On March 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order advising the Secretary of Education to facilitate the closure of the U.S. Department of Education “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.” The executive order also orders the Secretary of Education to ensure programs receiving funds from the Department of Education don’t use terms such as “diversity, equity, and inclusion” in their programming.
The Department of Education as it exists today was founded in 1979, when Congress passed the Department of Education Organization Act. President Jimmy Carter signed the act into law with Executive Order 12212 on May 2, 1980. Some of the department’s purposes are to ensure equal access to education, to oversee the distribution of federal funds, and generally to improve the quality of education in the United States. The department has faced criticism in the past, with Ronald Reagan being the first president to propose abolishing it just two years after it was signed into existence.
An executive-level department can only be abolished by an act of Congress. Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC) is sponsoring a resolution that would do just that. The States’ Education Reclamation Act of 2025 was introduced to the House of Representatives on Jan. 13 and referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce. It has yet to be passed through the House and Senate, which must happen before it reaches the president’s desk.
Without an act of Congress, the executive branch can still downsize the department — a process the Trump administration began before the executive order was signed. On March 11, nine days before Trump signed the order, the department announced a nearly 50% staff reduction.
For now, the Trump administration has said Pell Grants will be safe. President Trump said in a speech on March 20 that Pell Grants, along with Title I and special education funding, will be “fully preserved” under the order. Press releases from the department also say the department will “continue to deliver” on Pell Grants and other statutory programs.
On March 21, President Trump announced the Small Business Administration will now oversee student loan management. The same day, the SBA announced it would reduce its staff by 43%.
As for how the executive order will impact the university, Executive Director of Financial Aid at New Mexico State, Melissa Magnusson, said, “Unfortunately, at this point it is too early to know how the changes to the Department of Education will impact the NMSU Financial Aid Office.”
