans.
The bill appears similar to a funding program attempted in Oregon more than a decade ago, which was modeled after a proposal students at Portland State University presented to state legislators. Though the idea won support from lawmakers concerned about student debt, plans to pilot the program raised concerns about the costs to serve a relatively small number of students, the news organization Governing reported in 2019. Research by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission in 2014 found that at least 24 states had proposed similarly structured programs in the previous two years.
—Amy DiPierro, EdSource
CALIFORNIA
UC to freeze hiring amid threat of federal funding cuts
The University of California will soon freeze hiring systemwide as it prepares for possible budget cuts at both the state and federal levels, President Michael Drake announced Wednesday.
Drake said the freeze would be implemented “to help the university manage its costs and conserve funds.” He announced the plan at the system’s board of regents meeting.
UC will join a number of universities across the country that have implemented hiring freezes amid the Trump administration’s threats to cut university funding. Other universities that have announced hiring freezes include Harvard University, Stanford University and North Carolina State University.
Drake said the “potential freezing or decreasing of federal contracts and grants” would have a “particularly profound effect” on UC. He noted the university has long “partnered closely” with the National Institutes of Health, which is the largest funder of UC research.
Drake also pointed out that the university is preparing for a state budget cut of nearly 8% this year, which would further exacerbate UC’s budget challenges.
In addition to the hiring freeze, Drake said he was directing “every UC location” to implement additional cost-saving measures, though he didn’t say what those would entail.
“Because every UC location is different, these plans will vary accordingly,” Drake said.
—Michael Burke, EdSource
