On Feb. 7, in the narrowest confirmation vote of an elected official ever, Betsy DeVos was confirmed as US Secretary of Education. After an all-night talkathon, held by the Democrats, the vote on DeVos was split 50-50 between Senate members. Vice President Mike Pence broke the tie, confirming one of Trump’s most controversial cabinet nominees. DeVos has been a lifelong supporter of charter schools, using both her voice and her bank account to push for charter schools over public education. However, she does not just have control over federal funding for our K-12 public education system, she also now has some control over higher education institutes who accept federal funding (which is almost all of them). Here are three ways her appointment may affect college students:
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Title IX
In 1972, Title IX of the Education Amendments Act was passed. This act made it federal law that, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” In 2011, under the Obama administration, this rule was expanded to require that college campuses take an active role in combatting sexual assault. When asked specifically about the sexual assault portion of the law in her hearing, DeVos responded that it would be “premature” to say that rule would be held up once she took over the Department of Education. This means there is a possibility colleges and universities would not be forced to actively combat sexual assault, or receive any federal funding to do so.
2. College Costs
A popular political discussion on the past few years has been two-year federally funded tuition for college students in need. The Democratic platform supported this idea, while the Republicans did not. DeVos completely dismissed the idea in her hearing, stating “There is nothing in life that is truly free.”
3. For-Profit Colleges
During the Obama administration, the Education department focused on cracking down on for-profit colleges. These schools scam students with fraud and predatory lending. Two schools were shut down, and stricter guidelines were enforced. The Gainful Employment Act now requires colleges to demonstrate they are preparing students for the job market. In her hearing, DeVos replied that she would, “review” this act, instead of committing to upholding it.
These are just three possible ways the new Secretary of Education could affect college and university campuses around the US. If you want the Department of Education to know you support Title IX sexual assault guidelines, publicly funded higher education, or strict laws protecting students from fraud, you can call them at 1-800-872-5327 or send them a letter at: 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20202.
You can read more about this here.