1968 Wharton graduate and President Donald Trump’s administration called for a 15% funding cut to the Department of Education last week, expanding upon their plans for the fiscal year 2026 budget.
These additions were announced on June 2 — a month after the initial proposal — and include significant reductions to Federal Pell Grants and the Federal Work-Study program. The proposal will go into effect on Oct. 1 if enacted by Congress.
The Education Department’s budget proposal would include a nearly 23% cut to the maximum award amount for Federal Pell Grants — which are awarded to low-income undergraduates. Rather than a $7,395 grant cap — which was in place for the 2025 fiscal year — the Trump administration has proposed a maximum award of $5,710.
The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators President and CEO Melanie Storey wrote that the Pell Grant program “has historically seen broad bipartisan support” throughout “politically polarizing times.”
The elimination of Pell Grants and “complementary programs” will undo “decades of commitment to the promise of the Higher Education Act and would result in considerable harm for students pursuing postsecondary education,” Storey wrote.
The proposal reduces Federal Work-Study funding by 80% — which would shift the responsibility of paying student wages, requiring employers to pay 75% and shrinking the federal government’s contribution to 25%.
The Trump administration also proposed the elimination of the TRIO and GEAR UP programs — which currently serve a total of 1,450,000 low-income students and are designed to help them as they enter undergraduate campuses.
In a May 2 press release, Secretary of Education Linda McMahon wrote that Trump’s budget proposal reflected the “historic mandate” she had been “given to serve as the final Secretary of Education.”
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“The federal government has invested trillions of taxpayer dollars into an education system that is not driving improved student outcomes — we must change course and reorient taxpayer dollars toward proven programs that generate results for American students,” McMahon wrote.
The funding cut furthers Trump’s efforts to dismantle the Education Department — which he has promised to target during his second presidential term. In March, Trump announced a 50% reduction to the Education Department’s workforce and signed an executive order to eliminate the department. The agency cannot be completely abolished unless Congress enacts legislation modifying the laws that created the department.
According to an analysis by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn received $29,908,126.83 from the Education Department during fiscal year 2024. At the time of publication, it remains unclear what will happen to the funds previously allocated to Penn by the department during the current fiscal year.
