TRUMP $5.6 BILLION EDUCATION CUTS

            On February 10, 2020, President Donald Trump announced the 2021 Fiscal Year proposal budget cuts.  It is a proposed document that Congress put together every fiscal year that shows where the president and his administration priorities are.  The president’s budget plan will reflect his policy objectives for 2021, if he is re-elected as president in the November, 2020 election, and if Congress pass these budget cuts.  There are many other areas that are affected by this proposal, food stamp programs, Medicaid programs, energy, assistance for low-income families, federal laws enforcement, transportation projects, and many more, but I would like to focus on education.

            Included in the 2021 proposed budget cut is the $5.6 billion cut in the Department of Education.  Higher education continues to be crucial to the United States economic future.  Trump is also proposing to cut $3.9 billion of the Pell Grant Program.  The Pell Grants are federal college scholarships that help fund low-income students tuition, living expenses, fees, books, transportation, supplies, and personal expenses like room and board.  The good thing is you do not have to repay Pell Grants like you do federal government loans.

            Also, within Trump’s budget cuts, he is planning to wipe out subsidized student loans.  The interests that are applied to these loans are covered by the federal government, while a student is enrolled in college.  He also plans to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.  This program eliminates your federal student loan debt, while pursuing your career in public services, as police officers, government workers, teachers, public hospitals, prosecutors, public defenders, and many more.  However, a recession is being predicted, and this would be a bad time for families to enroll college students if a recession happens. 

            There are over 44 million students who apply for loans today, and they are depending on student loans due to the constant increase in higher education, or help in a low income household.  James Kvaal and Jessica Thompson, co-authors of a new policy brief by the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy says, “State funding is not only declining but it is also distributed inequitably,” (Kvaal & Thompson, 2020).

            However, Congress has denied the Trump administration in the first three years on the budget cuts, but he keeps pushing it through trying to get it passed.  House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) made a statement saying, “Judging by initial reports, this destructive and irrational President is giving us a destructive and irrational budget,” (Whistle, 2020).

            There are two Democratic presidential front runners who have made a declaration about the student loan forgiveness program:

            Elizabeth Warren proposed that she will cancel $50,000 in student loan debt whose household income is less than $100,000.

            Bernie Sanders proposed to eliminate the whole $1.6 trillion of student loan debt.





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