What a Second Trump Term Could Mean for Student Financial Aid

NASFAA

Maria Carrasco

October 8, 2024

With the 2024 presidential election less than a month away, former President Donald Trump’s platform could mean more aggressive policies for higher education and federal student financial aid.

Trump’s first term, in 2016, began with a focus of rescinding higher education initiatives of the Obama administration, including new gainful employment regulations and borrower defense to repayment regulations.

Preston Cooper, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, said that if Trump does take office again, his administration could be even more aggressive against higher education institutions, especially “elite” institutions.

“In recent years, we’ve seen a bit of a Republican churn against ‘elite’ higher education,” Cooper said. “There’s a sense on the right that we heavily subsidize these institutions, and of course, we’re just not getting that much for it. There probably is some energy on the right to take a hard look at the subsidies that are going to higher education, especially very prestigious institutions, and see whether those should continue, and whether that would really be worth it.”

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