Donald Trump has been elected 45th President of United States of America, and he will be the leader of the free world. Yes the day has come and it is bound to have wide ranging impact on policies all over the world. But what does it really mean for the education sector and how are students going to be affected by it?
We would have like to give you concrete answers but sadly Trump has never clearly expressed his plans for education. There really cannot be calculated estimations either because he is not like your traditional Republican leader. But one thing is for certain – Republican backed Congress will lead to some major changes in the field of education.
Making institutions accountable
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In a speech in September Trump lashed out at universities with multi-million endowments. His grouse was that they pay their money to administrators and spend it on having donor’s names on their buildings. He insisted that we will pressure them to spend that money on students. But whether that really happens and how colleges respond to that, remains to be seen.
Emphasis on student loans
Trump also expressed his sadness about students “choking” on their education loans. He has talked about income-based student repayment plans. According to experts though, underwriting will be become the norm as matters will be returned to privatized banks. However college prices won’t fall and it will only lead to lower enrollment.
Risk-sharing and what it means
There are many who believe that colleges should bear part of the financial risks that come with student loans. Presently, if more than 30% of students default on their federal loans, colleges can lose access to their federal student aid. If this policy actually comes into play then colleges might be more stringent in their criteria for student enrollment.
Varying interest rates
Sam Clovis, the national co-chair and policy director of Trump’s campaign has advised that colleges and private lenders should charge students different lending rates based on their income earning potential. However this might be a tricky one to implement because women and minorities tend to earn lower salaries.
End of Department of education
Yes, that was actually one of the claims from the Trump campaign. However experts believe that eliminating the department completely might be a remote possibility. Even some of his more plausible plans for student loans will have to be subsidized by the Federal Government to keep college education accessible to students. But one thing is for sure, the times they are a-changing.
