Trump's college overhauls raise anxiety among college-bound high school students

In less than two months in office, President Donald Trump has targeted U.S. colleges and universities by threatening their federal funding, ordering them to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, and firing half the Department of Education.

The actions are a concern to many students already enrolled in college — as well as high school seniors now in the process of selecting the campus they'll commit to attending in the fall: Will they have a much different college experience than they anticipated?

“Some of my families and students are scared,” said Dewey Wilmot, a college admissions counselor based in the Bay Area. “They don't know what's going to be happening, exactly, particularly with financial aid, federal loans, Pell grants, etcetera.”

Most colleges and universities send admission offers in March and ask those they've admitted to commit with a financial down payment by May 1. These months cap a roughly year-long application process and end in a decision many teenagers think will shape the rest of their lives.

Rena Felde, a senior at Redondo Union High School, said she wants to study agriculture and public health, as well as sustainable agricultural practices. UC Davis is a good school for that and she received an acceptance letter from the university.

“I was visiting their website for one of their agriculture majors, and on the front page was just this notification of how the federal grant cuts will be affecting their programs," she said.

And that worries her. She also said she’s uncertain whether to pick a school with a good financial aid package that will make the higher-priced college affordable because any cuts to financial aid may make her education unaffordable in the years that follow.

Funding cuts for college programs

DEI programs at colleges and universities range from academic research projects to support for first-year students.

The strength of those programs make the colleges more attractive to some students.

“ I'm most concerned about what [the Trump administration is] saying about DEI and how they've sort of made it illegal,” said Lila Blue Falcon, a senior at Cerritos High School.

It’s left to be seen whether Trump’s directives for colleges to end DEI programs lead campuses to cut programs, scale them back, or look for resolutions in court.

Lila's father, Dennis Falcon, is a political science professor at Cerritos College and said he also worries her college education will be less enriching because of Trump’s policies.

“We're all seeing the instability and the chaos, and probably we're all wondering as parents, as educators what our children will be inheriting,” he said.

How certain is FAFSA?

A year ago, college applicants had trouble filling out federal financial aid forms because of an overhaul to the online application, putting a huge dent in the number of applicants. People who help college applicants are worried this year about layoffs at the U.S. Department of Education, which runs the FAFSA process.

“And if that reduction in staffing results in a slower processing of those FAFSAs or if there are delays or if they're being selected for verification, how long is that process going to take?” said Julio Mata, director of college counseling at Francis Parker School in San Diego, and president of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling.

His concern is that the wait will lead some applicants to drop out of the process and forgo college altogether, which has already been a concern for students from mixed-status families.

The Department of Education also runs the multi-billion dollar Pell Grant program for college students with financial need.

“Hopefully the whole program is not axed,” advisor Wilmot said.

He said such a move does not seem out of the realm of possibility because of the administration’s other far-reaching actions.

The uncertainty around federal aid and loans, Wilmot said, is leading some applicants to pick less expensive public colleges, like those in the California State University or California Community Colleges system.

For other applicants, the uncertainty about college programs and environments on campuses is leading them to consider going abroad. Students, for example, have talked to him about schools in Canada and Europe.

“That pathway is becoming much more viable," said Mata, of the Francis Parker School. "Even some juniors who are starting to build their college list and explore their options are starting to see or starting to ask more questions about international options."