The Impact of Education Department Contracts and Grant Cuts on American Education

In recent years, the landscape of American education has faced significant challenges due to federal funding terminations and contract cuts targeting institutions of higher education and K-12 programs. These actions, spearheaded by the Trump administration and entities like the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), have sparked widespread concern among educators, researchers, and policymakers about the future of education, research, and opportunity in the United States.

A Widespread Attack on Higher Education

While much of the national news has focused on federal funding terminations targeting Ivy League institutions like Harvard, the reality is that the Trump administration has targeted more than 4,000 grants for termination to over 600 universities and colleges across the country, affecting institutions in every state. These data do not account for the billions more of additional funding the administration has frozen for colleges and universities. This widespread attack is evident in federal data, as universities and colleges in both Republican- and Democrat-governed states are bearing the weight of the government’s funding cuts. In fact, Republican- and Democrat-governed states are facing similar impacts relative to their student populations in terms of funding terminated by the administration.

These grant terminations span a wide range of focuses and were awarded by 16 departments and agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Commerce. The majority of grants targeted for termination were awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and funded cutting-edge scientific and medical research and innovation.

Specific Examples of Grant Terminations

The terminated grants represent critical federal investments in America’s future. They funded research to protect national security, including by reducing America’s energy dependence on foreign countries. They funded projects to improve agricultural practices and sustainability and provided support for American farmers, including by expanding markets for beef and bison across the Great Plains and assisting farmers and ranchers in implementing climate-smart practices in Texas. They also funded initiatives to promote economic growth, improve and expand entry to the sciences, and encourage entrepreneurship.

These grants were given not only to undergraduate schools but also to many medical schools, nursing schools, graduate research labs, and university medical centers. They funded research to improve postdoctoral training in cardiovascular diseases; find new therapies for incurable brain tumors; support recovery after a stroke; study the spread of viruses to prevent global pandemics; better understand the negative health effects of heavy metals in drinking water; understand the chemical exposure health risks affecting kids when they inhale soil and dust; and reduce the risk of illicit opioid use in relation to chronic pain.

Impact on Students

These grant terminations are also profoundly affecting university and college students. As the map above illustrates, many states are losing hundreds, even thousands of dollars in federal funding for every student in their state. This means that opportunities for students in those states are being limited, including opportunities for research, employment, and professional growth. Resources for research programs help fund labs, libraries, and technology purchases that enrich undergraduate and graduate learning as well as scholarships and salaries for graduate researchers and programs that help build the STEM workforce pipeline. Importantly, research opportunities have also been shown to bolster student success and encourage more students to pursue STEM degrees.

At the K-12 level, the cuts have put at risk crucial data collection that teachers and education leaders say helps them better understand how students are performing in core subjects. Without the Education Department's research arm, tracking student progress in math and reading will become a lot more difficult. Ongoing cuts can directly harm students. For example, the Institute of Education Sciences, the nonpartisan research arm of the Education Department, uses classrooms across the country as data points in its research. Cuts to that research mean students may no longer be able to use the computer system that was helping them advance in math.

The Role of DOGE and Elon Musk

In February, Elon Musk and his DOGE team cut a total of 89 contracts worth $881 million from the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), the research and data arm of the department. The site compiles cuts across the federal government, including education. This obscure organization is critical in ensuring that schools from K-12 to college are funded and competitive, and that students are getting financial aid. A 2002 product of the Bush administration, the point of the IES is to improve education outcomes in the United States by providing high-quality data and analysis for state and federal governments.

The terminations of the IES contracts are expected to be especially impactful in the K-12 marketplace, as some research organizations laid off staff members in the wake of the cuts. For many of the IES contracts, it is not immediately clear how the DOGE arrived at its reported savings number. In four instances, the amount the cost-cutting office said was saved is larger than the total contract value it listed.

Layoffs at the Education Department

The Trump administration started laying off 466 Education Department staffers on Friday amid mass firings across the government meant to pressure Democratic lawmakers over the federal shutdown. The layoffs would cut the agency’s workforce by nearly a fifth and leave it reduced to less than half its size when President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20. The cuts play into Trump’s broader plan to shut down the Education Department and parcel its operations to other agencies.

All but a handful of top officials are being fired at the office that implements the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, a federal law that ensures millions of students with disabilities get support from their schools, the union said. Unknown numbers are being fired at the Office for Civil Rights, which investigates complaints of discrimination at the nation’s schools and universities. The layoffs would eliminate teams that oversee the flow of grant money to schools across the nation, the union said. It hits the office that oversees Title I funding for the country’s low-income schools along with the team that manages 21st Century Community Learning Centers, the primary federal funding source for after-school and summer learning programs.

Impact on Specific Programs

Several programs have been specifically targeted for cuts or have experienced delays in funding.

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs): Out of roughly 100 recipients of these seven-year grants expecting continuation awards for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, at least nine received cancellation notices on Sept. 12, according to Alex Chough, president of the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships, an advocacy group. Several more told Education Week this week that they still haven’t received a continuation or non-continuation notice.
Assistance for Arts Education: Out of roughly 22 recipients of these five-year grants, at least nine have recently received non-continuation notices, according to Amanda Karhuse, assistant executive director for advocacy and public policy for the National Association for Music Education. Most of the remaining recipients haven’t yet received confirmation their funds will flow as scheduled, Karhuse said. The upcoming fiscal year was set to be the fifth and last for all the current grantees.
American History and Civics: Out of roughly 26 recipients of these five-year grants expecting another round of funding, 19 have received non-continuation notices, according to advocacy groups tracking the funds. Among the programs losing funding is a professional development seminar for aspiring Wisconsin teachers to learn about Black, Mexican, and queer history in Milwaukee. Affected recipients were expecting three more years of annual funding.

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Innovative Approaches to Literacy: Out of roughly 50 recipients of these three-year grant awards, Education Week has confirmed at least two received non-continuation notices in the last month.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Part D: Out of close to 500 recipients across numerous grant programs, the Education Department issued non-continuation notices for 25, including: 17 state- and university-based projects for training special education teachers, Four statewide “deaf-blind” centers, which collectively serve 1,000 students in eight states, Three “community parent resource centers,” which supply resources to parents of children with disabilities from vulnerable groups, including one that serves Korean Americans in New York City, One technical assistance center that helps states improve special education data collection.
TRIO for college and career readiness: Out of hundreds of grant recipients across seven programs under the TRIO umbrella, more than two dozen have received cancellation notices, and dozens more have seen the start of their fiscal year delayed by one month without additional funding to cover the extended grant period.
Magnet Schools Assistance Program (MSAP): Out of roughly 60 recipients of these five-year grants, three have yet to receive continuation awards, even though their respective fiscal years started in April. Dozens more are still waiting to hear back in time for their Oct. 1 start dates.

Concerns about Data Collection

Good data drives good decision-making, and education is no exception. The IES is a vital partner to schools, districts, policymakers, and researchers. But no longer. As Musk’s assault on the agency shows, education of any kind is now a partisan issue. The Trump administration is refusing to publicize data that bear on the needs of marginalized people because American conservatives are now dead set against the very idea of public education of any kind. Currently, IES can barely function. Due to the 1,300 layoffs at the Department of Education under Education Secretary Linda McMahon-a woman who, not coincidentally, is so comically ignorant she confused AI with the A1 steak sauce-IES has a mere 20 federal employees left. According to The Hechinger Report, there are only three people left to do the work of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, NAEP, which is the common measure of K-12 achievement through standardized tests.

Without the Education Department's research arm, tracking student progress in math and reading will become a lot more difficult. That makes the department's $900 million cut to research contracts "at the top of my list of things to worry about," says Margaret Spellings, the education secretary for former President George W. Bush. Spellings tells me that without the grants, it's unclear how states and districts will get the data they need to best help their students succeed.

Economic Impact

Taken together, the Trump administration’s assault on higher education will do irreparable harm to research and development in the United States and the economy for years, even decades. economy between $10 billion and $16 billion annually in decreased economic output. Additionally, researchers estimate that proposed cuts to NIH funding would result in nearly 70,000 jobs lost nationwide. Losses in economic output are supported by estimates from the United for Medical Research coalition that find every $1 invested in scientific research through the NIH produces $2.56 in new economic activity. In general, based on economic analysis, federal investments in research and development have high rates of return and exceed nearly every other form of public or private investment.

The cancellation of thousands of grants, along with ensuing litigation, has added to the instability that experts and researchers have faced over the past few months. The result is an overwhelmingly hostile environment in which most professors, scientists, and researchers do not want to work. The situation has grown so dire that 75 percent of scientists now say they are considering leaving their positions in the United States for Europe or Canada. researchers looking to leave, with France even setting up a “Safe Place For Science” program, which promotes “a safe and stimulating environment for scientists wishing to pursue their research in complete freedom.” The significant grant terminations and proposed budget slashes for federal science funding underscore that science and research in the United States are subject to the political winds of the day; they send the entire world a message that the research and innovation environments in the United States are not reliable in the long run. Compromising America’s research and innovation infrastructure in this way undermines the nation’s competitive edge across the globe and gives way for other countries, including China, to attract talent fleeing the United States and become the global leader in research and innovation.

The Future of Education Funding

In order to understand the gravity of these funding terminations, it is critical for the public to recognize that federal funding cuts to research, development, and innovation at universities and colleges cannot be compensated by contributions from wealthy individuals, philanthropies, or foundations. Despite all these pressing factors, the solution to funding cuts should not be for institutions to fall back on private individuals or organizations. Research conducted at America’s higher education institutions, especially its public institutions, must be driven by the public’s needs, not the interests of wealthy individuals or organizations. Research and development grants are public investments in America’s future.

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