100 Days of the Trump Administration: A Relentless Assault on Higher Education

In just 100 days, the Trump Administration, has made one thing unmistakably clear: it is waging an aggressive campaign to dismantle higher education — impacting the very students who need it the most. Women, students of color, low-income students, LGBTQ+ students, and students with disabilities are under direct attack.  

As an organization committed to advancing equity for women and girls, AAUW is gravely concerned by sweeping moves to roll back civil rights protections, slash student aid, and weaponize political power against institutions of higher learning that should serve all students. These attacks threaten to erase decades of hard-fought progress toward equal opportunity in higher education.  

Through a barrage of misleadingly named executive orders, the administration is systemically tearing down the pillars of educational access and accountability: 

• Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy directs agencies to gut Title VI protections and eliminate civil rights standards that rely on disparate impact — undermining a key tool for identifying systemic discrimination. 

• Reforming Accreditation to Strengthen Higher Education threatens institutional independence by politicizing the accreditation process and weakening standards for educational quality. 

• Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity dismantles decades of civil rights protections by eliminating affirmative action requirements for federal contractors, and rescinding diversity, equity, and inclusion mandates across federal agencies — undermining efforts to promote workplace equity and diversity.   

• Other executive orders explicitly revoke federal protections for LGBTQ+ students and enable the federal government to strip funding from universities that champion legal diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. 

Meanwhile, the administration’s proposed budget would eliminate or drastically reduce support for programs that make college a reality for millions: 

• Federal Work-Study and Pell Grant surplus funds are on the chopping block.  

• Income-driven student loan repayment options and student loan forgiveness programs — particularly those supporting public service workers and borrowers with low incomes are under siege.  

• Campus-based childcare programs that student parents rely on to complete their degrees face elimination — disproportionately harming women, who are more likely to take on student debt and balance caregiving responsibilities while pursuing their education. 

The attacks don’t stop at funding and policy — they extend to the very legal status of institutions that resist political pressure. The administration has openly threatened the nonprofit status of colleges and universities that resist its ideological agenda. Worse still, there are growing concerns that looming executive orders could target nonprofit organizations — particularly those defending civil rights.  

The message is clear: dissent will be punished, and equity will be dismantled.  

The cost of these attacks is life-altering on real students. For a Latina student navigating financial insecurity, a Black mother pursing an advanced degree while working, a woman with a disability dealing with changes in eligibility from high school to college for certain accommodations or an LGBTQ+ student facing a hostile campus climate, these changes can mean the difference between graduating and abandoning their dreams.  

The consequences are devastating. Doors slam shut. Futures are dimmed. The transformative promise of education — the path to economic security, empowerment, and full participation in society — is betrayed. 

AAUW will not stand silent while these rights are stripped away behind closed doors or buried in bureaucratic budgets. We are proud to be an independent, fearless voice for equity, and we are organizing with renewed urgency against this dangerous agenda. The future of higher education is at stake. The future of opportunity is at stake.  

We must act — loudly, boldly, relentlessly. 

Join us. Fight back. Defend the right to learn.