When Trump Talks About Cutting Higher Education Costs, He’s Talking About Cutting Us

As headlines tout Donald Trump’s promises to “reduce the cost of higher education,” it’s vital that we understand what this really means. He’s not talking about helping students avoid debt. He’s talking about gutting the system from the inside out and that means cutting us. 

Trump’s recently proposed budget (see Inside Higher Ed on May 2nd) is a sweeping blueprint to dismantle the higher education infrastructure that has served this country since World War II. It targets student aid and campus-based support in a way that strikes hardest at the foundation of educational opportunity, our nation’s community colleges.

The proposal eliminates critical programs that support our students and institutions. It drastically cuts Pell grants, ends ends TRIO grants, ends the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG), slashes funding for Federal Work-Study, and guts the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. It erases support for Title III and Title V institutions—programs specifically aimed at strengthening colleges that serve low-income and first-generation students. These aren’t just line items in a budget; they’re lifelines for the students we serve.

And that’s the point. Trump’s goal is not cost-cutting. It’s system-smashing. This is not fiscal responsibility. It's ideological warfare.

Community colleges, where working-class students, first-generation learners, and students of color find a gateway to economic mobility, are the primary target. Trump’s plan removes the federal safety net that has allowed these institutions to provide high-quality, low-cost education. Without federal investment, community colleges will be forced to slash their budgets, cut personnel, and reduce the student services that make education possible for so many.

Many of you will recognize this immediately since you work in officers that are supported by federal grants or work with students who depend on these grants. As these cuts hit, they will threaten our own members who support students.

Let’s be clear: these cuts are not about making education more affordable. They are about making it more exclusive, more privatized, and more out of reach for the people who need it most. It’s a direct assault on the promise of public education and on all of us who work every day to fulfill it. When he says he wants to make college “cheaper,” what he means is fewer teachers, fewer services, and fewer opportunities.

As a union, we must stand together to fight these attacks. We must speak out, organize, and educate our communities about what’s really at stake. Because when Trump says he’s cutting the cost of college, what he’s really saying is: you’re too expensive.

But we know the truth: we are essential. Our students are essential. And public higher education is worth defending.