WASHINGTON — If a news report on a preliminary draft of the Trump administration’s proposed education budget is accurate, the budget represents a “historic assault on college affordability,” a senior executive for the American Council on Education (ACE) said Thursday.
“Cuts of this size and scope would undermine opportunity for millions of low-income and working-class students who see higher education as the gateway to a better life,” said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president in the division of government and public affairs at ACE, the nation’s largest organization of colleges and universities, in a statement to Diverse.
Hartle was referring to a news report that indicated the Trump administration planned to slash spending on federal education initiatives by $10.6 billion — $9.2 billion of which would be from the Education Department.
Coupled with details released in President Donald J. Trump’s “skinny budget” earlier this year, the new budget would mean “massive reductions to nearly every program that helps students afford college,” Hartle said.
Hartle said the president’s budget would cut grants to low-income students; make loans more expensive; slash funding for medical and scientific research; make it more difficult for students to work their way through college; and take away childcare from students with families.
“If enacted, this budget would likely push college out of reach for millions of students,” Hartle said. “Thankfully, Congress has the ultimate responsibility for setting funding, and with the FY 2017 spending bills, they have shown a willingness to reject similarly damaging proposals from the president.”
Not everyone was so critical of Trump’s proposed education budget, which is expected to be published next week.
