Honestly, if you've been watching the news lately, it feels like the U.S. Department of Education is in the middle of a massive "Going Out of Business" sale. But instead of marked-down office chairs, they’re moving entire federal programs to different buildings across Washington D.C. It’s a lot to keep track of. One day you hear the department is being "abolished," and the next, you see Secretary Linda McMahon announcing a new partnership with the Department of Labor.
So, what is Trump's plan for the Department of Education exactly? Is it actually disappearing?
The short answer is: it’s complicated. While the President signed an executive order back in March 2025 to start the closure process, you can’t just put a padlock on a cabinet-level agency and walk away. There are laws, budgets, and trillions in student loans that make it a total logistical nightmare. Instead of a sudden "poof" and it's gone, we’re seeing a "hollow out and hand off" strategy. Basically, the administration is moving the furniture out while they wait for Congress to help them tear down the walls.
The Big "Break Up": Programs on the Move
If you want to understand Trump's plan for the Department of Education, you have to look at the interagency agreements (IAAs) signed late in 2025. This isn't just bureaucratic shuffling; it's a fundamental rewire of how the federal government handles schools.
The administration’s logic is pretty straightforward: the Department of Education doesn't actually teach anyone, so why does it need 4,000 employees and a massive HQ? They’d rather have the "experts" in other fields handle the money. For example, as of January 2026, staff from the Higher Education Programs division are already being detailed to the Department of Labor (DOL).
Here is how the "divorce" is currently shaking out:
- Department of Labor (DOL): This is becoming the new home for almost everything related to "career readiness." They are taking over K-12 workforce programs and the bulk of postsecondary grants. The idea is to stop treating college like a four-year retreat and start treating it like a job training center.
- Department of the Interior: They’re taking back the Office of Indian Education.
- Health and Human Services (HHS): They are grabbing things like the "Child Care Access Means Parents in School" (CCAMPIS) program.
- Department of State: They'll likely handle the foreign language and international education components.
It’s a massive "unbundling." Critics like Representative Rosa DeLauro have called it a "plot to destroy public education," arguing that spreading these programs across five different agencies will create a mess of red tape. On the flip side, the administration says they’re just cutting the middleman.
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What Happens to Your Student Loans?
This is where things get real for about 43 million people. You can’t just delete a $1.6 trillion debt portfolio. Even if the Department of Education closed tomorrow, someone has to collect the checks.
The current Trump's plan for the Department of Education involves a massive overhaul of the repayment system. Remember the SAVE plan? That’s basically history now. A settlement with the state of Missouri in late 2025 effectively ended it.
Starting July 1, 2026, the administration is launching the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP). This will eventually become the only income-driven repayment (IDR) option for new borrowers. If you’re already on an older plan like PAYE or ICR, you’ve got until July 2028 to switch over to the new system or the standard 10-year plan.
The RAP plan has a few "carrots" to make it look better. For instance, if you make your payments on time but they don't cover the interest, the government will waive that extra interest so your balance doesn't grow. They're even talking about small "matching payments" to help chip away at the principal. But—and this is a big "but"—Parent PLUS loans are being left out in the cold. If you're a parent borrower, you basically have until mid-2026 to consolidate your loans if you want any hope of getting onto an income-driven track.
The Title IX War and "Radical Indoctrination"
While the "where does the money go" stuff is happening in the background, the "culture war" stuff is front and center. This is a huge part of Trump's plan for the Department of Education.
Earlier this month, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched 18 different investigations into school districts and colleges. The target? Schools that allow transgender athletes to compete in women's sports. The administration's stance is that this is a direct violation of Title IX.
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It’s a complete 180-degree turn from the previous administration. Under Secretary McMahon, the department has defined "discriminatory equity ideology" (basically anything that looks like DEI) as a violation of federal law. They’ve already frozen billions in grants to schools like Harvard and Columbia.
"We are sending education back to the states where it so rightly belongs," McMahon said recently.
But "sending it back" comes with strings. If a state wants to keep its federal Title I funding (which helps low-income schools), it has to follow these new rules on "indoctrination" and "biological sex." It’s sort of a "my way or the highway" approach to federalism.
Is Special Education Safe?
This is the number one question parents ask. If you close the department, what happens to IDEA (the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)?
Despite the "abolish the department" rhetoric, the administration seems to be treading carefully here. Lindsey Burke, a key policy architect for the administration, recently said there are "no plans" to cut special education funding. In fact, she hinted that they might even increase it to show parents they aren't being abandoned.
The 2026 "skinny" budget proposal calls for flat funding for IDEA. The catch is that while the money might stay the same, the oversight changes. If the program moves to HHS or Labor, will the same civil rights protections for students with disabilities be enforced as strictly? That’s the $18 billion question.
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The "School Choice" Gambit
Universal school choice is the north star for Trump's plan for the Department of Education. The goal is to make federal funding "portable." Instead of the money going to a specific school district, they want it to follow the student to a private school, charter school, or even for homeschooling.
They're doing this by:
- Removing barriers for charter schools: Withdrawing regulations that made it harder for charters to get federal "start-up" cash.
- Title I flexibility: Encouraging states to use their low-income funding for voucher-like programs.
- The 50-State Tour: Secretary McMahon is currently visiting every state to "gather best practices," which is mostly a push for states to pass their own universal choice laws.
The Reality Check: Can They Actually Close It?
Look, as much as the White House wants to "drain the swamp" at 400 Maryland Ave, they can't do it alone. The Department of Education was created by an Act of Congress in 1979. It takes an Act of Congress to kill it.
Right now, the 2026 budget is a mess. Democrats are fighting to include language that prevents the "offloading" of duties to other agencies. If the government shuts down on January 30th, it’ll likely be because of this specific fight.
Even if they don't get the law passed to officially "delete" the department, they are doing a pretty good job of making it irrelevant. By moving the employees, changing the loan rules, and turning the Office of Civil Rights into an "anti-DEI" task force, the department is already becoming something entirely different than what it was two years ago.
Your Next Steps
If you're a parent, student, or educator, sitting back and waiting isn't really an option. Here is what you should actually do:
- Check Your Loan Status: If you're on the SAVE plan, you need to log in to StudentAid.gov immediately. Explore the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) and see how your monthly payment will change.
- Parent PLUS Borrowers: You have a hard deadline of July 1, 2026, to consolidate your loans if you want to access the remaining income-driven repayment options. Don't wait until June.
- Monitor Local School Boards: Since the federal government is "returning power to the states," your local school board and state legislature now have more influence over curriculum and funding than they have in decades. Watch for new "School Choice" bills in your state capitol.
- IEP/504 Families: Keep a close eye on your district’s federal funding reports. While the administration says IDEA funding is safe, the shift in oversight could change how "compliance" is handled at your child's school.