Education Department To Kill Trade School Student Loans

The Trump administration really seems to be against folks trying to make something of their lives. Despite spending so much time promoting trade schools, the Department of Education has announced regulations that would deny federal student loans to theology, cosmology, and performing arts majors due to low wages.

According to the Washington Post, the new regulations could decimate enrollment in hundreds of smaller trade schools throughout the United States. Despite the Trump administration’s focus on “Christian values,” the regulations would deny student loans to 89% of students enrolled in master’s programs for religion and religious studies. 

The Association for Biblical Higher Education, which represents several Christian colleges, asked the government to adjust the regulations or exempt religious programs entirely. “We don’t want it to be the single biggest defunding of religious higher education in the United States,” Philip Dearborn, president of the association, told the Post.

The guy who used AI art to depict himself as Jesus is implementing regulations that would limit the ability of people to study the gospel of Christ? What a shock. 

From the Washington Post:

But supporters say the regulations, expected to be finalized as early as June, are sorely needed to keep taxpayer-funded financial aid from flowing to programs that don’t adequately prepare students for good jobs. Overall, the Education Department estimates that more than 5 percent of undergraduate and graduate programs would flunk the new earnings rules, affecting hundreds of thousands of college students.

Under the proposal, for federal loans to be preserved, graduates would have to earn at least as much as the average pay for people without that level of education. For example, students completing undergraduate degrees would generally need to earn more than people with only high school diplomas.

“The bar programs have to meet to keep their federal loan access is exceedingly low,” Michelle Dimino, director of education for Third Way, a center-left think tank, said in an email. “If you can’t consistently meet such a low bar, it’s clear that something needs to be fixed, and these rules introduce some accountability.”

I went to film school, and while I mostly relied on scholarship money, I did receive some federal student loans for my last year in college. Under this new rule, I would’ve been out of luck, even though I would eventually go on to use my degree as a writer/producer, which wound up paying me the most of any job I’ve held to this day. 

While I understand the desire not to saddle students with debt that their chosen career paths cannot meaningfully pay back, have they considered that the problem is a lack of meaningful wage growth in the United States? 

Between my two gigs, I make about the same as what I was making in 2021, which I’m really not complaining about because I know what underemployment feels like and it ain’t great. While I’m grateful for being able to pay bills without stressing, I can tell you right now my dollar does not go nearly as far as it did five years ago. 

Obviously, the better move would be legislation and regulation that help increase wages instead of denying financial aid, but the Trump administration prefers hurting folks over helping them. One need only look at the Trump administration’s attempt to kill Job Corps to see how much they truly value skills training programs. 

I’m honestly at a loss trying to understand the Trump administration’s approach to education and skills training programs. Trump and his cronies have spent so much time complaining about how colleges and universities have become too “woke,” even going so far as to launch investigations and file lawsuits against several universities over their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The settlements of many of those lawsuits have required schools like Brown to make hefty grant donations to trade schools.

So they’re forcing universities to pay trade schools while also denying financial assistance to people who choose to attend trade schools. Make it make sense, y’all.

According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education, in the program year 2023-2024, Black students accounted for a little over 15% of students enrolled in trade school programs, while students identifying as Hispanic/Latino made up a little over 30%.

None of this is by accident. It is all by design.

SEE ALSO:

Department Of Education Cancels $350M In HBCU Grants

States Sue Over Change To Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Mizzou Pulls Funding From Black Student Organizations

Education Department Set To Kill Trade School Student Loans was originally published on newsone.com