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Over 42.7 million Americans are weighed down by a staggering $1.6 trillion in student debt, with more than 5 million in default. This crisis is not an accident — it’s the result of decades of conservative policies deliberately crafted to undermine public education and shift the financial burden onto the working class for a political reason.
The roots of this crisis trace back to the 1960s, when then California Gov. Ronald Reagan (R) launched a direct assault on tuition-free public colleges and student protesters for political reasons.
That legacy echoes today, as Donald Trump targets colleges and students in response to Gaza protests — a familiar pattern of using power to suppress dissent.
As students in the 1970s continued to protest the Vietnam War and for civil rights in California, Reagan escalated his attacks by slashing education funding, drastically increasing tuition, and further cracking down on dissent.
Reagan’s agenda was clear. His education adviser Roger Freeman openly stated, “We are in danger of producing an educated proletariat.”
Freeman’s statement reflected an enduring conservative belief: Reagan and the GOP saw an educated working class as a threat to their agenda — and that belief shaped his presidency.
Reagan slashed federal education funding and gutted Pell Grants, which went from covering 77 percent of college costs in 1980 to just 28 percent today. These cuts laid the foundation for today’s student debt crisis — one today’s MAGA conservatives continue to deepen.
The system disproportionately burdens Black and low-income borrowers. Black graduates owe $25,000 more than white peers and face higher default rates.
Unlike other debt, student loans are almost impossible to erase in bankruptcy because the “undue hardship clause” is almost always denied, trapping many for decades.
Since the 1950s, Republican legislators have used their power to attack institutions and individuals critical of their agenda especially in education, from Sen Joseph McCarthy’s (R-WI) attacks on academia to Reagan’s crackdown on campus activism, culminating in the Kent State massacre.
This is a consistent pattern of using political and literal attacks, financial pressure — tuition hikes, and student loans — to suppress political opposition.
Today, in response to protests over the Gaza genocide, racial justice, and inequality, Trump and the GOP are pushing to defund universities, ban campus groups, and deport students — a continuation of the long-standing GOP strategy of attacking dissenters.
Trump has pushed this perpetual right-wing strategy to new extremes by threatening universities’ tax-exempt status, gutting student loan protections, and escalating debt collection through wage garnishment, tax refund seizures, and Social Security cuts.
The GOP’s hypocrisy is clear: They oppose public funding for education but back taxpayer bailouts elsewhere. They preach “personal responsibility” while ignoring rising college costs and stagnant wages.
They tout private-sector efficiency, despite privatized lending’s illegal predatory practices. Their “indoctrination” claims are just culture-war deflections to distract from the real issue — an uninformed public is easier to manipulate.
The student debt crisis is a direct result of the GOP’s political war on education. This is not about education policy — it’s about silencing opposition. The same forces blocking student debt relief are targeting campuses, stifling activism.
By politicizing education, the GOP and Trump are not only deepening the crisis and hurting the economy — they’re undermining democracy itself, keeping Americans in debt and suppressing opposition under the guise of patriotism.
Trump’s War on Universities Is More Dangerous Than You Think
From Foreign Policy: “What would a force hostile to the United States — a nation whose power has been the envy of the world for more than seven decades — do if it were able to set up an influential pipeline for policy ideas directly to the White House? Or, better yet, if it could somehow burrow into the mind of its president?”
Poll Analysis: Trump’s Approach to Universities, Israel-Palestine, and Antisemitism
The author writes, “The Trump administration’s attacks on universities in the name of fighting antisemitism have caused a crisis in American higher education institutions. This assault began during the Biden administration, when the Republican-led House of Representatives initiated high-profile hearings that led to resignations of university leaders and tension on campuses. But the direct interventions of the executive branch — in threatening to withhold federal grants, demanding institutional changes, revoking student visas, and acting to deport faculty and students — have been unprecedented. What does the American public see as driving these actions by the Trump administration?”
Trump Has Targeted These Universities. Why?
The author writes, “The Trump administration is seeking to exert extraordinary influence over American universities by withholding the kind of federal financial support that has flowed to campuses for decades.”
Eight Legal Experts on Trump’s Assault on Higher Education
From the LPE Project: “Since Inauguration Day, the Trump administration has waged open warfare on higher education. The speed, scope, and volume of executive orders and agency actions have been overwhelming. If the goal was to create chaos and ‘flood the zone,’ the president has delivered. The entries that follow … aim to break down and clarify the legal implications of these various executive actions for higher education institutions.”
Republicans Say They Will Still Push Education Based on Legal Status
The author writes, “After weeks of protests and strained debate, Tennessee’s Republican supermajority hit pause on a bill that would have let public K-12 schools deny enrollment to children without legal immigration status. But the lawmakers pushing the measure say they aren’t done. Republicans across the country had hoped to trigger a lawsuit challenging the law that would bring the issue back to the U.S. Supreme Court, similar to how a state law in Mississippi led to the court overturning federal abortion rights in 2022.”
Project 2025 Would Radically Overhaul Higher Ed. Here’s How.
From Inside Higher Ed: “The sweeping conservative blueprint for a second Trump administration would dismantle the Education Department, privatize student loans and end all ongoing Title IX investigations. Critics say it’s a road map to authoritarianism.”
Emerging From a Collective Silence, Universities Organize to Fight Trump
The authors write, “A recent group statement showed that the nation’s academic leaders, at first reluctant to oppose the president’s moves, are beginning to unite.”
Trump Directs DOJ to Investigate Former Administration Officials Who Criticized Him
The author writes, “President Trump signed executive orders … targeting two former aides who criticized him. Escalating his retribution campaign, the president directed the Justice Department to investigate Miles Taylor, a former Homeland Security official, and Christopher Krebs, a top cybersecurity official. Both were appointees in Trump’s first term. White House correspondent Laura Barrón-López reports.”
