THE NEXT FOUR YEARS

What a Trump presidency means for the future of education

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President-elect Donald Trump has just released plans for his first 100 days in office, many of which include reforms to education.

According to his website Trump has pledged to improve higher education for students and those in poverty by setting more money aside for school choice and making college and vocational programs more accessible.

Trump claims that in the first 100 days of his presidency he will invest an additional 20 billion dollars in school choice by reprioritizing federal money.

In a speech he gave in Ohio in September Trump claimed that he would be a champion for school choice conservatives and students living in poverty.

“I want every single inner city child in America who is today trapped in a failing school to have the freedom – the civil right – to attend the school of their choice…it’s time for our country to start thinking big once again,” Trump said.

According to Trump’s website, he plans on making a significant number of cuts to the Federal Department of Education, mostly regarding common core.

Trump, like many conservatives, does not approve of Common Core in the public school system.

Common Core is a federally backed initiative, but is currently up to each state to implement.

A debt forgiveness program could also be in the works, as suggested in a speech given by Trump before the election. The forgiveness program would eliminate student debt after 15 years of students paying off at least 12 percent of the loan annually.

These changes to student debt are unlikely to affect students who will be attending college within the next few years.

Trump’s advisors shared ideas on risk-sharing loans, which are loans that require colleges to bear financial risk that the students take on when they sign up for loans.

Whether Trump maintains his promises on educational policies or not is yet to be determined, but changes are certainly ahead.